A Guide to Promoting Your Music Online | Top Websites for Promotion & Distribution

In this digital age, the promotion and distribution of music have been greatly advanced by the internet. Several websites now make it easier for musicians to promote their music as well as find a wider audience through social media. We will list these sites and online services later in this article.

Before the Internet and Digital Music Download Age

First, let’s dive into the history of music promotion and distribution. Before the internet and the introduction of the MP3 file format, music promotion was solely in the hands of large record labels that had big capital and network which was out of reach of most indie artists.

If you wanted your music heard you had to do a lot of footwork. Records and CDs were the main media and you had to get a distribution deal through a record label or sell it yourself to people in person.

An artist had to find a way to record their music or spend a lot of money in the recording studio trying to create that one hit song. Doing this independently was almost impossible for most.

Introducing the Internet and Digital Age

This all changed in the early 2000s when the internet and the release of the iPod with iTunes were introduced.

In 1999, Napster was the pioneer of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software services which were typically encoded in the MP3 format. Napster paved the way for streaming media services and transformed music into a public good for a brief period.

The instruction of digital recording and affordable computers made it possible for artists to make a home recording studio and do audio production. This made it possible for almost anyone to make music at their leisure.

Which musical artists were discovered via social media?

Social media is a cost-effective and great way to promote your music. People use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to discover new bands and artists. Major artists, you may know such as Justin Bieber, The Weekend, Soulja Boy, Ed Sheeran, Lil Nas X and many more began their careers via social media posting videos that went viral.

Many marketing strategies can be used to help promote your music. Some of the most popular ones include advertising on social media sites such as Facebook or paying for ads on YouTube, which can drive traffic to your website or landing page.

Why is it Important to Promote Your Music?

Promotion is important to get people to hear your music. It’s one thing to play your music to your friends and family, it’s another to reach the masses. The more listeners are exposed to your music, the more potential followers you can obtain. You can promote your music the old way by getting it played on the radio, by sending out press releases, and by sending out flyers to people in your area. Today, it is a different game and level playing field with the internet.

A lot of artists promote their music because they are trying to make a living off of it. They want their music to become famous so that they can be paid for it. Other artists do not care about making money off their songs, but they still want them to be heard because they are proud of what they have created. Neither the less, it all takes a strategy and promotion to be heard.

How To Setup and Promote Your Music Using Social Media

For someone to find your music on the internet, they need to know what your music sounds like, what kind of genre it’s from, your region, and what you call yourself as an artist.

Optimizing Your Social Network Pages

Just like web how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is done for a website to show up in search results, you need to optimize your social network profiles. So if somebody types in “Taylor Swift” they will find her songs more easily than if they type in “Taylor”.

1. Choose a catchy artist name that no one else has used. You want to have a brand that is unique to you so people can discover your music. This is probably the most difficult part as the name will stick with you for some time. Search the web and trademarks for a name you are thinking of using. Visit www.uspto.gov to do a trademark search.
2. Polish up your image by posting a professional profile pic. Don’t just take a selfie from your phone or webcam and use it for all your social profiles. Invest in yourself and it will translate to your image and product.
3. Add a descriptive bio telling the world about yourself. Make it interesting highlighting your life and artistry. People want to learn about you and who you are.
4. Add links to your music, products, and online store. You want fans to be able to find your music and products when visiting your social media pages.
5. Select your region and city for your page. Too often we want to do our promotion nation or even worldwide. The chances you will be discovered in another state or country are very slim. Start local first and reach your audience and create a buzz from there.

First, let’s get familiar with the top social media websites for music

For 2021, you should keep an eye on the following social media websites to promote your songs and albums:

1. SOUNDCLOUD

An online audio distribution platform and music-sharing website with over 250 million songs. Since this website is focused on just music, it’s a great place to showcase your music and get started.

 

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2. YOUTUBE

Online video sharing and social media platform with one billion monthly users. YouTube is a great site to post your music videos, behind-the-scenes, and promo videos.

 

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3. INSTAGRAM

Photo and video-sharing social networking service. Instagram is great for building followers through posting photos and videos.

 

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4. FACEBOOK

Social media and social networking services with more than 2 billion users. When you use Facebook be sure to create a business or artist page, not a personal profile. This will allow fans and followers to like your page.

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5. TIKTOK

Viewers can watch and discover millions of personalized short videos. The TikTok Commercial Music Library is a pool of over 150,000 pre-cleared, royalty-free tracks sourced from emerging artists and top-tier music houses. You can also get your music added to the library for users to use when you release your music on major outlets through the distributor sites we will cover.

 

Top 3 Digital Music Distribution Companies

 

1. DISTROKID

An independent digital music distribution service that puts your music into online stores & streaming services. DistroKid is one of the most popular and well-regarded music distribution companies with a yearly fee of $19.99 USD. Not bad!

PROS

• Submit as much music as you’d like for as long as you’re subscribed. Great deal if you release a lot of music yearly.
• You also keep 100% of the royalties you receive from streaming services.
• You can also make royalty splits when submitting music. This takes a lot of headaches away from sending out royalties.

CONS

• All your music will be removed if you stop paying your yearly subscription fee. This is not a problem if you access your account often and release music. But, if you release only one album and forget to pay the subscription all the submissions will be removed.

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2. CD BABY

One of the oldest and most popular distribution services that first started with CD duplication. The company has followed suit and now offers distribution to all the major online outlets just like its competitors.

PROS

• Pay only a one-time fee to distribute your music online. Currently, it is $9.95 USD per song or $29 USD per album.
• For additional fees, CD Baby can print your CDs or vinyl records of your music and distribute them to stores around the world.

CONS

• A 9% commission is taken out of each sale you make through them.

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3. TUNECORE

TuneCore has been around almost forever and is one of the oldest digital music distribution companies with a proven track record.

PROS

• Lets artists keep 100% of their revenue.
• Offer a Songwriter Services program that ensures you collect all of your songwriter’s royalties.
• Releases will stay posted on all store outlets and streaming services.
• Gives you access to more than 150 online music stores.

CONS

• Charges a yearly fee on a per single or per album basis. Currently $9.99 per single. $29.99 per album. $75 Publishing. The more music and albums you have, the more you pay over time which adds up.
• Services are more expensive than others.

How to Stay Sustainable in Music

What are the chances of you becoming the next big thing like Kanye West or even The Beatles? This is actually like winning the lottery. To stand out in the music industry, you need to have a compelling story. In the next article, we will teach you how to create that story and find your angle to keep your audience engaged.

Artists can make a living by generating content and getting paid for it

Generating content and getting paid for it is the first key to success as a musician. It can be done by producing original music, teaching, teaching online, or through classes if you are a musician, an audio engineer, or a producer. We will focus on how to be sustainable as a musical artist.

The most important thing is to develop the skills needed to generate original content such as music. This means making quality original music that you will copyright and own. At the end of the day, to get paid for your content, it has to be quality and competitive.

1. Hire a music producer (aka beatmaker) to compose original music tailored to your lyrics and musical needs. A lot of producers have a library of music instrumentals you can choose from and purchase as a lease or exclusive rights to own.
2. Write quality lyrics and content. Remember content and the “hook line” is the most important. If you want to get your music placed, it should be catchy and memorable.
3. Get your music mixed and mastered professionally. If you want to get your music distributed to all the major online outlets, you need to have your music meet the industry standards. Your music won’t be accepted by certain platforms if it doesn’t meet the specs.