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Marketing your music.
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Hi all,
Question for the hive mind. Who is making money via Bandcamp, iTunes, SoundCloud, et all?
Anyone willing to share tips or tricks to improve potential cash flow?
I’ve released 9 albums this year and they’ve pulled surprisingly little renumeration. I know that artistic worth is subjective and no one should expect a cent. So, maybe suggestions for PR/ marketing. Also very interested in any words about labels and distribution. Maybe we could pool business strategies in one place? I’m rubbish with the whole lot. I can’t possibly be the only one.
Many thanks!
Comments
Having not released any album or anything, so I cant help with labels but I am on the Marketing team at my church and my wife is a Marketing Director for a Restaurant. Most of my revenue so far in this creative journey has came from Youtube Ads.
From what I have seen, consistent social media interactions help. Marketing yourself, not necessarily your product is also something to keep in mind. Consistently post pictures and videos on instagram, twitter, and whatever new fangled thing these kids are doing now days. Respond to any comments and go out of your way to comment on other people and artists posts. Example, I subscribe to SanJay C on Youtube. I have made several comments on his videos and the other day he subbed to my channel. Not that its a big deal but he gets a lot of views. And people do read comments. So if they see your comments on his channel, it might get a few clicks to a youtube channel or if its an instagram or tweet or facebook, it might work the same way.
Make some music videos of original music and do some cover songs on youtube to get traffic. I am not sure how much money is in actual album sales anymore. I think there is a spotify thing to where if you have X number of followers then your music can start getting into the station rotations.
I think the biggest thing is to be yourself and going the extra mile for someone else. Do unto others goes a long way in making an impression on people.
I’ve written a book about a surprisingly practical way to make money from music, without even having to be in the music industry. My system is based on a series of experiments that I tried in order to see what worked and what failed for me. I did it with live shows.
As an outsider my success or failure depended mainly on self-promotion, which isn’t a natural strength of mine, so I had to study and strategize, and then try the experiments.
I didn’t write the book as a how-to manual. I hate to get or give advice. My book is mainly an adventure story about how I set up the experimental shows and what happened when I tried them. I consider some of the biggest failures to be some of the wildest adventures.
Ultimately I did develop a template that works well for me. Maybe I should make a post about the results if I can figure out a short-enough way to explain them. I have no interest in recommending my solutions to anyone else, but the information is still interesting.
There is so much new music out there that the best way to get your stuff heard is probably to ease up on the marketing and focus on networking instead.
I would be interested in hearing more about your system if you get the time @Janie
Edit: 9 albums a year is a lot of music! I'm impressed but maybe putting out less music might help with getting more plays.
I have a friend who posts at least 2 new tracks a week on all types of social media and I have had to stop following this person, it started to feel like spam even though it's a friend of mine.
It's an interesting topic and a problem many people here will be struggling with. Thanks for posting
Hi Mitch, thanks for the good words. I feel that there is a lot of truth in your last statement.
Yea...saturation. Honestly, I feel like a smuck constantly plastering my stuff everywhere. Maybe that’s an attitude that I have to change.
I’m doing vids for about 95% of my releases. +1 responding to comments.
When I was still working as a guitarist I had the same problems. Touring companies and artist reps solved them for me. I just needed to show up and make the noises. Haha.
@Janie I’d be interested in reading about it.
Isn't all the money supposed to be in live music these days?
@BlueGreenSpiral Yea, 9 albums is a ton. You make a very valid point. I just can’t not make work......it that makes sense. Given a weekend, a pound of coffee, and some decent ales I’m going to end up with something that I like.
+1 on the networking. Besides my family and a few close friends, I’m a bit of a shut in.
@Michael_R_Grant Honestly don’t know.
A decent bit of my income these days is from music sales of one form or another. I think the advice someone gave earlier about marketing yourself more than the music is pretty spot on. It's all about developing a "brand" or unique identity that makes you stand out these days. In terms of promotion, for me personally I get FAR, FAR more interactions and followers on YouTube than I do anything else these days. But that encompasses not just my own music, but tutorial videos, gear reviews, etc. All those things help to keep you popping up in the feeds of your followers, and help attract people from new markets you might not even have thought of before.
