Tag: Promote your unreleased music

Categories
Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials News

Singles Vs. EPs: What Should You Release?

single vs ep release strategy

As the music business continues to evolve, artists must learn to adapt. Finding the right plan for your next release is key, and today, we will help you figure things out.

The way we consume music is changing, so we must rethink how we release it. The days of people turning to albums for entertainment are gone. Today’s music fans expect everything to be available all the time at a moment’s notice. Those searching for new music seek out singles above all else. If they like what they hear, those same listeners will look for the rest of that artist’s catalog in time. That idea applies to new music from established artists as well, but only to an extent.

The first any artist should do is set goals. What do you want to accomplish with your next release? Be specific and reasonable with your answers. A good example of release goals would be gaining 1,000 followers and earning 10,000 streams.

Once your goals are set, release the song you believe is most likely to accomplish that goal and do everything in your power to make that track succeed. Create a music video, promote to your mailing list, create memes, and do anything you can come up with to reach your goals.

At some point between four and eight weeks after the track’s release, take time to review your goals and whether or not you achieved them. If the answer is no, choose another song and release that track. You should repeat the promotional efforts of the first song, as well as any new ideas you may develop.

When you achieve your goals, then you should move forward with plans to package songs together. You can pair your popular single with two to three additional tracks and release that material as an EP. That way, you can continue to capitalize on the momentum of the single while giving your current fans something new to enjoy.

That plan may not necessary for more popular musicians. Artists with sizable followings have to be accessible to new listeners while also keeping their more devoted fans engaged. These artists may see more value in sharing EPs over singles, if only because their audience is hungrier for content than those of musicians just getting their start.

In this episode of Music Biz, host James Shotwell answers one of the most common viewer questions by presenting multiple paths to success. The key to getting ahead is a combination of knowing yourself, your audience, and what you want to accomplish. If you can understand all that, then you are already miles ahead of your competition.

Want even more music business guides and information? Subscribe to our YouTube channel for weekly videos!

Categories
Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials Haulix News

Promoting Music and Making Money During Coronavirus [VIDEO]

The live music industry is crumbling beneath musicians’ feet, but that does not mean the music business is in trouble. There are still many ways to maintain your creativity and generate revenue while touring is on hold.

The Coronavirus has turned the music industry upside down. In less than a month, virtually every tour and music festival have been canceled, with more postponed. These decisions have left countless artists without tour income they need to survive. That, coupled with the global closure or restriction of most service jobs, have left the global creative industry in dire straits. People are scared, and it’s hard to say when those fears will be alleviated.

No one can magically replace the revenue lost from live events, but the music business is still very much operational. The latest episode of Music Biz hosted by James Shotwell takes a look at what artists can do to maintain their sanity, continue creating, and — hopefully — generate additional revenue.

Don’t let the fear of the moment convince you that hope is lost. The music industry is incredibly resilient, and so is the human spirit. Throughout our history as a species, music has played a significant role in helping us through tough times and celebrations. Music keeps people believing in a better tomorrow, and when the time is right, people will flock to live music once more. Until then, do your best to apply the advice above, and try to take this unprecedented event one day at a time. You cannot control the world around you but you can control your influence on others.

For additional advice on sustaining your career during the Coronavirus outbreak of 2020, please click here and here. If you want examples of these ideas in action, we highly recommend individuals check out our stories on Code Orange and Dropkick Murphys. You should also follow Haulix on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Categories
Artist Advice Editorials Industry News News

Two Big Mistakes Musicians Make When Contacting Tastemakers

Overcoming the biggest hurdle in DIY music promotion requires a little thing called human decency. 

Music tastemakers are some of the busiest people in the entertainment industry. Even the smallest publications receive dozens of requests per day for coverage. Bigger outlets, as well as widely-recognized writers, may receive more than one-thousand emails any given week. The majority of the time, outlets and writers are busy dealing with established talent and music that is quickly gaining momentum online. Those able and willing to cover lesser-known acts only have a finite amount of time for discovery, which is why making a positive and immediate impact on anyone you pitch is essential for your success.

