With the sheer volume of new music launched every day, it is quite possible that your audience isn’t even aware of your work. The enormous number of listening options, such as streaming services can make it even harder to reach your target audience.
For instance, Spotify has more than 40 million songs uploaded to it, catering to virtually every musical genre. According to another estimate by Hypebot.com, roughly 24,000 songs are released every day and more than 1 million every six weeks!
Therefore, your music might have a harder time standing out even if it has the best acoustics and lyrics. You need to put in the effort to market your music properly if you want it to get noticed.
It goes without saying that music marketing and music production go hand-in-hand in today’s market. Let’s delve into the basic definition of music marketing and why it's important to learn about it.
How would you define music marketing in 2022?
Marketing is one of the key components that are responsible for making a musical work a hit, on top of the musician’s talent and production quality.
Marketing music includes all the promotional efforts required to reach out to the target listeners and get them to like your music and trust you as an artist.
Why is music marketing important in today’s age?
With so many talented artists clamouring for the audience’s attention, a smart marketing strategy can be the difference between a record market dominance and anonymity.
Here are some of the prime reasons you should invest time and effort into digital music marketing in 2022:
- It can amplify your voice and hard work as a musician.
- It can help you create a more genuine connection with the audience.
- It can help you understand what your audience wants and cater to them.
- It can reduce your dependence on record labels and production companies to sell your music.
6 ways to nail your marketing game as a music promoter or marketer
Nailing an effective marketing strategy for your music can be tricky, especially since the market is impacted by multiple factors.
Nevertheless, you can get the following basics right, which can help with your music promotions in the UK:
- Identify the demographics of your fanbase.
- Pay attention to the quality of your music videos or audio files.
- Market your work to your existing fans and potential ones.
- Have a robust social media marketing strategy.
- Create a feeling of community around your music.
- Build connections with music bloggers, press outlets and media houses to build better visibility for your music.
- Create your own music website and find ways to monetise it.
- Engage in extensive televised or radio PR campaigns.
Is learning about music marketing only important to musicians?
No! Knowing how to reach out to a broad audience and engage with them is a skill that can pay off in any music industry job. Even if you don’t want to be a musician, music marketing skills can help you target other well-paying roles in the industry, like artist managers or record label executives.
Even if you are interested in opening your own music production company, you would need music marketing skills to build momentum around your brand.
Effective music marketing can help you build a career that’s sustainable in a highly competitive industry. The best way to learn more about the subject would be to pursue a comprehensive music business management programme.
A music business degree can help you become business-savvy as a musician and learn more about the business side of the media industry. It can also help you learn how to market music products and work more efficiently.
The London College of Creative Media offers a good BA (Hons) Music Business Management programme which might be appropriate for you. This course is perfect for young people with an aptitude for music and business who want a successful career in the global music industry.
The coursework on this music business degree in the UK has a relevant module on artist branding and audience development that lets you understand how to grow your audience. Additionally, you will also learn about the new-age music streaming economy and how to sustain yourself in the industry as a music business manager.
Click here to learn more about this programme at LCCM.