Tag: Marketing Strategy

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The Secret To Smarter Music Marketing In 2021 [Video]

Music Marketing

Music marketing is hard for everyone, but you can unlock incredible success with a quick shift in perspective.

The most straightforward approach to successful music marketing is also the oldest. Find an artist making music similar to you that is already successful and try to win over their fans. That simple concept is the driving force behind targeted marketing. A pop-rock band that often gets compared to All Time Low, for example, will target fans of All Time Low with their digital promotions.

The motivation behind this approach to music marketing is rooted in an old way of thinking about fans and how they engage with the artists they love. At any point in history before 2006, the vast majority of listeners discover new music through sound alone. People would hear a song they liked and then seek out the artist behind it. They bought records from unknown bands because the stickers on their packaging said they were similar to bands they already knew.

But the world doesn’t work that way anymore. Thanks to the Internet and social media, consumers are more connected than ever with the creatives that they admire. We don’t just know our favorite artist’s songs; we feel like we know them. We read their every thought on Twitter, look at their personal life on Instagram, and can respond to anything they post anywhere at a moment’s notice. To put it in the simplest terms possible, the barrier between artists and fans has never been smaller than it is right now, making getting and keeping consumer attention increasingly tricky.

Today’s music fans are buying into an artist for more than their sound. Your listeners follow you because of your overall aesthetic, branding, and presentation. Your music is a gateway to an entire universe of creativity that you oversee. People who enjoy what you make want to be as close to you as possible, and they want you to feel close to them as well. They want to forge a community, both between you and them and others who like your music. Random in 2021 is about being part of something bigger than yourself, and it is the responsibility of artists everywhere to try and forge that sense of belonging amongst their followers.

In this Music Biz update, host James Shotwell explains how fandom has changed and why marketing must evolve to meet the demands of today. He provides examples to help artists understand why they need to dig deeper into their fans and their fans’ interests to find the best marketing approach. James knows that the artists who break out and lead sustainable careers today do so by possessing a deep understanding of who enjoys their music. It’s no longer about casting a wide net and hoping for great results. Music marketing today is all about niche content. Let us explain:

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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Better Marketing: The Bathroom Sticker Theory EXPLAINED [VIDEO]

When was the last time a sticker on the wall of a bathroom stall changed your life?

Allow me to paint a picture in your mind. It’s the last gap in the lineup before the headliner takes the stage. You’re working your way to the front of the crowd, but then that familiar feeling hits: You have to use the restroom. Frustrated, you push through the crowd and enter a room where the walls and floors are wet. As you wait your turn, you notice stickers covering the bathroom walls for a variety of bands. You take them in, enjoying the designs until you can leave, then rush back into the crowd before the lights fall.

Everyone that attends concerts knows that experience. We’ve all seen band stickers plastered on bathroom walls and stalls, but have those stickers ever made you a fan of someone new? Did they push you to search for that artist when you got home? Have you ever left the bathroom and said to your friends, “You need to see the sticker for [insert band] next to the toilet in the third stall!”

Bathroom Sticker Theory states that anyone promoting their music on the bathroom walls and stalls does not understand branding or the psychology behind good music marketing.

The hard truth is that the vast majority of bands and musicians promoting themselves in bathroom stalls do not “make it” in the entertainment industry. They may become hometown heroes or regional stars, but they rarely become people who can claim music as their full-time career.

Spotting an artist’s sticker in these locations does not mean they won’t become successful, but it does show a misunderstanding of marketing and brand association.

Think about it. How many brands, products, and artists that you love do you see promoting in bathroom stalls? Have you ever caught yourself looking at a Target ad between sets for your favorite bands? How about an ad for Taco Bell adorning the inside of a port-o-potty? Did you notice the new Kings Of Leon album announcement in the arena bathroom during the big sporting event?

I’ll cut to the chase: You did not.

A big part of successful branding and marketing is what people associate with the thing you’re trying to sell. Nike, for example, wants you to associate their sneakers with successful athletes.

Do you want people to see your name or logo and think about bathrooms? Worse yet, club bathrooms? Do you want your name to come up in conversation only to have someone picture the filthy, wet walls of that club in Tucson where the toilets didn’t have seats and the paper towels stuck to the floor like cheap tile?

If the answer is no, you already understand more about marketing and branding than many musicians. You see the value in taking the time to think through how and where you present yourself. You do not act in a rash manner because you treat your music like a career, which again puts you miles ahead of your competition.