We write a lot of blogs offering advice for reaching tastemakers. We have even gone so far as to create contact lists to help people reach playlist curators. However, no matter how much we write and discuss music promotion, industry influencers continue to complain about up and coming artists’ lack of preparation and respect. People at all level of the industry often contact us with concerns that people are nowhere near as passionate about professionalism as they are becoming successful, and that — for most — is a huge red flag. 

With that in mind, here are the two complaints we receive most often, as well as advice on how to avoid further frustrating music writers, podcasters, and YouTubers in the future.

Know your audience.

Very few tastemakers have influence over every area of music. There are exceptions, such as The Needle Drop, but most critics and influences earn their positions in the industry by specializing in certain areas of music. 

The same goes for publications. Pitchfork may cover more music than anyone has time to listen to, but there isn’t one person doing all the work behind the scenes. Pitchforks, as well as most music publications, rely on teams of people — each with their own specialties — to curate content people should experience. 

Few things will get your pitch for coverage denied or overlooked faster than failing to understand what the person you’re contacting covers. This is especially with playlists, which can be extremely specific in terms of the music they’re looking to features. When artists begin flooding tastemakers with material outside their coverage area it only serves to frustrate influencers and lower their interest in music discovery altogether. 

It’s hard enough for up and coming artists to get attention today without having to compete with people who spam critics because they were too lazy to research the people they were contacting. Don’t contribute to the problem of over-saturation. Research every person and publication before reaching out. Be sure your email is going to someone or someplace that values the type of music you create. Otherwise, you’re just wasting everyone’s time, including your own.

Make it personal.

There is no Mr. Pitchfork or Ms. Rolling Stone. However, without fail, artists constantly spam inboxes of publications and writers without addressing the people on the receiving end. 

Worse still is the large number of artists who write a single draft of a pitch letter that they then copy and paste to all press contacts with zero personalization. 

A good rule of thumb for promoting your music is to make every piece of outreach as personal as the music you’re trying to share. Your songs mean everything to you. They are a representation of who you are what you wish to share with the world. Your promotional materials are an extension of that representation. 

It’s perfectly acceptable to create a pitch template for promoting your music that shares the same basic information with everyone you contact. However, that template should be a starting point for messages and not the entire message. Your outreach should aspire to make everyone feel as if you want them to hear your music more than anyone else in the world. Let them know you admire their work and that you understand what they are passionate about in music. Talk to them as if you’re trying to make a new best friend. 

Nobody wants to feel like they’re being asked for a favor by a stranger who has no interest in who they are, how they’re feeling, or what they’re trying to do with their own career. Make people feel special. 

Categories
Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials Industry News News

How to Throw Multiple Listening Parties for $100 or Less [VIDEO]

Listening parties can engage fans, grow your community, and raise awareness about your next release like nothing else in music.

There is no promotional event as incredible as a listening party. For an hour or more, fans gather together to experience the latest release from their favorite artist. The energy and excitement in these gatherings are electric. Everyone there is present because the artist’s catalog does something for them that nothing else in music or beyond can duplicate. Listening parties are a celebration of music’s power to move people, and you deserve to have them for your next release.

But there is a problem. Historically speaking, listening parties are often considered an expensive affair. You have to rent a space, be it a bar or venue, promote the event, create and distribute marketing materials, and perhaps pay for refreshments. Fans have often had to pay for the experience as well, be it through tickets or drinks.

We have a solution. For less than $100, you can plan and execute numerous listening parties all over the world on the same night. We can walk you through everything you need, but it’s up to you to find an audience. The plan below will only work if you have devoted fans who want to see you succeed. If you have those, then follow these steps to create an event no one will forget:

First off, you need to communicate with your fans. Whether this is accomplished through a newsletter or private Facebook group for key followers doesn’t really matter. Tell your audience you are seeking devoted fans willing and able to host small get together for your upcoming release. The only requirements they need to meet are a location for the event, the ability to host the event when you plan for it to take place, a computer, and speakers capable of playing music loud enough for everyone to hear your music. Be selective with your choices. The fans you choose will be representing you and your music for the duration of the event.

