Why We Must Market Our Music

“There ought to be an artistic depot where the artist need only hand in his artwork in order to receive what he asks for. As things are, one must be half a business man, and how can one understand - good heavens! - that's what I really call troublesome.” - Ludwig van Beethoven

It’s very simple to make music.

Even if you spend a good budget on a professional music product, with amazing photos and graphics, the “making the music part” is kind of easy. And to be honest, it’s super fun!!

But the hard part comes after you make your dream recording. You’ve got this awesome representation of your music and ministry, but how in the world do you let the world know about it? How do you get the music out to the masses?

“And then….depression set in.” – Bill Murray, Stripes

This is the one place many artists fall down, and truly where artists who you see doing well are excelling. Sure, you’d think its easy for a major label artist to be seen and heard because they have a label behind them! But the real reason they succeed is that the label puts gobs of money and huge effort in the marketing of the music, not just in the making of a product.

Social Media Marketing - 3 Things to Know About Twitter

So far in our Social Media series we have tackled Facebook and YouTube, how they are useful, and how they best work for music artists and songwriters. Now let’s look at the platform you either love or hate: Twitter.

Personally, I think Twitter is right up there with YouTube as the most effective marketing tool, especially when you are trying to find an audience whom you may not know personally. Sometimes it’s even easier to market to this audience since they are usually not family or friends.

“Twitter is a very simple and immediate broadcast platform. Facebook is very personal when it comes to friends and when it comes to fan pages, (but Twitter is) a little bit less but still somewhat personal way to communicate.” - Mark Cuban

Also, you can hit Twitter way harder on a daily basis than you can Facebook, as the Twitter feed goes by much faster and is less intrusive than Facebook.

So here are three basic things to know about Twitter for the artist or songwriter trying to get it working for them.

Social Media Marketing Part 2 – Video

In our last article on social media marketing, we concentrated on the Facebook Page and how marketing on Facebook is one of the main strategies in marketing online. One of the most powerful things you can use on your Facebook post is a video.

Everyone knows that viral videos are what drive the internet these days. People become stars just from one video that goes viral online (Justin Bieber anyone?). But moreover, these are ways that the world is getting the word out about their brand. From blockbuster movie trailers, to silly ads about soft drinks, to funny or original music videos, these are the things we share, send to friends, or “like” all day when we look at our social media feeds.

So for you as a music brand, it’s crucial you use this important tool in your marketing.

Social Media Marketing Part 1 - The Facebook Page

The Facebook Page is a dedicated page on Facebook for your music that is NOT your personal Facebook account. You don’t get new “friends”, but people who “like” your page. This will not be a primer on how to set that up, but how to use it for marketing your music and ministry.

We find the Facebook Page to be the best social media device for artists, especially since most people use Facebook daily anyway. Also, it’s the best tool to reach family and friends as well as people who may not know you but find you through shares and ads.

Here are some tips we have seen work on your Facebook Page.

There Are No Rules

“There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.” - Helen Frankenthaler

It used to be easy to become rich and famous as a music artist. You played in front of that one guy, who realized your genius and signed you on the spot so nobody else could get you. Sure it took the alignment of the stars, an unlikely sequence of events, and the luck of the Irish, but it happened.

They spent lots of money on you, recorded that gold record, and off you went, riding the waves of the music business. Development, marketing, publicity, radio, touring, distribution, and then repeat the whole process. It was a set plan that had been perfected over 100 years.

Well, then physical product (CDs) stopped selling. Downloads and now streaming have changed the landscape of the music industry. A&R guys are now signing artists very few and far between, or, never. Even the major labels will tell you the landscape is more unpredictable on how they do things now.

In fact, the more I have meetings with producer, artists, A&R, publishers, and other various industry folks, the more I know one thing – nobody knows anything!

There just aren’t any hard and fast rules anymore on how to find success for your music and ministry.

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…

A few posts ago, we encouraged you to Get Your Music Everywhere, and this is the real why behind that post.

For years, we have watched the music business (really the ‘record business’) die along with the music industry. It’s been like a slow motion crash you can’t turn your eyes away from.

Lately, I’ve been reading a great book called “Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age”. One humorous part talks about the RealNetworks people who went to different labels including Sony, MCA, and EMI to offer them the ability to monetize digital files in the mid-to-late 90’s.

Youtube: The Best Tool You’re Probably Not Using Enough

"I'm perfectly happy for my videos to be on YouTube, whether I'm getting paid for them or not. If they're on YouTube, people will see them.” – Moby

For the music artists we work with, especially with ministry being the main goal of what they do, being seen and heard is important. Actually, getting your music and your message to the people of the world is why you started doing it right?