Before you follow the lead of other artists, ask yourself, “Would this action make me want to listen to my music?” If the answer is anything other than yes, keep moving and look for the next opportunity.

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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8 Ways To Market Your Music With Instagram Reels [VIDEO]

Instagram Reels are the hottest thing in music marketing, so we’re giving you eight proven methods of promotion to boost your career.

Some may say we made a mistake by declaring Instagram Reels dead on arrival back in August, but we argue that the company heard our complaints and took action. In eight weeks, Reels has gone from an inferior knockoff of TikTok to one of the most exciting platforms for creativity and music promotion online. Every week, millions of people are creating looping videos with the latest Instagram development, and that userbase will continue growing in the months ahead.

Since Reels is Instagram’s answer to TikTok, you might assume that marketing is the same on both platforms. After all, both platforms offer creators the ability to make videos up to a minute in length, and both allow people to use music or add original audio. Reels, however, has several advantages that TikTok lacks, including the ability to reach your audience through Stories and Instagram’s main content feed.

In today’s Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell breaks down eight proven methods for successful music promotion on Reels. He utilizes clips to expand on specific ideas, including examples from EDM superstar Marshmello and popular pop-punk group Knuckle Puck. Check it out:

Not sure if the video is for you? Here are some of the marketing ideas we discuss in the clip above:

  • Teasers. Everyone loves a tease.
  • Behind The Song series. People want to connect with the real you, and the best way for musicians to give fans that opportunity is by sharing the stories behind their favorite songs.
  • Dance Videos. They’re all the rage online, and for good reason. Anyone can make these videos, and that makes them great for music promotion.
  • Get weird. As we mentioned above, people want to know the real you, and that includes all the strange behaviors and hobbies that fill your days. Share them. Get weird. Be yourself.
  • Skits. Second only to dancing, skits provide a template that fans can use to make original content inspired by your music. A great skit with a good punchline can spread much faster than a music video or song stream.
  • AR Effects. Everyone uses Spark AR effects on their IG Stories, but did you know that same technology is available in Reels? We’ll tell you how to make the most of it.
  • Here’s a word you need to accept as part of promotion: Influencers. Finding an influencer whose audience aligns with yours can forge a great content partnership.
  • Use your archives! Some of the biggest viral clips of the past year use songs that are years or even decades old! Don’t be afraid to open your library of content and pull from every era of your creativity. You never know what will connect with viewers.
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What Artists Can Learn From Machine Gun Kelly’s New Album

Machine Gun Kelly’s fifth studio album is on track to be his most successful record yet. How did he pull that off?

Machine Gun Kelly, known to family and friends as Colson Baker, is doing the impossible. His fifth studio album, Tickets To My Downfall, is quickly becoming his most successful release to date. More impressive still is the fact that all this is happening off an LP that sounds nothing like his previous work. Such occurrences are incredibly rare, especially in the worlds of rap and rock, but MGK is finding a way to make it happen.

To put Machine Gun Kelly’s accomplishment into perspective, readers must consider that he’s been actively releasing and touring in the public eye for a decade. MGK spent the majority of that time squarely in the world of rap and hip-hop, which found him delivering a string of successful singles that rarely, if ever, gained the attention he felt was earned. He recently went as far as to say he felt ready to leave music altogether, but creating Tickets To My Downfall gave him a fresh perspective on creativity.

The fifteen track, thirty-five-minute release finds Machine Gun Kelly transitioning to the world of pop-punk with reckless abandon. Each song boasts driving guitars, thunderous drums, and themes of living life to the fullest while throwing a middle finger to anyone who claims it’s time for Ohio native to act his age. It’s the kind of album one might expect blink-182 or Green Day to release twenty years ago, and the alternative scene is embracing it with open arms.

In this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell breaks down five key lessons that artists can learn from MGK’s latest success and what the album’s rollout tells us about the future of music marketing.