Haulix is the platform you will use to share your music with party hosts.

Next, you need a Haulix account. Haulix is the industry standard for music promotion, and right now they are offering one month of service free to everyone who signs up. Visit the Haulix website, pick a plan that works for you (we recommend Beast Mode to begin), and complete your registration. Haulix is the platform you will use to discreetly share your new music with listening party hosts. The service also allows you to control the number of times the music can be played, when people have access to music, and more.

The Promos screen is where you upload your music.

Once your Haulix account is activated, you will need to add your music to the service. Log in to your account and click the Promos tab at the top of the screen. Create a new promo with the music you plan to share through your listening parties. Be sure to add artwork, release information, and any other details you feel fans should know.

After your music is uploaded, begin creating introduction clips for your listening parties. Audio or video introductions are acceptable, but video content adds a personal touch. You may even want to make different videos for each event. That allows you the opportunity to specifically address each crowd by mentioning their cities or states, which again, helps create a connection with those in attendance. You can add the videos to your Haulix promo or upload them to YouTube (leaving them unlisted).

Promo invitations grant party hosts access to your music.

With all your materials complete, deliver the videos and event details to each listening party host with personalized messaging that reinforces dates, times, and any other particulars. Then you need to use Haulix to invite your hosts to engage with the materials you uploaded. You can find a step-by-step guide for sharing music on Haulix using the company’s help site.

After the event, be sure to send thank you notes to the hosts and any attendees. Personalize the messages to ensure people know you appreciate the work and time they dedicated to promoting your work. You should also consider revoking access to the materials through Haulix to ensure the album or single does not leak in advance of its release.

Categories
Artist Advice Editorials Haulix Industry News

How To Reach Music Critics and Influencers [VIDEO]

Sharing music has never been easier, but reaching people in positions of influence is harder than ever before.

Despite reports that claim otherwise, music criticism is alive and well. There are more musicians than ever making and releasing more music than ever at a rate never anticipated, which is why people continue to turn to influencers and people they view as having authority for help with new music discovery. Most people do not have the time to constantly listen to artists they don’t know, but many are willing to listen to those that do. That is why influencers continue to matter, and it is why they will always have a role in music.

But there is a problem. The increased competition for attention has made reaching tastemakers in positions of influence difficult. For every new artist that receive a bit of recognition, there are dozens whose emails and DMs go unanswered. Having a great song doesn’t matter unless you can make people care about it, and sadly, most artists are incapable of accomplishing that task.

In the latest episode of Music Biz 101, our ongoing web series, host James Shotwell breaks down four tricks for engaging with tastemakers every artist needs to know. These tips are easy to follow, and they can be applied in every genre of music, but you will still need great music as well. Success in the music business today requires both business and creative skills. One without the other may get you far, but it won’t build a lasting career.

Categories
News

VIDEO: How to promote your unreleased music

A smart marketing campaign may propel your next release into the spotlight, but you can’t get there without actionable data.

Music promotion is harder than it used to be, and it’s growing increasingly difficult with each passing day. The old method of compiling a list of contacts that artists then send a generic email to with a single link to Soundcloud or Dropbox page rarely produces results. Even worse, the results such efforts do produce are hard to quantify. Here’s an example:

Let’s say I have a new single to promote ahead of its official release. I upload the song to Soundcloud, set the stream to private, and then send the share link the service offers to 500 media contacts. After a few days, I check and discover the song has 250 plays. That information is good to know, but there are many questions Soundcloud cannot help me answer: Who listened to the song? How many times did they listen to the song? Did anyone start the track, but not finish it? And if so, who?

While the low cost of Soundcloud or Dropbox has long been attractive to artists on tight budgets, the use of such services requires talent to sacrifice the most valuable thing in promotion: Data. 

