[UPDATED] “Um, we just released our new album… can you help us publicize it?” I cannot even begin to count the number of times artists have called my office and said this (or something very close to this). There’s a HUGE problem with this retroactive approach…
It takes a few weeks to get all the assets together that you need to launch a marketing campaign for your music. Then, if you are looking for PR, it takes several more weeks to pitch your music to blogs, and land a premiere and follow-up features. If you’ve already released your album, you lose a lot of credibility and leverage with higher profile blogs. And if you have a set release date that’s like, next week… well, you’ve got a problem.
You put a lot of work into your art. So much time, so much energy, so much love goes into creating music that you really believe in. But if you want people to pay attention to your musical genius, then you need to put just as much work into marketing and promoting it!
To get the most publicity and exposure possible, you need to ruthlessly plan every aspect of your album/EP release. Are all your social media channels in place and regularly updated? Are you getting good fan engagement? Are you familiar with some music blogs that feature your genre (and are attainable)? When are you releasing the single? Are you making videos? Do you know how to pitch your music to appropriate blogs? Have you planned a release party? How are you going to monetize your music, and keep the momentum going after the release?
Sorry, I don’t mean to overwhelm you. But being a successful independent musician is hard work, and these are all things you need to think about.
My team and I wrote a series of blog posts designed to help artists plan and execute their own marketing strategies. Read all three posts here.
Think your marketing strategy is ready to launch? Download our free Music Marketing Plan Checklist, and make sure you’ve got all the moving parts in place!