Being prolific is definitely a good thing, but filtering is also important. Maybe rather than releasing 9 albums, it would be better to condense that into just one album that includes only the very best stuff.
You're asking people for their time and attention, it's probably better to reward that by only presenting your best, rather than releasing every single track you record. Just IMO of course (and I say this as someone who isn't familiar with your music so it's not meant personally!).
I was actually going to suggest the opposite.
Instead of releasing just albums, maybe think about putting some of them out as a steady stream of singles. Keep your name out there, give your followers frequent reasons to listen to what you are releasing in a more easily digestible format (not everyone has the time to listen to a full album). I went to a conference about marketing your band/music/etc last year and that was one of the biggest takeaways from that. It's all about constant engagement with your fans on as many outlets as possible, keep them looking forward to your updates and new releases.
The queen bee say, "spend less time making music and more time engaging with people and asking for their support."
Yes that also makes sense - but I still think it would probably be better to filter and curate what you release, rather than just releasing everything. So maybe instead of 9 albums, release 9 EPs or 9 singles.
@richardyot I do curate my releases. Lol....I make a lot of music. I release way less than a quarter of my output. I also do fairly long tracks. Avant Garde, Soundscape, Ambient and Minimalism. It’s not unusual for my music to run 10-30 min a track.
@Tarekith Branding.....I think you’re on the crux of the matter. I have no idea how to do that. Time to find some things to read.
Sorry if this gets a bit long but I've got a few suggestions...
I'd also agree that 9 albums is a bit much, focus on quality over quantity, even one album a year is still quite a lot. My main piece of advice would be to come up with a proper strategy plan out the timeline of your release before you release an album. Give yourself plenty of time between finishing the album being and releasing it** purely for promotion**. Choose a lead single and set a date to release that and then set a release date for the entire album.
Make a press kit with a bio, artwork/photoshoots and anything else relevant. Draw up a list of blogs/review sites you want to contact and start sending off your press kit. A lot of people might not respond, but you just have to keep trying. Maybe try https://www.submithub.com for contacting bloggers (I've had a bit of success using submit hub in the past, but it can be hit or miss...).
Make your social media presence as professional as you can (also make your cover photos/banners an announcement that you have a new album coming out so anyone visiting your page knows instantly). Think about what platforms your target audience is likely to be on, Instagram? FB? Twitter? If you're unsure, just look at the social media accounts of successful artists in your genre, what are they doing? With FB make sure all of your posts have either a photo/image or a video - just plain text hardly gets any reach.
Also if you can work out how, try and get onto a Spotify curated playlist, it's a bit of a dark art and I've known people who've done it but I'm not entirely sure how they did. Either way, it massively increases the amount of people hearing your music.
If you play live then book a string of gigs and definitely book a release show for the album (try and get local magazines to come to your release show and write a review if possible).
Make a music video for your lead single - find a videographer you can collaborate with and they'll be able to share the final product through their social channels as well (extra reach is always a good thing).
With all of this your branding needs to be on point, it doesn't need to cost a lot, but professional artwork or a good photoshoot can go a long way.
Making money from your music is hard work, but definitely achievable! Hope this was somewhat helpful
@BradleyFS Solid, concise, and succinct. Thank you!
I had no idea about submithub. Many, many thanks!
@BradleyFS Thats some great advice about branding and setting a timeline.
A lot of stuff like music and movies are finished well before they come out. Build a timeline backwards from the release dates. Give yourself plenty of time to market and create an internet buzz. Think big budget movies only on a small scale but with the internet, we as individuals have just as much opportunity to reach the masses as they do.
I like the idea of collaborating with a videographer. Might even be able to find one that will work for the experience.
Many video people will work for sound design/soundtrack in their future projects if they like your work.
Totally down with the idea of trade. I’ve been asked too many times to work for experience. It’s endemic in the professional arts.
It's almost virtually impossible to make any substantial money from it, unless you play live shows, and then your follower/fan/base might grow and invest in you. Back in the day, indie music, or indie labels would make enough to cover the expenses, but nowadays people expect to hear your music for free. Unless you have vinyls, I would ignore both bandcamp and soundcloud and eventually put your music on Spotify. That way you can make at least something from it, if people do play your stuff.