In this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell addresses the drawbacks to promoting music on Soundcloud and offers a low-cost alternative method of promotion that is used by everyone from Chance The Rapper to Metallica.

You can join Haulix today and receive your first month of service free. Cancel anytime during that trial period and your credit card will not be charged.

Categories
Artist Advice Editorials Haulix News

You shouldn’t use Soundcloud to promote unreleased music. Here’s why:

Getting people to listen to your new music is important, but knowing who is listening and how much of it they consume matters more.

Your next release is the most important thing that has happened in your career. Whether it’s your debut single or your third studio album, everything that has happened in your life lead up to this moment. The record you’re preparing to share with the world is incredibly special, but to reach a wide audience you will need help from influencers and tastemakers all over the world. Successful music promotion will play a pivotal role in determining what happens next in your life, and it’s important that you do everything in your power to market your materials to the best of your abilities.

The problem is, every other artist with a potentially life-changing release is also seeking help from the influencers and tastemakers of the world. There are far more artists releasing music today than there are people in a position to help artists get ahead, and that has increased the already high difficulty of being noticed (let alone covered). 

For many artists, Soundcloud and Dropbox are go-to promotional platforms. Both services are free and easy to use, which makes them ideal for cash-strapped talent with limited time. However, the simplicity of both services comes with a drawback that is increasingly placing artists who rely on those platforms at a disadvantage.

Soundcloud and Dropbox, as well as the numerous sites like them, may make it simple for anyone to upload tracks and share them using a private URL, but that one URL is more of a hindrance than a gift.

Let’s say you send your new release to 500 media contacts. You watch the streams rise on Soundcloud, and after a few days, you’ve accrued dozens of plays for your new material. That’s a great start to any promotional campaign, as it means people are actively engaging with the material. That’s where the good news stops, however, because the services mentioned above cannot tell you the data that matters, including who listened to your music and what songs they streamed (or downloaded). It can’t even tell you who opened the email, which means you have to keep contacting the same 500 people with generic messaging in hopes someone replies to express their interest.

That approach to marketing is incredibly passive and impersonal. You’re engaging with an audience you cannot properly identify, and because of that, your ability to connect with those who care about your music is limited.

Active marketing requires data, which is why more and more artists are turning to services such as Haulix for their promotional needs. Haulix not only tracks email performance, but it offers in-depth analytics that tells artists who is listening to their music and how they’re engaging with the material (streams vs downloads) in real time. The platform empowers artists to create personalized follow-ups that only people who care about the material being promoted, which allows for better relationships to be cultivated throughout the music business.

The Haulix activity feed

Haulix also outshines Soundcloud and Dropbox when it comes to presentation. Every single private stream on either service looks exactly the same, offering little to no opportunities for branding or customization. Haulix, on the other hand, encourages artists to create beautiful album promos that showcase the art and aesthetic that accompanies your latest release.

You can try Haulix for free today by signing up on the platform’s official website.

Categories
Artist Advice Editorials News

Want to be discovered? Be a conversation starter

Everyone is a critic, but not everyone cares enough to say something.

There is no way to understate how the music business has changed in the last ten to fifteen years. Previous generations of musicians would bend over backward to connect with key critics and genre gatekeepers to establish their presence in the industry, but that approach to marketing has largely vanished since the rise of streaming and social media. That isn’t to say critics don’t matter because they absolutely do, but these days critics are a dime a dozen, and only a select few have enough authority that labels, PR, and indie acts alike will go out of their way to get their attention.

The funny thing is, even though there are more critics than ever before, getting those with a voice to notice you remains difficult. Everyone has the power to comment on everything via their phone or laptop, but our current internet culture encourages us to discuss the same thing as everyone else through trending topics. Coverage of Ariana Grande has a higher likelihood of garnering attraction from the masses than a feature on the next unknown artist that might change lives despite the fact everyone and their mother is already talking about Ariana Grande. It’s a strange catch-22 that the people who need attention the least attract the most press coverage, but that’s the nature of the beast that is music journalism.