Don’t have time for the video? Here are some takeaways:

  • Experimentation is key. MGK is internationally known for his talent as a rapper, which made releasing Tickets To My Downfall a significant risk. By better on himself and creating a quality record, MGK not only brought his fans into a new genre of music but made new fans in the pop-punk world who may otherwise never listened to his music.
  • Please keep it simple. In addition to introducing a new sound, Tickets To My Downfall also gives MGK fans his most straightforward work to date. Most people will need only one listen to understand the record, but they’ll keep coming back because they can easily connect with its messages and themes.
  • Be real. Machine Gun Kelly has always shared true-life stories in his music, but this record removes the hyperbole typical in hip-hop to deliver music that is undeniably real. The songs on the record are not so much the story of MGK, but those of Colson Baker, the young man trying to remain sane in the crazy world of entertainment. Fans may never live the moments found on the album, but it’s depictions are in such vivid detail that it’s not hard for listeners to put themselves in Colson’s shoes.
  • Wring everything you can out of each single. The rollout for Tickets stretches throughout 2020. MGK has mastered the art of making the most out of every press opportunity. Each song has teasers that lead to an official release, followed by lyric videos, official videos, performance videos, stripped performances, and more. Add to this the fact he’s always engaging with the press, and MGK has made himself a staple of the pop culture conversation without burning a lot of the album’s best material.
  • Embrace the ‘Deluxe bump.’ When news broke that MGK may reach number one on the Billboard charts, he quickly dropped a surprise deluxe version of Tickets that contained several additional songs. The new material put the album back in the news, making sure fans continued streaming the record. It’s a bit of a cheap trick, as the song could fit the original release, but it’s a good ploy to keep the press (and listeners) paying attention.
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How To Make Blogs Care About Your Music [Video]

Getting the attention of blogs and writers is hard, but we can teach you how to get press for your music in fifteen minutes or less.

It is hard to grasp how much competition exists in music today. There are thousands of artists in every genre working hard each day to get the attention of labels, listeners, and the media. The vast majority never accomplish their goals and those that do rarely share their secrets to success. We don’t have all the answers, but we know what works best, and today, we’ll tell you everything you need to get ahead.

PLEASE NOTE: The strategies outlined in this article are aimed at new and emerging talent. The information below is not a replacement for actual PR, nor do we claim to know how publicists are able to move mountains for their clients. These tips will help you take your first steps towards getting recognized by smaller blogs and influencers until you are in a position to afford a real publicity professional.

Let’s start with the behaviors you should avoid. There are people in the music business who prey on the desperation of dreamers with false promises of instant access to high-level influences in exchange for money. We are not referring to publicists. Good PR professionals can open doors you don’t even know how to find, and they can elevate your career in ways that the information in this article cannot.

The individuals you should avoid often promote their alleged secrets under the guise of promotional service that claims to have ‘major success,’ but no facts or information to back it up. Others make a quick buck offering downloadable contact lists that cover everyone you could hope to reach in positions of power through services such as Fiverr. We’ve said it before and we will say it again: These individuals are scammers, and they cannot be trusted.

Onto the good stuff. The foundation of any great beginner promotional campaign is making sure anyone can easily access information about your career. That means creating a media kit that includes links to your music and social pages, as well as photos and videos. It would help if you also had a bio. You can include your merchandise links if you have any, but having things to sell is not a prerequisite to getting attention.

Take all the items gathered above and place create a space online where people who wish to cover your music or learn more about you can easily do so with very little effort. We recommend Haulix for your media, but you can build something yourself as well.

Once those materials are in place, the next phase of this promotional strategy involves research. You need to identify the blogs, channels, and content creators who cover the kind of music you create. There are many methods of accomplishing this, but one of the easiest is to identify 2-3 prominent artists or groups that you feel are comparable to your creative output. Be specific. Don’t choose mainstream talent, but focus on your niche and the people who reign over it.

Next, you will want to create a spreadsheet for your data. Go to Google and search “[Band 1] News.” Make a list of every publication and author writing news about that artist, as well as their contact information (social media, email, etc.). After that, search “[Band 1] Reviews,” and complete the process again. Continue this method of research by looking for podcasts, video interviews, video reviews, Twitch channels, and any other form of music promotion or coverage you can imagine. When you’re done, move on to the next band on your list and repeat this process.

Now that you have a good idea of who might be interested in your music, take the time to follow them online, and begin engaging with their efforts. Writers and publications are like musicians in that they love attention and praise. Engage with the content these people are making, and make an effort to strike up a conversation about your mutual interests. Don’t worry about promoting yourself. Instead, focus on them.

