1. Provide Free Samples
Many websites let you host your music for free, including YouTube, Spotify, and Songza. This is a great way to check to get new fans, even before you start to monetize your music. YouTube even gives you a chance to pick up a couple of bucks from ads.
2. Get Some Art
The Internet has made life very difficult for illustrators to make a living, but this works out great for first-time musicians looking for cover art. You can commission high-quality art for super cheap. Check out Guru and other freelancer sites. Even websites like Etsy have illustrators that will leave you grateful to learn how little album art can go for these days.
3. Offer Options to Consumers
Not everyone wants to install iTunes. If you want to sell a lot of music, go beyond.
First, get on iTunes. Then, look at getting on Amazon, Google Play, Rhapsody, Amie Street, and MasterBeat. Additionally, if you want to make more money per track, sell directly from your website using plug-ins. If you want less work, you can use a distribution service like Tunecore to get on a whole mess of different providers.
4. Never Give Up Rights to an Online Distributor
There are some good reasons why an artist might give up rights to a major label, but no good reason to do this for an online distributor. Keep your rights so you can sell music any way you want.
5. Market from as Many Platforms as Possible
Get a personal website, a professional Twitter account, and a Facebook page. You may also want to build a presence on music websites, music journalism outlets, and content aggregators. Many music forums allow you to self-promote by posting links and other content.
Many people don’t like using different platforms because it seems like a lot of work, but software social media managers like Hootsuite make it easier. With Hootsuite, you can manage all your accounts from one login.
6. Different Platforms, Same Brand
Your brand- your main search keyword- and the names of all your websites should be the same phrase. If your brand is “TomThompsonMusic,” then that phrase should be in every URL you use. Make it the name of your professional Twitter feed, Facebook page, YouTube channel, comment account, and other platforms. Cross-link all these so people can easily find their way between your content.
Getting your music out to the world isn’t an easy task. If it were, everyone would be able to do it! If you give the extra effort and these Sundown tips, you’ll be able to get your music across the world nearly instantly.