The only thing that disrupts the system anymore are artists that force people who otherwise wouldn’t post about their work to pay attention because they position themselves for viral popularity. That can be accomplished through branding, appearance, lyrics, or something else altogether that sets a performer or group apart from everyone else in their field. It doesn’t have to be controversial to spark controversy, it just has to be interesting enough to warrant discussion.

Take Lil Nas X, for example. The Atlanta artist was relatively unknown when he uploaded his now incredibly popular song “Old Town Road” to Soundcloud in late 2018. However, the track’s country-trap sound caught the attention of music fans hunting for something new, and even those who didn’t love the material would share it simply because they wanted to discuss the oddity they had discovered. Those conversations lead to viral videos on the platform TikTok, which then lead to additional conversation around the artist and song.

Another example is Triple Crown Records group Heart Attack Man. Before releasing as much as a song from their Sophomore effort, Fake Blood, the band began creating a discussion for their record by claiming publicists and managers deemed it too violent, too dark, and too controversial. The group then built upon those efforts by warning fans to avoid their singles and videos if they were sensitive to violence and violent themes, so even before people heard the material they thought it was something unique. Their push to appear controversial went so far that they started and ran their own anti-Heart Attack Man group called Mothers Against Heart Attack, which has a Twitter account. When users click the group’s link to their newsletter, they are sent to Heart Attack Man’s newsletter instead.

The shared trait between Lil Nas X and Heart Attack Man’s recent success is the absence of traditional album and single promotion. There are no promoted posts, no YouTube ad buys, or magazine placements. Both Heart Attack Man and Lil Nas X are becoming household names because they took it upon themselves to do something they knew would stir conversation. They accepted the old saying that any press is good press and let the internet do what it does best: run wild with vague understandings about the things that momentarily holds its collective attention. Did they make people mad? Yes. Did they make people happy? Yes. Are both things ultimately good for the artists? Yes.

Anyone can buy exposure. The price point is low, but so is the likelihood of becoming successful based on promoted posts and advertising alone. The true key to success in today’s culture is being someone or some group that is able to get people talking about their efforts. All the paid promotion in the world cannot compete with word of mouth, so save your money and focus all you have on creating something that gets people talking.

Categories
Artist Advice Editorials News

The truth about music journalism and how to get covered in 2019

Getting press in music is harder than ever before, but with a few simple steps, you can develop a meaningful relationship with industry gatekeepers.

The competition for attention in music is fierce. Whether you’re seeking to reach consumers directly or trying to get press from genre gatekeepers, there is a countless number of competing talents vying for the same thing at any given moment. Those artists lucky enough to get ahead do so first and foremost because they possess that intangible ‘it’ factor that draws people in, but that alone doesn’t make a career. The only way to continually move forward, both with fans and members of the press, is through engagement.

You can find a million articles about engaging your audience, but far less tell you how to support the members of the press and music community who find time in their busy schedules to promote your work. It’s not hard to do so, but it does take time, and hopefully you will make the decision to engage that content more often after reading this post.

But first, a few hard truths about music journalism and promotion in 2019:

  • The vast majority of publications are writing less news posts because the traffic those posts receive is declining with each passing year. Most people get their news from artists via social media, which for many makes sharing anything that is not ‘a scoop’ or an otherwise exclusive/cool piece of information a waste of time.
  • Many publications, especially larger outlets like Rolling Stone, are featuring less new talent now than ever before. The reasons for this are numerous and unique to each site, but one common argument against new music coverage is that it often fails to generate traffic. The lucky few who do receive attention from these outlets earn their appearance by first developing a dedicated following online or creating something that is undeniably special. 
  • The term ‘exclusive’ means very little in 2019. There was a time when exclusivity existed online, but these days, most content can be embedded anywhere in a matter of seconds. What matters most is the information surrounding the content. For example, appearing in Rolling Stone may be a cool thing to brag about, but if a smaller site can offer more compelling writing to accompany your latest creation that site could potentially play a larger role in earning you new fans than RS.
  • Some sites will say yes to anything. Traffic is king online, and many sites are scrambling to grow their daily readership by any means necessary in hopes they can make a few pennies more from people viewing ads. That desperation leads many to agree to anything pitched their way, which in itself is not a bad thing. Promoting new music from young artists is something to be admired in a time when many don’t make time to do so. However, many sites who agree to everything put very little time into making any one piece of content special. 
  • Writers help artists they like before anyone else. If you’re lucky, someone with influence will discover your music and take an active role in promoting it without being asked. Most artists, however, are not that lucky. You should constantly be following and engaging with writers and publications online, as well as engaging with their content. Make yourself recognizable to them without coming across as someone trying to get something in return. Journalists are inundated with requests all day long, so try to not be another person in a long line of anonymous voices screaming into someone’s inbox for attention. In other words, be a decent human who treats others like they matter. 

