It seems as though many artists’ marketing tactics these days consists of giving away free music downloads in hopes of getting attention. If you’re an artist with this game plan, the problem is that free music alone isn’t going to get you the recognition that you probably hoped it would. Some people equate the free music promotion phenomenon to radio. But free music isn’t the equivalent of radio. With free music, someone downloads it once, adding it to a collection of thousands of songs on their media device. Radio, on the other hand, mostly force feeds its audience the same music all day. These are two distinct activities with different results. The first helps you get music into someone’s library, that’s it. Just because your music is in a media player doesn’t mean someones going to listen to it. On the other hand, radio gets your music heard. The problem of course is that radio, for the most part, is an option for a select group of artists backed by deep pockets.
So, what’s an indie artist to do to get some attention these days? Below are three ideas that can assist in getting you that attention you’ve been seeking, and hopefully new fans as well. (These may seem obvious on the surface, but with more and more artists playing “follow the leader” in regards to online trends, physical world activities will get you more attention than ever before.)
1) Step outside your zone: Put your ear to the pavement in your hometown and find out who’s hot in a totally different genre than your own. Study what they’re doing to get people out. Make it a point to go out and see some of these local artists’ shows. Their promotional activities might provide a new perspective needed to bring something new to your marketing efforts.
2) Go live: Perform as much as you can. This is a sure fire way to help you reach an audience and create fans, and of course this helps you polish your skills. Even a strong performance video on Youtube will never make the same impression as a powerful live performance. Try to remember the last several cool videos you’ve seen online, you’ll find that most blend together. Now, think about killer live shows that you’ve seen, even those from years ago are typically much easier to remember than what you saw online a week or so ago.
3) Create a product: Put together an interesting physical package and make it available only at live shows. Think of this as a way of providing fans a memento, something to help remember by. And, this should go without saying, but speak with them while you’re selling. Real life social networking will always be more powerful than the new kind online. Oh, and of course put on a killer performance at your show.
Stay tuned for more advice for artists and success in the music industry. If you have input you’d like to share, feel free to comment.
Good list. Tried and true ways to do it. Artists are forgetting about what works. Many are looking for the easy way, and they don’t put the necessary work in.