As you begin to build relationships, use your spreadsheet to track your engagement. The big list of publications and creators you started with should shrink as you refine your focus to those who are actively engaging with you on a regular basis. That will create a funnel, otherwise known as a sales funnel, which will reveal the people and places most likely to take an interest in covering your music.

When you have something new to promote, be it a song or video, review your data and begin contacting those publications and creators that you engage with most often. Don’t ask for coverage right away. Instead, ask for their input on the content. Let them know that their opinion matters to you, which will reinforce their connection to your music.

As people respond, who you should work with will become clear. Some will offer to premiere or feature your work. Some may even get ahead of you by reaching out first.

The key to getting attention from blogs and lower-level outlets is to first build strong relationships, and strong relationships stem from engagement. You need to care about others before you can expect them to care about you. When someone does choose to help you out, promote their work, and thank them. Their following will notice your interactions, and over time, many of their followers will follow you as well.

Remember: Getting attention is a process. You cannot accomplish everything outlined above in a day or week. You will likely be working on your relationships throughout your career. It’s chaos. Be kind.

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How To Get Ahead And Win Fans In Music Today [VIDEO]

Most musicians are terrible music professionals, but with a few changes, anyone can make strides toward success.

There are great artists making music with the potential to change countless lives that will never be heard by anyone outside of their immediate circle. Is that because the industry doesn’t care about talent or that there are too many talented people trying to get ahead? NO! It’s because many musicians have no idea how to treat their career as a business, which is the only way most get ahead in music today.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume you have great songs. You won’t get anywhere without songs people want to hear, so if you’re reading this, I will you are a capable songwriter. You have to believe this as well, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

I spend a lot of time working with musicians who have all the pieces of a great career; they have a specific look, strong branding, memorable songs, and a fierce devotion to their craft. The problem is, those same artists cannot bring those pieces together in a meaningful way. I can’t fix that for them, but I can share the same advice I offer all of them:

You need a PLAN!

Most artists know where they want to go in their careers. They say things like, “We want to headline stadiums,” or “we want a platinum single.” Far fewer artists know how they’re going to reach those goals. Success in music requires planning, and that applies to all facets of your career. It would be best if you had a release plan, a promotional strategy, a social media plan, and a practice plan. What you’re going to do is not enough. You need to know how you’re going to get there, and the step you’ll take along the way. BE SPECIFIC.

Stop making excuses

We make excuses for everything. We want to promote ourselves, but we don’t have a budget. We want to have a cool logo, but we don’t know how to design things. We want to write a great melody, but our previous attempts fell flat.

Excuses are hurdles we put in front of ourselves to justify not working harder to achieve our dreams. They give us a reason to abandon our dreams and settle for less than we truly desire because we convince ourselves our goals are out of reach. That kind of thinking has ruined countless careers, and it will ruin yours too unless you make a change.

Starting today, commit to overcoming excuses. Work with a smaller budget, learn to design, write bad melodies until you find one that works, and do whatever else needs to happen so you can live your best life. Be the person you see yourself becoming rather than someone who gets defeated by walls they build in front of themselves. There is always a solution. It may not look or feel the way you thought it would, but that’s okay. Just keep going.

Focus on the fans that matter

Social numbers aren’t everything. Monthly Spotify Listeners do not determine your value as an artist. I’ve seen musicians with millions of digital followers play to empty rooms, and I’ve watched as complete unknowns sold-out places those so-called stars could never fill.

Digital stats don’t matter unless they translate to actual sales. One-thousand fans buying your album for $10 is worth more than 1,000,000 people streaming your new single and never listening to your music again.

Quality over quantity is key to building an audience. You need to stop worrying about the size of your fanbase and start concerning yourself with engaging your current fans in a meaningful way. Figure out the content your fans want to see, produce it regularly, and keep engaging with them as much as possible. Make them feel as if they’re indispensable to your career, and they will do everything they can to convert others to your fandom.

And above all else: Be yourself

Every notable entertainer today is viewed as being authentic. Their careers are made possible because fans believe they know the artist or group on a personal level. They feel like the talent’s best friend even though they’ve never met.

Being your true self is the only way to get ahead. You might be able to craft a hit song without putting yourself into the lyrics, but the success won’t feel as good or worthwhile if your soul isn’t in the product. You don’t want to end up on stage every night performing material you don’t care about, and your fans don’t want to pay to see that. Give the people the one thing only you can provide: Yourself.

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Should You “Shoot Your Shot” To Get Ahead?