The problem nowadays is not just the number of music that is available (probably 100,000 more than before the internet) , but also any other media. So, people consume txts, photos, old youtube vids, new youtube vids, and all other platforms that you mention. So, essentially, you are competing against that.
I think these days, and please anyone correct me if I am wrong, money , as well as the name, can be made if you play live. Old school, basically.
If not, it is probably the best to be happy that you can actually produce that many albums without paying shitloads of money for it, so, you can express yourself freely. And hopefully people you send your material to will share your enthusiasm. Anything else is a bonus.
Maybe old school, but I think in a new way. Good gigs aren't falling off trees, especially those for people playing original music. Having the online presence with lots of enthusiastic follows may not make you much money by itself, but it will give you the needed credibility to be able to get a slot on a desirable bill so you can start climbing that ladder to better shows. I think the two need to co-exist for best results.
enjoying this thread!
The music industry is filled with turd polishing fuckwits, most of whom have no idea what is any good, in any genre. This never changes. Era to era, in any country. They do know what has gone before, what has sold, and love to try watered down versions of the same. Sometimes they get lucky, sometimes they get very lucky and accidentally put the machine behind somone who genuinely has the goods.
As for making money, that is was and always will be in the lap of the gods. Brian Epstein was told guitar groups are dead. If he’d listened to that, there would be no Beatles. Closer to now, vast sums were put into promoting The Libertines, who fucked up thier chance by not actually having any songs that the masses liked. Now it’s all vaguely Hispanic stuff, being spewed out of Radio Bland 24/7.
So it’s all a gamble. Much better to just do your thing and do it well. Then and if people like it, great. If someone wants to give you money for it, as opposed to a contract where you end up owing them, even better!
HITS, HYPE AND HUSTLE is a great show on BBC 4, showing exactly how all of this works in practise. Check it out via BBC iPlayer.
https://www.socialgala.net/buy-instagram-followers/?gclid=CjwKCAiAksvTBRBFEiwADSBZfEGJxxjsKligMEJN0JNQU0Z_bBFQ4tR9Aiy36cuIyK8nzhdjnvyyYxoChRsQAvD_BwE
sad but true
Good way out of gate
Pay someone for SEO and do what you do.
I did some things with a famous hip hop(my actual background) pop producer years ago, he trolled Soundcloud all the time looking for talent.
A & R are not what they used to be so it is a waste going to that road IMHO
I think the best thing these days is approach a an artist with a label you like on their podcast.
Many like to trial balloon new talent with the podcasts and then sign people.
I don't know much but glad to give what I know.
Unfortunately music is the background thing now.
It is not "what people do".
People don't wait in line for tickets for shows, they buy online.
They don't buy a CD and sit home and listen to it.
They buy a song or just do free downloads.
Finding a cultured ear in a cluttered echo chamber is challenge indeed.
. I also do fairly long tracks. Avant Garde, Soundscape, Ambient and Minimalism. It’s not unusual for my music to run 10-30 min a track.
But that kind of material is not commercial music. I wouldn’t expect it to make money. I think there are two different questions. “How to make money in music” is different from “how to market your music.” With that kind of music, I would consider “marketing” simply finding people who will listen to it.
As for making money in music today, it’s basically either live performance or licensing (sound for video).
Just my opinion, but I would think an uncontroversial one.
I don't know anymore.......
People will fight about why they aren't going to fight.......lulz
Nice jazz number by the way. Guitar was great.
That's spot on, and works not only in music. It's all about networking and social media where the keys are. Problem for me and a lot of people is that we love making music instead of losing a lot of time on social media.
Less time making music.
Oh that must be what I am doing wrong.
Glad Jimi Hendrix didn't have Facebook
That quote made my week!
>
Hendrix always gets touted as the holy grail of guitar players. Did he innovate, yeah for sure. Left-hand, before Ziggy made it popular. (-; And before anyone else. Exotic look, too. So credit due for all of that.
But since his day, I’ve heard guitarists whose playing, voice and songs sound so much better to me. Few of them have ever approached Hendrix’s level of fame, and it seems unlikely that anyone will.
Because that is the way the industry wants it.