Last week we attended the Bandwidth music and technology conference in San Francisco, which “brings together professionals in the music, media and technology worlds.” The first day’s sessions gave us great insight on the widening spectrum of strategies used to sell music—many of which are cheap and easy to utilize. Here are some tips on DIY music marketing:
Document Everything Practice recordings and backstage footage can be exclusive content today and may turn into archival gems tomorrow; there is great potential value in documentation.
Be Seen Fans want photos. The photo section is often the most popular section of an artist’s website—no matter what genre or subject. A photo gallery on your personal page and/or social media site can get a lot of clicks.
Don’t Underestimate YouTube YouTube trumps Myspace when it comes to audience and content selection. As the 2nd biggest search engine (after Google), a YouTube account is an invaluable marketing tool.
Tip: A good, unique cover song video can attract a lot of traffic to your account. This approach creates a pathway for potential fans to discover your original work.
Tweet Twitter, at its best, is a platform for sharing authentic content and building long-term relationships. Bands can use the site to become more accessible to their fans, creating a sense of intimacy and familiarity. Consistently making valuable posts (make sure to filter out the unimportant or uninteresting) is a good was to increase awareness. Frequent tweets also help search engine optimization (meaning you will appear higher on a list of search results).
Tip: It doesn’t all have to be about you. Bands and artists endorsing each other is a great way to show support and attract attention.
Good luck and happy marketing! Stay tuned for pt. 2 of our Bandwidth tips.
Pt. 1 produced by Sabrina Sierra