To get noticed in the digital age, it’s not enough to have great music. It’s essential that you know how to promote music online and make sure you stand out with something unique.

YouTube

YouTube is currently the biggest video service on the internet, and one of the best ways to promote music online. Uploading your music with a static photo is a good start it will not be enough to get you any views. You need something more to grab and hold the viewer’s attention.

If you do not have a budget for a fancy video, a lyric video is a great way to show your music on YouTube. You can easily put one together in the most basic video editing software like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker.

If you are looking for something more flashy, you can hire a freelancer instead. A quick search for ‘lyric video’ on Fiverr shows over 300 lyric video creators, with many prices well below $60.

Facebook Groups

It goes without saying that your band needs a Facebook page. It’s the best way to show new content, promote events and connect with your fans. I assume you have one, so instead, I will focus on Facebook Groups.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, we had internet forums. These days a lot of people have migrated to Facebook Groups for talking about all sorts of topics. It’s worth finding a few groups specific to your music genre. For example, if you are an Italian folk band, find groups that are dedicated to Italian folk music; if you play indie rock, search for groups focusing on indie rock music.

Just to give you an idea about the results, I’ll share a story about my first YouTube video – a tutorial about ‘PRS guitars winged tipped tuners‘. I found multiple Facebook groups focused on PRS guitars and posted the link. The posts reached more 3500 people, out of which about 10% actually clicked on it and saw the video. That’s not too bad for a first time, but I’m sure I would have gotten a higher watch conversion with a little tweaking of the wording I used in my posts.

It’s crucial that you engage your audience and instead of pasting a link and saying ‘check this out’. Try asking for feedback or a critique, because engagement leads to higher view counts. For example, if you post your song in the ‘singer/songwriter’ group, try asking for opinions about the chord progression. The more active the discussion in your post, the more people will see your work, so remember to post engaging content!

Collaboration

Once again, YouTube is worth mentioning. This time as a collaboration platform. You probably have seen videos of your favorite content creators featuring a guest in one of their videos. In most cases, this is well planned and makes perfect sense from a business perspective.

While every YouTube channel is unique, there are always common elements that overlap. Think of all the guitar related channels, where you see Fluff with Jared Dines battling Rabea Massad in ‘Riff Wars’, or Rob Scallon featuring Leo from Frog Leap Studios.

These channels above cater to people who are interested in guitar and share a potential common audience. By collaborating on a video, both creators can be exposed to a new audience which is already interested in videos about guitar. Just make sure it’s not cheesy or forced.

High profile YouTubers are usually inside of partner networks (often with a membership fee), so unless you have something unique to offer, it won’t be easy to break into that group. Instead, find somebody who not only has common content but also a similar number of subscribers.

A very different approach is reaching out to an unrelated channel – one about makeup, news, a vlog, or any other topic. These often are in need of royalty free, original music.

Streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

Want to hear your music on Spotify? It’s never been easier to release your own music.

Services like Distrokid make it very straightforward to upload your music to multiple streaming services at once. They charge a low flat fee and you get to keep 100% the profits. They even take care of cover song licensing for you.

Majority of people listen to music through streaming services, so putting your music on Spotify or Apple Music is great for exposure. Additionally, it helps you secure another revenue stream by getting paid for every play or when somebody uses your song in a Youtube video.

That being said, set your expectations right. Streaming does not pay a lot of money until you reach a certain level. However, it’s fantastic for exposure and pretty darn cool to see your music there.

Link your content

So you have a great website for your band (if you don’t, check out band templates from Wix), now what? Your website is not worth much unless people know about it.

Make sure to cover the basics of search engine optimization (read more here). Also keep in mind that the more outside links point to your website, the higher your visibility score.

What does that mean in practical terms? Link all your social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.). Make sure they have a link to your website in the ‘about’ section, use links to your website in your Facebook posts, add them in the description of each YouTube video, add ‘YouTube cards’ on your videos that let your viewers click a link and directly go to your site.

Don’t forget to be considerate and help to promote other bands and services as well! When you post photos from your show or mention another band you played a show with, use proper Facebook tags that link back to their Facebook page. For example, instead of writing ‘We will be playing with Wet Oreos tonight!’, write ‘We will be playing with @wetoreos tonight!’. Facebook will automatically convert that into a link. It’s good for you and it’s good for them!

Cover songs

When you are at the start of your musical career, chances are people will not be searching specifically for your songs. There are a number of well-established artists that have started their careers with a great cover song to, later on, promote their own music.

How will this help promote your music online?

First of all, people have a natural bias towards familiar things, so they will be more likely to click on a cover song they know instead of a completely unfamiliar one.

Secondly, if somebody is looking for example for a Beyonce song and you happen to have a great cover song, you have a chance of it showing up as one of the video recommendations. As a result, people are much more likely to click on it. If they like what they hear, you have much higher chance of them checking out other songs you have posted.

Final words

These are just a few simple ideas to get you started. Don’t end there, be creative! There are a ton of different ways to get exposure without spamming or annoying people. If you have some cool strategies that worked for you, share them in the comments below!