6 Platforms for Organic Music Marketing for Artist Growth [Updated]

Despite the fact that the digital music market is more competitive than ever, the expansion of platforms and mediums has democratised access to music. Previously guarded by labels and distributors, the doors to the music business are now open to everyone.

The development of a 360-degree marketing plan that connects with every potential opportunity and reaches all of these audiences is therefore the actual issue of music promotion in the twenty-first century. And to achieve that, you need the correct tools.

Every music marketing tool has a purpose in developing, organising, and disseminating your content (and your message) so that it reaches the right people at the right time, from platform-specific advertising managers to CRM tools and link shorteners.

As the ultimate tool to bring everything together, we developed Soundcharts, a platform that collects data from all sources (local or worldwide, digital or analogue) and organises it into insights that can be used to inform your marketing plan. Soundcharts monitors the effectiveness of your marketing activities and provides you with data that is essential for streamlining your approach and effectively attracting new consumers. We are by no means the ONLY answer you will require, though; other tools handle the outreach and marketing work.

That’s why we put up this list of our top organic music marketing strategies to advance your profession.

The top 6 ways for organic music marketing

There are countless ways to support an artist. Get your music matched to a hit movie (or a video game), get on the radio, participate in TV promotion, raise your PR game, go on tour, invest in digital ads, and the list could go on and on. In a sense, the entire music business is focused on helping artists reach new audiences and advance their careers.

We couldn’t possibly discuss the entire procedure in one blog article because it is so complex and subtle.

However, we can help you get the most out of your marketing budget and achieve some fast wins along the road by sharing some of our favourite digital tools.

1. Pandora for Artists

You may optimise and raise your performance on the platform with the help of the tools provided by Spotify for Artists. Starting with personalising your Spotify profile, you may obtain vital information about playlist additions, streams, and followers/listeners.

Playlist additions are essential to Spotify performance, and Spotify for Artists level the playing field for independent artists by giving you a direct line to pitch your music to Spotify’s editorial staff.

2. Promozle

To assist you evaluate your marketing plan and determine what is (or isn’t) working, Promozle compiles all the numerous data points. Your can viewed by across the music industry using the Promozle platform, which includes:

• Social media effectiveness
• Metrics on streaming usage and playlist exposure
• Thousands of digital charts, including those for Shazam, YouTube, and Instagram Stories
• Real-time analytics information
• Mentions in online media
• Get real subscribers on YouTube video
• Never drop views, likes and comment

Marketers have access to insights with Soundcharts that can be used to find new possibilities, highlight high-potential markets, evaluate the success of your campaigns, and make data-driven, strategic marketing decisions.

You may create your own path to success by accessing all music marketing metrics in a single, real-time dashboard. No credit card is needed to try Soundcharts for free.

3. Video Boosters Club

One of the world’s largest online forums for music industry professionals, Video Boosters Club serves as a fantastic central location for music marketing resources on a variety of platforms, including but not limited to:

• more subscribers
• targeted ads on streaming services and social media
• User ratings on crowdsourced reviews of your music
• Widgets for viral marketing
• electronic press releases with tracking

4. Hubspot (CRM)

Music industry executives may create and implement a cross-platform marketing strategy using Hubspot, a full-suite CRM solution, then evaluate its effectiveness and make adjustments going forward. All of your marketing initiatives (emails, blogs, social media posts, and adverts) can be centralised on HubSpot, where you can also track precise data.

5. Show.co

Show.co offers a selection of music marketing products, such as:

Spotify Pre-Store: To encourage early streaming, allow fans to save your music on Spotify before it is launched.

Create distinctive debut websites for your YouTube videos with YouTube Premiere to increase view counts and strengthen your identity.

Create and run advertisements on the biggest streaming networks, Spotify and iHeartRadio.

Place banner advertising on well-known music websites, such as Rolling Stone and Billboard.

6. ToneDen

Music industry experts particularly value ToneDen as a marketing tool for live concerts. ToneDen allows you to:

The event lifecycle should be covered in marketing playbooks.

Create original landing pages

launch marketing initiatives on social media and email

7. Amplify

Giving your fans a Spotify link is probably not the best course of action because they are dispersed over numerous platforms. Digital music marketing relies heavily on content sharing, which is streamlined in a number of ways by a link shortener like Amplify:

• Make your links more unique by adding images, metadata, or videos.
• Monitor the number of clicks on your links.
• Publish landing pages and clever links.

