30, 20, even 10 years ago it seems there wasn’t as much required from artists in terms of promotion.
Artists who were signed to labels would have dedicated days to sit in a room in the record company office with a list of radio and magazines handed to them, with the time frames of which they would engage and be interviewed.
If you were lucky enough, you would have a schedule of TV performances and radio interviews organized for you, and all you had to do was be there, greeted by others within the label, at the given studio’s in each state/city, driven from place to place for radio interviews etc. etc.
Then there would be the shopping centre performances, and the meet and greets, and going to each music store….of course they would be aware you were coming in, so they would strategically place your CD where all could see. You would sign quite a few, have a chat, and then on to the next.
Now, 2018 is a whole different ball game. Or is it? It seems like there is more music than ever, or is this because it is now available to everyone, and artists have the resources to strut their stuff.
Even though there is so much now available to everyone, artists need to be strategic in terms of their music and promotion.
If you have recorded something, and have an average looking video (more available on video on a previous tips article here https://www.musictalks.xyz/single-post/2017/10/27/Video-And-Why-You-Need-To-Be-Doing-It-Now )
and you have contacted blogs and radio to give you a hand in playing and promoting, then it should also be your job as part of your music, to share it all. Yes it’s a lot of work, but you can’t expect to release anything only based on your music now a days. (as mentioned in this previous tips article https://www.musictalks.xyz/single-post/2017/12/15/Let-Me-Entertain-You)
I know by now, I shouldn’t be surprised by what I hear at times from artists, (lets not forget, I too am an artist) but these words keeps appearing right in front of me….. “I don’t feel obligated to retweet or share”….WT….?? Major Jaw Drop! This completely baffles me to every degree imaginable.
THIS IS YOUR MUSIC! This IS your obligation, at least it should be!
You can’t just sit on your cushy butt and JUST keep moving on to the next track. Why aren’t you promoting what’s just been released?
Did you know, the more you retweet, share, and communicate on your social media account, those platforms move you up and place you higher, giving those who have engagement, special mentions which go out to others who don’t even know you. Have you ever been in to the twitter search section? Seen who’s there…how do you think these posts in the special search section get there?
The same goes with Facebook, the more people who like and share the posts and those who comment and engage sends the algorithm a signal to say, ‘Oh, this must be of interest, we better send this out to more people’.
When you enter competitions or want to have your video’s placed somewhere where there is a possibility of being seen, don’t think of it as one dimensional. It’s not about winning! It’s about the string of events that can occur afterwards. Think beyond that one event. Someone else may very well really like what they see. They may follow you on social media to see what else you are up to, they may stand back and watch you for a while. If they don’t see dedication from you, what thoughts do you think they would have swimming around?
I’m always aware of who is out there. You never know who’s watching. They may not like or share anything of yours, but they may be watching. I know this from personal experience, where I have been contacted by top writers, TV from USA, high end business’s who have made contact saying they have been watching Music Talks for the last 2 years. Whoa! So you never know.
Another little peak of information for you….don’t always assume that a promotional platform is as it is. What I mean by this, is that when a platform is seen for the first time, majority of people would understandably assume this is all there is to it. However if a promotional platform is always active and changing things, adding to their sites, deleting things from their sites, moving things around….(ok, you get the idea) know that they are always trying to improve and grow to enable the promotion of artists to reach a higher audience. As in most businesses, they have a plans. If Plan 'A' didn't work well, they would move to plan 'B', even plan 'C'. If the promotional platforms as in blogs and radio are making mistakes while trying new things….they are serious.
If the support for those blogs and radio are also recognized by the artists and shared as well, those blogs and radio are shared beyond the current circle; they also grow, which ultimately means, more reach and larger audiences for YOU, THE ARTIST.
Again, this has to do with the one-dimensional way of thinking…as they say, ‘Read between the lines’.
Whatever an independent artist does, they can not think or to expect for their music to do the same as the major players. The major artists’ promotion is planned and executed via their major record companies and labels. They have all their interviews and TV performances set up for them.
You can’t expect to release your music and then wait for something to happen. It doesn’t work that way.
Independent artists need to use what they can and have access to and make the most of it.
Read music tips article here on how you should be submitting to blogs and radio https://www.musictalks.xyz/single-post/2018/03/02/How-To-Submit-Your-Music-To-Music-Blogs