There was a time when Myspace was the de facto platform for bands to promote their music. It used to have everything for music lovers and enthusiast. Blending music streaming with social features contributed to its popularity. And best of all it’s a place where you can go and play any song from a major label for free. Venture around the site and you will clearly see it is centred around music, from featured headlines to Q&A columns to blog articles. It has users who turn to it for new music inspiration and entertainment discovery. But it plummeted in user base and visitor frequency in the advent of Facebook because it presented a better option.
The popularity of social media sites has greatly altered the way bands promote themselves. In the post Myspace era, other social media sites have emerged for sharing and promoting music online. SoundCloud became the front-runner for music and sharing discovery. Unlike Myspace, SoundCloud can be embedded anywhere and it let fans comment on parts of a recording. It became a darling of bands and fans who use the site to listen, comment and share the work of their favourite bands. But lately, SoundCloud is becoming less friendly toward user-generated content as it lean on major record labels. Latest news is SoundCloud is in danger of folding after experiencing poor financial performance.
Social media is just one way of promotion, there are many digital options for sharing your music online. Your band should just have to embrace digital technologies for branding and reaching out to potential customers if you want to succeed. Here are some tips on how to digitally promote your band in the post Myspace era:
- Social networking
One way to promote your band is by joining social networking sites frequented by your target audience such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Joint groups on these sites and add friends to gain virtual popularity.
- Create your official site
Don’t forget to create your official site. Using social media is important for branding but your content is subjected to terms and changing Google algorithms, therefore it’s wise to source an SEO company to help you work out how to maximise your search potential. You control your content on your blog or official site.
- Find potential fans with search.twitter.com
Twitter is a powerful tool for engagement. You can use it to reach out to potential fans you’ve never spoken with and connect with them. Use search.twitter.com to find potential fans or similar artist in areas you will be performing.
- Upload your songs to SoundCloud
SoundCloud is still the one of the best sites to host your music online particularly now that they announced integration with many of Google’s services. Upload you songs, tag it well and encourage fans to leave comments on the different tracks.
- Record a cover of a popular song and upload it so video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo
Video sharing sites like YouTube have the most reach and the greatest ease of use. Choose a popular song with great number of searches and record a cover to attract attention of likely fans. You will surely grab their attention if you introduce them to their original music.
- Upload your videos to OneLoad to simplify online video distribution
OneLoad is a free powerful platform for uploading and distributing online videos to save time. No need to waste time uploading your videos individually, OneLoad will upload your video to more than 15 video hosting sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, MetaCafe and Viddler in just one click.
- Schedule your social media post using Hootsuite
Create an account to Hootsuite to manage and schedule your social media post. Scheduling a tweet or post is a great way to ensure your continuous communication with your fans and followers.
- Host a free virtual show
Marketing tools like stageit.com enables you to stage virtual shows online. You can perform gigs anywhere and it will be shown to your fans all over the world. It’s also a great way to raise money for a couple of hours of performing.
- Run an Adwords Campaign
Google Adwords is one of the effective ways to promote your band and reach for people clicking on your ad when they are searching for other things. Use keywords that most people are looking to direct them to your site.
- Start your own blog
Writing a blog is a great way to build up a passive audience and communicate with your fans all over the world, while creating different opportunities for your band. Post your blog on your social media sites and put a link to direct them to your site for additional traffic.
- Look for high profile music blogs and write a guest blog post
High profile music blogs have a large following and great way to connect to potential fans and be promoted. Write a guest post on these sites if you enjoy writing and have some ideas on improving the music industry to share.
- Find relevant music forums and join the community
There are hundreds of music forums online. Pick a couple of them and actively participate in the community. You’ll find like-minded people and find lots of good tips and ideas on getting gigs and building your fan base.
- Create a list of social media influencers and befriend them
Social media influencers can affect listening decisions on many people. Create a list of bloggers and social media influencers through sites like Hypem and then start communicating with them.
- Set up Google Alerts
Your band should have a Google Alerts set up under your band name to find out what people are saying about you online. Get real-time or weekly summary of your band name mentions on the web and act on it immediately.
- Use torrent sites to give our music away for free
Giving away your music for free on torrent sites is a good seeding strategy that has a longer-term effect. By encouraging people to share your music, you reach more fans, you can negotiate better gigs, look for sponsorship and other high value opportunities.