As an independent artist, getting your music out there can be tough, but don’t lose hope! With some thoughtful planning and effort, you can find effective ways to spread your tunes. Consider platforms like Spotify playlists, TikTok, and music blogs – tailor your content for each channel. And don’t underestimate the power of real connections with people who can showcase your songs. Keep persevering, and your audience will grow.
Spotify Playlist Promotion
Getting your tunes on Spotify playlists can help more listeners discover your music! Do some digging to find playlists that fit both your genre and ideal audience – lists with 50k to 500k engaged followers tend to work well. When pitching your jams, customize your asks to playlist curators and highlight your music’s unique flair. Most importantly, keep creating great songs from your heart! Patiently and persistently sharing your gift can help you find fans.
Read more about Spotify playlist submission
Use a Music Promotion Service
Submit your music to Spotify playlists, music blogs, and TikTok influencers using a music submission service like One Submit.
The service offers artists a way to send their music to curators on different platforms and receive a music review for their song. If the curator likes the music, he will add it to his playlist.
Check out the best music promotion services available today.
Personalizing Your Pitches:
Don’t spam playlist curators with mass emails. Carefully craft each pitch and explain why your song specifically would resonate with their playlist and listeners. Include any impressive streaming numbers, compelling stories behind the song creation, and links to hear it.
Developing Real Relationships:
View playlist curators as long-term musical partners, not just one-off promotion opportunities. Promote their playlists organically, follow up on previous song submissions with your new releases, and show real interest in their work. These relationships can lead to repeat placements and cross-promotions.
Offering Value:
Consider offering playlist curators additional value beyond just your song. Can you help promote their playlist to your fanbase? Are you open to collaborating on a custom track for their list? Providing value makes you a more desirable artist to work with.
Leveraging Other Platforms:
TikTok or YouTube visualizers and aesthetics can capture playlist curators’ interest. Previewing songs on these visual platforms in your Spotify link gives a glimpse into how they can perform there.
The key is genuinely connecting with curators as a fellow music lover, not just seeing them as a temporary vehicle to gain streams. Nurturing long-term relationships leads to fruitful ongoing promotions.
Promoting Music on TikTok
As one of the fastest growing entertainment platforms, leveraging TikTok for music promotion can help propel independent artists to viral success and new fan bases. Best practices when promoting music via TikTok influencers include:
Researching Micro-Influencers:
Mega influencers with millions of followers often charge exorbitant rates or do not even offer promotions. Instead, search for micro-influencers in the 10,000 – 100,000 follower range that are still affordable but have engaged niche follower bases ideal for targeting.
Scouting Trending Sounds:
Pay attention to which TikTok songs and sounds are currently exploding and getting adopted in viral dance/lip sync trends. If your song fits within a hot trending sound, reach out quickly to relevant creators to try and insert your song.
Offering High-Quality Edits:
Don’t just ask influencers to dance or lip sync to your song. Take your time to edit custom TikTok-optimized cuts and share those to make their job effortless. Many creators prefer 15 or 30-second pre-edited song clips to easily integrate into content.
Building Value and Community:
Support the influencers you reach out to by engaging with their content, commenting thoughtful messages, and providing value. Become part of their community so that they actually want to show support back by featuring your music.
Cross-Promoting:
Offer to create TikToks featuring influencers’ songs/content if they do the same for you. This mutually beneficial cross-promotion exposes each of your fanbases to new music.
Just as with Spotify playlists, treat TikTok influencers as long-term partners and supporters of your work rather than one-off self-serving opportunities. Fostering community leads to authentic music promotions.
Reaching New Fans Through Music Blogs
One of the more overlooked but still thriving channels for independent music promotion is leveraging written music blogs. Veterans like Pitchfork and Stereogum along with countless niche blogs still drive meaningful music discovery through reviews, interviews, and premieres. Best practices when promoting through blogs include:
Research Specific Genres: Identify music blogs niche enough that they cover emerging acts in your specific genre of indie rock, hip hop, electronic, etc. Make sure you pitch bloggers already supporting artists like yourself.
Premiere New Releases:
Secure exclusive premieres of lead singles or whole EPs to attract blog coverage around an exciting release date with content no one has heard before.
Share Your Story: Bloggers want compelling narratives around the artists they cover. Convey what inspired your music, intriguing backgrounds, or upcoming plans that indicate momentum. Give them plenty of shareworthy artist details.
Offer Additional Assets:
Don’t just send over an MP3. Provide music videos, eye-catching photoshoots, lyric sheets, social media asset packs and anything visual to make coverage more engaging.
Build Lasting Press Relationships:
Follow up new releases with bloggers that premier your work so they cover your next material. Share their articles across your socials as thanks and keep the dialogue going to become a blog regular.
The most important takeaway when promoting through blogs is providing value to writers through compelling stories, visuals and exclusives so coverage feels like more than just publicity. Treat bloggers like allies and your music magically progresses from “submission” to “feature.”
Those are just a few best practices for using platforms like Spotify playlists, TikTok influencers and music blogs to effectively promote your music as an independent artist. The key is always nurturing genuine long-term relationships and partnerships with the curators, creators and tastemakers sharing your music rather than quick self-serving promotions. Support their work actively, demonstrate your commitment to the community, and collaborations promoting original music will flourish.