How to Promote Your Music

Promoting your music is necessary to create your own identity. Everything is being marketed these days, right from an oral-B toothbrush to a Boeing aircraft, nothing can be sold in this business minded world unless you promote it in the right way. If you thought that music cannot be promoted, as it is an art, a talent which needs just appreciation - you are wrong! Open your eyes and look at the big bad world of business where everything starts and ends with the cash flow! If you are related to the music business, you must understand the basic concept that your music is the product and the listeners are your end users. It is in your hands, whether to convert those listeners into your fans or let them search for someone else's music compositions.

As a budding indie or a songwriter, composer, or a musician, you might get a record deal for your songs, but that isn't enough for achieving success! The bridge between the end users and your product can only be filled when you turn your listeners into your fans, and they love and relate to the music you make.

10 Ways to Promote Your Music

1. If you are thinking where to begin, it can be ideally your own city or hometown, where you have pre-established contacts, and also people you have known for a long time. Do not jump into promoting your music without a plan. Planning is the first step for promoting anything.
2. Your image is your version of a better you! Ever heard of "brand label" in the field of marketing? Well, that is exactly what you need in the second step! Your image is like food to your music. To promote your music you need to have a good promotional package. Your talent should come in a package of band name/artist name, performance, style and look, and your range of merchandise too! So try to be innovate and create your own style! Burn some CDs and DVDs of your recordings and hand out those to local pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, coffee shops and hotels, and even in educational institutions. This will certainly help you in getting live performance offers. Do not forget to add your band name/artist name and contact information on the CD/DVD. Remember, your name is more important than the name of your work. I strongly recommend on getting your CD/DVD copyrighted.
3. Marketing your music on social networking sites is the best way to promote your music online. But you should now understand that the Internet is global. It will have promotional messages of artists from all over the world. What you need is ex cogitation, to stand out from the crowd of more than a zillion! Reckon out of the box.
4. Upload videos of your live performances, recordings and gigs on websites that support video uploads. Is that something you have seen happening with hundred other local bands? Well, as I said, think out of the box - upload your behind-the-scene-videos or making-the-song videos so that the listeners can relate to your music and have fun while watching your music videos!
5. Create your own website. Buying your band/artist name URL will fetch you great Internet traffic and page clicks! You can also create your own web page on any of the social networking websites. If you create any of these, make sure it is easy to navigate and uploads quickly on any Internet browser. Have your own support group consisting of friends, relatives and family members.
6. If you are on the Internet, the whole wide world is watching you. And that wonder called Internet, survives on page links, creative content and keywords. So, keep posting links to your videos, website and web pages on online music directories, music blogs, music forums, music magazine website and other lifestyle and dating websites where Internet traffic is high. Send the album music reviews, press releases, photos of live performances along with some content to the local newspapers and music and lifestyle magazines.
7. Getting feedback is like refueling! When you upload a video on the Internet, make sure you keep a feedback box right below the video. Make sure you keep "Email ID" and "Area/City" fields mandatory for all the readers. This will create a database of email ids and addresses of people who liked or disliked your music. Once you get these email ids, you can forward each one of them your new videos with a personal message and keep them updated with what music you have been making. Personalization helps in selling anything! But do not spam mail.
8. Today there are many indie radio webcasts available that can get you live on radio! It is a simpler alternative to a live performance. Besides this, professional pictures are also important. Hire a photographer, choose a cool location and click some professional pictures of your band along with your band merchandise and logo. When you post these pictures on your website, webpage or blog, it will create a buzz everywhere! Professional pictures are taken very seriously in the music industry.
9. Try to understand your fans' likes and dislikes, their tastes in music, where do they shop, their hang out place, where do they live and so on. Having done that, practice, jam and play some more. Try getting gigs in few parts of the town on a Friday night and other few parts of the town on a Saturday night. Try to do mini-tours around your town. You might also get to know their addresses from the feedback forms. So do not waste your time on playing in an area where you have no fans!
10. Person-to-person promotions work the best in the field of music and art. Meet new people around town and tell them about your music and band. Get people to talk terms. But do not become an open book. A little networking and meeting the right people by being down to earth is the key to long-term success.

You may be a gem of a music artist but without promoting your music in the right way, your talent will lead you nowhere.