A post from recent GRAMMY award-winning producer and songwriter Finneas has sparked a discussion over whether or not people should take a chance on themselves.

What is your dream? When you imagine your career in music, who do you work with and where? If you had the chance to show those people or companies your talent, would you?

“Shooting your shot” is a popular phrase for people who risk embarrassment and being turned away to share their ideas. Recently, GRAMMY award-winning producer and songwriter Finneas tweeted that he feels creative people should avoid shooting their shot and focus solely on developing something themselves. We agree with him, to an extent, but there are times when taking a chance on yourself is the only way to get ahead.

For starters, the competition for attention in music today is fierce. There are countless artists sending messages to labels, publicists, managers, booking agents, and anyone else they believe can help their careers daily. You can choose to sit out that battle, but doing so lowers the likelihood that someone in a position of influence will find you and give you a leg up your career needs to reach its maximum potential.

There is also the fact that being “good” is no longer good enough. There are many gifted artists with great songs and carefully-crafted brands that will never receive the amount of attention they arguably deserve. To stand out in today’s industry, artists need all the help they can get, and the best way to find the right person to elevate your career is by going after the professionals and companies you want to know about your music.

Billie Eilish is an outlier. Finneas is an outlier. Chance The Rapper is an outlier. There will always be exceptions to the rule, but for every outlier that reaches the mainstream, there are dozens or more artists who get there by shooting their shot and networking with others in the industry. There is nothing weak or wrong with taking a chance on yourself and reaching out for help. We’ll let Music Biz host James Shotwell explain the rest:

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Singles Vs. Albums: What Works Best in 2020 [VIDEO]

The debate on the best way to release music rages on, but we can help decide what will work for your career.

Streaming changed the business of music forever. That statement has been repeated over and over for the last decade for good reasons. The music industry looks nothing like a did before services like Spotify began luring consumers away from physical media. From how we enjoy music to the amount of music consumed, the number of opportunities for music discovery, and the way an artist makes money, everything is different. Some changes are good, others not so much, but the only thing artists can do is adapt.

Recently, we spent a week in Los Angeles speaking with labels of all sizes about their approach to releasing music and signing artists in 2020. Almost everyone we talked to told us they struggle to break new artists in the current media landscape. Some are even changing their signing offers to focus on singles first as a way to ensure they don’t spend too much developing an artist that goes nowhere. They believe in new music, but they also need to be economical.

With this in mind, we got to thinking about unsigned artists and how they can best approach a career in the streaming age. There is no one way to establish yourself. What works for some musicians will not work for others and vice versa. That said, we can give you the insight you need to decide what is best for your career, which is precisely what today’s episode of Music Biz is all about. Check it out:

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Three No-Cost Ideas For Better Music Marketing

Music marketing is just as important today as the songs themselves.

There are countless ways to promote your music today. From social media posts and traditional print advertising to pop-up shops, video streams, song premieres, and more, there have never been as many ways to share your art as there are right now.

For the most part, this is good news. Artists are free to promote themselves how they see fit. Music Marketing is a ‘create your own adventure’ scenario that is unlike anything the entertainment industry has seen before. However, many artists are still missing out on simple, cost-effective promotional methods that are proven to make a significant impact on their bottom line. Here are three:

Make the most of your cover photos.

Reach is a struggle on all social media platforms, and that is something that shows no signs of improving anytime soon. Facebook and Twitter offer an olive branch to musicians with cover photos, which sit atop every profile and allow for a large, wide image. Many artists see these rectangular spaces as a place to add aesthetically-pleasing images or new band photos, which can be lovely, but they are much more powerful than many assume.

Fans news and old want to know what you’re doing next. The hope is that your latest developments appear on their timelines, but that is increasingly not the case for most. Most fans know the best way to learn what is new and coming soon is by visiting their favorite musician’s social media pages, which is why you need to utilize the cover photo space for promotional purposes. The last thing anyone wants to do is scroll and search for information that should be readily available. Use your cover photo to share whatever is most important right now, from tour dates to song releases. Be shameless about it. The easier it is to stay up to date with your activity, the more likely consumers will be to support you.

A great example of using cover photos to convey important information.

Maximize the content opportunities found in life on the road.

