The music industry has changed significantly ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be hard to navigate how to promote music in 2021, but we have some good news! The internet has given businesses and artists many tools to grow organically and reach all new heights. Artists and labels are finding new ways to get their music noticed and heard by wider audiences. It’s just a matter of understanding how to utilize these technological offerings.

TikTok:

Back in 2017, when the platform first came out, not many artists or labels expected TikTok to blow up the way it did. It is now a leading marketing tool in the world of music. TikTok controls the charts, develops artists and creates loyal fan bases. This is such a great tool to use for artists to debut a new song or album in an entertaining way. Whether you’re a major label or a popular artist, if you are wanting to pursue TikTok, you need to jump on it pronto. There are many trends, however, they usually last about a week or two and then a new one comes along, taking the spotlight. To gain some leverage, try a trend not once but a couple of times because you may not succeed on the first try. You have to keep in mind that TikTok works fast and trends come and go. 

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Another trend we are seeing on this platform is artists working with influencers. The artists either hire or collaborate with these well-known influencers to drive more traffic and streams to their album or song. While they do this, they make sure to stay true to their brand. Do not lose perspective with this because you still need to bring attention to your overall message and stay on-brand with your music. As long as you’re pushing out creative content that you know your fans will enjoy, you will see a positive change in reaction.

Have a story:

Narrate your main message, vocalize it and use it your advantage. When your track or album has a strong narrative, that’s when it can go viral. Fans can become obsessed with a narrative when it’s impactful enough. Get your story out there and let people talk about it! Be aware of the fact that people want to engage with other people who have the same interests. They like to see content that is relatable, so when you are developing or thinking of your own story/narrative, make sure it will resonate with your fan base. 

If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s to adapt. Music fans have had to adapt to the changes of the music industry (no more meet and greets & no more concerts). In turn, artists needed to come up with new ways to get their music out to their fans through platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud and social media. The successful artists brought light onto their music because they created an impactful and emotionally driven message that stuck with audiences. Moral of the story is when you develop a strong narrative, that is what can make your music memorable.

Social media ads:

Artists can boost their organic reach, make great content and promote their music all in one go with a stellar ad. What’s more, they have access to data and analytics which can help them determine why exactly an ad didn’t do so well or why it was successful. To put it simply, artists or record labels can use this helpful information to improve their ads in the future. Remember, this will be a learning process at first but if you bring social media marketing professionals into the mix, this could increase your chances by 1000% as they know the ins and outs of social media advertising.

Focus on engagement and streams. If you are engaging with audiences and they are engaging with you back, that is how you can make your way up in the music industry this year. Make sure to include different style ads to spice things up, the last thing you want is to bore audiences with the same kind of ads each and every time. Be creative! 

Here’s a big trend that we have noticed in the music industry: story ads . Social media users like to listen to stories, in fact, 70% of them are more likely to have the sound on in stories rather than in their feed. Therefore, artists should make use of swipe-up story ads because this is an easy way to interact with fans and vice versa. Of course, with any sort of content, it’s smart to plan ahead. Go into this with the aim of people commenting and interacting with your post.

Take advantage of these amazing tools to better your music marketing. This is your year to shine, so get ready!