As an artist, you’ll know that to become successful you need to market yourself and that social media and marketing go hand in hand. Whether...
As an artist, you’ll know that to become successful you need to market yourself and that social media and marketing go hand in hand.
Whether you’re looking to self-promote or build up an online following, here are the best platforms you should be using.
1. Gotchscape
As an artist, creator, label or industry, you can create a professional profile on Gotchscape for free, include all your key info and links, add all your media and assets like music, lyrics, events, videos, pictures, merch and more, all organized into a clean, concise space.
The perfect platform to showcase your work and interact with fans.
2. Instagram
Instagram is huge, It allows you to target your potential audience and beyond through the power of photos. The content you post doesn’t always have to be music related so it doubles as a way of showing off your personality and connecting with fans.
3. Facebook
With Facebook having 1.5 billion monthly users it’s clearly a no brainer as to why artists need an official page. It’s a good way of reaching the audiences who somehow still aren’t Instagram users. Facebook has the potential to kickstart a career.
4. LinkedIn
It’s not the first choice for many artists but LinkedIn is great if you’re a musician who is concerned with the business side of music. Not only can you build connections with people who could become beneficial to you in your career, it acts as a CV meaning self-promotion has never been easier.
5. YouTube
If LinkedIn is a written CV, YouTube is a visual one. YouTube is a popular tool for discovering new music and an easy way for upcoming artists to build an audience. It’s a top search engine for all things music and it’s also a handy way to post engaging music videos and catchy lyrics that are bound to create a buzz around you, boosting your career. Justin Bieber started out by having his mum post videos on YouTube and look at what that did for him.
6. Snapchat
People like to know what other people are up to. It’s what keeps them going. Snapchat is like a voyeuristic dream. Having a public Snapchat can be a great way to promote yourself as an artist and express yourself beyond your music. Your audience will tend to like you if they can relate to you and in return, this will help you become more marketable.
7. Soundcloud
Soundcloud is good for user feedback and it’s great for discovering new music and genres. You never know who could end up on your page and you can easily build up a pool of listeners and even co-creators. With 75 million monthly users, relatively unknown artists can potentially reach millions of listeners worldwide. It’s also useful for sending tracks privately between yourself, producers and labels.
8. Tumblr
Tumblr is a great place to reach new fans through blog post and feeds. It’s one of the oldest social platforms around and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon so be sure to get yourself a free profile. Here’s how Tumblr describes it – “Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It’s where your interests connect you with your people.”
9. Twitter
It’s important that your followers can communicate with you on Twitter and not just your management; taking time out to reply shows fans that you care. Participating in trending topics gives you greater visibility and drives people to your profile and marketing your art correctly on Twitter can help you go viral in hours. Just be careful not to over-promote and spam your followers’ timelines.
10. Bandcamp
Bandcamp is like an online record store that allows fans to pay artists directly for their music and you get a hefty cut too as they cut out the middleman. You can sell merchandise which can easily be set up using their high tech interface. The biggest advantage of using Bandcamp is that you are the one who controls how your music is distributed.
It’s important for you as an artist to take advantage of the convenience of social media. Not only can you download these apps and upload your songs within minutes, you can build up a fan base and keep in contact with them at the touch of a button.
The best thing about these platforms is that it is free to join every single one of them, so there’s really no excuse for you to not be creating a profile on Gotchscape right now!