Touring was once viewed as something artists dreamed of becoming popular enough to do regularly. While that is still a dream for many, going on tour is now an essential part of most musicians’ lives. The vast majority of talent today spends far more time promoting their work on the road than they do making music. It’s a grind, but it’s a worthwhile one for those passionate about the work of being a professional musician.

Sadly, far too many artists on the road today fail to take advantage of the content opportunities made possible by tour life. The allure of the music business is the idea that anyone can use their creativity to make friends and see the world. Your fans want to experience life through your eyes because they know deep down that they may never do the things you’re doing. Let people into your world with a constant flow of content produced on the road. The places you’re going, the places you’ve been, and everything that happens in between should be up for grabs. Pull back the curtains and let people get to know the real you by showing them what it takes to share your creativity with the world.

Start a podcast.

We have written about this in the past, but every musician should have a podcast. Engagement is the name of the game in music promotion, and nothing helps artists directly engage their audience in a meaningful manner as podcasts. It’s the only media format where people can sit and listen to the people they admire for an extended period without hearing a journalist or other personality guide a conversation. Podcasts can be about anything you want, but they should aspire to let people better know you and your interests. If that means you discuss the music, great! If you talk about something else that may or may not influence your creativity, that’s cool too. Be yourself and your fans, as well as people who discover your broadcasts, will be happy.

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Four Simple Tricks For Reaching Tastemakers

Everyone wants to discover the next superstar artist, and every young artist wants to be the next big thing. We’ll help you stand out in four steps or less. Just make sure the music is good.

It has never been easier to share your music than it is right now. At the same time, however, it has never been more challenging to reach the people in positions of influence. With the barrier to entry into the music marketplace at an all-time low, aspiring talent has flooded the industry with music they believe could change the world. No one has time to listen to everything, but everyone who is anyone receives constant requests for their attention.

As a music critic and journalist myself, it is not unusual to receive more than one-hundred emails per day. During busier times of the year, such as October, that number can quickly rise above the two-hundred email mark. I want to claim that I find time to listen to everything, but that would be a lie. I look at what I know first, and then I try new things, but only if there is enough time (and there is rarely enough time).

When I speak at conferences and colleges, musicians and aspiring music professionals ask how they can cut through the noise. They yearn for a simple, secret solution that the public doesn’t know about, but no such tool or trick exists. What I tell them instead is what works for me, which is not unlike what works on everyone else. The advice may seem simple, but it is useful.

First impressions matter

You would not believe the number of artists who blindly send their music to tastemakers every single day without as much as an introductory email. These releases, by and large, go unheard. Why should I spend time listening to someone I don’t know who shows no interest in knowing me? People prefer to work with people they know and believe in, so make yourself known and give them a reason to believe in you.

Email is an excellent place to start, but social media might be even better. Engage with posts from tastemakers you hope to reach and let them know you appreciate their work. Don’t worry about selling yourself as much as making a good impression. If you can do that you will be miles ahead of the competition.

Send links, not files

As I said before, most tastemakers receive over one-hundred emails a day, and those explicitly working in artist discovery tend to receive countless more. As a result, everyone’s inbox space is limited. The only thing attaching song files to an email will accomplish is earning your letter a one-way ticket to the recipient’s trash can.

Comparisons can be enticing

Artists like to believe they are the only person/group on the planet capable of making the kind of music they create. There may be some truth to that, but you probably have more in common with other artists than you realize. Everyone is writing about either themselves versus the world, themselves versus nature, or themselves versus themselves. There are only so many stories to tell. You are likely influenced by many who have written songs about the same things you now hope to discuss. By using smart comparisons, you make it quicker for industry professionals to understand the type of music you’re creating. The faster they can understand you and your sound, the better.

Use a promotional distribution platform

The concept of “faking it til you make it” is a good approach to the music business. Industry professionals want to work with artists who know how to sell their music and how to manage the business of music.

There are numerous ways to send music to industry professionals. You can use file-sharing services or streaming platforms, but most don’t make a great lasting impression on listeners. If you want to present your art in a manner that reflects who you are as a creator, then you need a promotional distribution service.

Haulix offers a secure way to share streams and downloads of your latest release through email invitations and promotional web pages customized to reflect your talent. Not only will you be sharing your music using a service that the industry recognizes, but you will be doing so in a way that places the focus on you. Your promotional page will have no third-party ads and minimal Haulix branding. Your pages will represent you, and they can be customized to do that in many ways (cover art, background images, videos, bio, tour dates, etc.).

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