Got it? Good. Back to the matter at hand.

If you can overcome the immense competition for the media’s competition it is in your best interest to show appreciation for the content creator’s work. It should be clear from the points above, but the market for coverage of new artists and music from largely unknown talent is quite small. Getting someone to pay for that coverage is basically impossible, which is why so many of the best new music writing and promotion comes from people working for free out of their home, dorm, etc. They write about the music they’re passionate about, and that passion is what their audience wants. It should be what you want, too. 

Whenever you’re lucky enough to receive positive coverage you should — at the very least — engage with the content in some small way (like, favorite, heart, etc.). That small act, which takes just seconds, tells the writer you see what they’re doing and you appreciate their effort. It tells them the time they spent crafting content to help promote your music instead of someone else was not time wasted, and it makes them feel as though they are part of something bigger than themselves. They are now part of your journey, and that connection to your career may very well lead them to cover you more in the future.

You will get further ahead if you actively engage with the content through sharing or commenting on content related to your group. These actions show appreciation for the content, but it also adds something of a personal touch, especially if shares are accompanied by original text. Like parents always tell us, saying “thank you” and being polite will get you far in this life. In music, showing appreciation through promotion and direct engagement tells writers that you respect their craft as much as they respect your art. It sends a message that their content is seen and felt, which is the same thing you are searching for as an artist.

Virtually anyone can get covered once or twice, but the key to consistent press coverage is networking and the relationships you develop over time. It’s work, but it’s work that’s well worth the effort required.

Categories
News

The new Haulix experience has arrived

Late last night, after more than a year of development, the new version of Haulix was made available to the general public. This is the best version of our system to date. We have completely overhauled our UI for press and clients alike, and we’ve also added several new features to help streamline the promotional process. 

A few highlights of our system:

Press Releases: Send out or schedule an announcement or email blast with important information about an artist, album or tour. Our email designer offers a drag and drop interface you can use to easily build emails with text blocks, images and links. We track opens and clicks and statistics are saved on a per-campaign basis.

Audio Promos: A promo is the generated web page your invited contacts will interact with when they consume your music, and it is at the core of everything we do. Create a beautifully designed, fully customized campaign in minutes with our evolved promo creation system. Add background imagery, change font colors, control transparency, and more! Upload your MP3 tracks, PDF docs, artist photos and cover art. Attach Vimeo & YouTube videos. Set the promo’s live and expiration dates and you are ready to email invitations to anyone in the world. 

Campaigns: Every promo invitation mailout or press release blast you send, whether to 1 contact or 10,000 is said to be a campaign. Campaigns have their own screens with a complete rundown of statistics. We track deliveries, opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes. Preview the email that was sent, view promo consumption stats or send a quick reminder to those who haven’t opened the email yet. 

Watermarks: Not all watermarking technologies are the same! Watermarking is a technique used to embed inaudible information into a music file; it’s like a digital fingerprint. The Haulix watermark will contain user specific information that allows us to identify which contact specifically downloaded or streamed a file and their geo-location. On average, each track will contain 15-20 watermarks which can survive most attacks such as re-encoding and conversion.

Learn more.

Exit mobile version