8. Buzzstream

An outreach and PR tool called Buzzstream automates crucial steps in link building and marketing. You can construct a link building database and send out mass pitches that are customised for certain audiences. A great resource for locating social media influencers in your niche is Buzzstream.

9. Twitter Bots

As you get traction, it gets harder and harder to interact personally with your audience. You may interact at scale and deliver mass personalised direct messages to your listeners using social media bots. The recent campaign by the animated band Gorillaz, which allowed fans to talk with “imprisoned” band member Murdoc through direct messaging on Facebook, is an example of how well it works for viral marketing efforts.

What Are the Differences Between Marketing Platforms and Tools for Musicians?

The various venues where musicians can sell their music and engage with their audience include streaming services, radio, and social media. On the other hand, you can assess your performance and increase your success on these platforms by using marketing tools.

Marketing platforms and tools go hand in hand: you can’t reach an audience without a presence on key digital platforms, yet slicing through the clutter and developing a winning marketing plan requires the proper tools — and the correct insights.

Various Music Marketing Platforms: 6 Types

The following categories can be used to categorise the different sorts of music marketing platforms:

1. on social media

To gain a following on social media, you must, however, be aware of the characteristics of your target audience and set objectives for metrics like online mentions or content engagement. Your fans are the media in the age of digital sharing, and they occasionally have a lot more clout than traditional means of communication. Don’t disregard alternative outlets, though. Your complete communication plan should include social media marketing as just one element.

2. Advertising

Since you can choose the people you interact with as well as the time and venue of your conversation, digital advertising can be quite valuable. You can target people based on their demographics (age, location, income, etc.), musical preferences, and interests by using advertising on social media (for example, Facebook ads), search engines (for example, Google AdWords), digital displays, or even digital audio platforms like Spotify and Pandora.

Due to its low relative cost of reach and location-based nature, OOH (out of house) advertising is maybe the sole format used by the music industry experts when it comes to physical space. However, it continues to be reserved for performances that appeal to larger crowds.

Paid advertising is a fantastic way to reach an audience, but it should be used carefully because the traffic you get won’t stick around for very long if you can’t generate genuine interest on other platforms and channels.

3. Direct-to-Fan Communications (CRM)

The two marketing channels mentioned above can help you attract new listeners, but direct engagement with your fans is essential for building a devoted following. Music is first and foremost a passion and an integral element of people’s identities. In the music industry, direct engagement may go a long way in establishing a stronger relationship with your audience.

You can create a close-knit group of supporters by sending them emails, texts, or direct messages on social media, either manually or automatically (and consistently support you).

4. providers of online services

Numerous DSPs make up the landscape of digital music consumption, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Soundcloud. Gaining exposure to the users of these platforms is essential for increasing your fan base and your professional profile.

The playlist placement is one of the most important ways to contact the audience of the various streaming services. The playlist strategy is now at the centre of every music marketing effort because of this.

Playlists on DSPs may often be categorised into one of five categories:

• Official playlists created by the staff of the appropriate streaming platform
• Major brands that own and curate major playlists
• Playlists created by unaffiliated influencers that are third-party
• Personalized playlists produced by the DSP’s algorithms
• fan-made, user-generated playlists

You need to establish your story on the other channels to convert streaming viewers into fans who will attend your gigs because the playlist space can be a great way to reach new fans but also runs the risk of reducing the artist to just another name in a long list.

6. Platforms for User-Generated Content & Word-of-Mouth

The social phenomenon has always been music, and the internet age has sped up global communication. A new musician can suddenly become a global sensation overnight thanks to digital word-of-mouth (WOM).

Although TikTok is the user-generated content platform that everyone is thinking of right now, fan-driven content can also exist on Twitter, YouTube, and Spotify (remember the user-generated playlists?) But you must keep in mind that virality doesn’t just happen; it’s always fueled by a sound strategy.

Six top platforms for marketing music

1. YouTube

The most widely used video-sharing website is the starting point for music promotion, so that’s where you should submit your content first:

• Every day, people watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube content.
• By far, music is the most-watched type of video (27%).
• On YouTube, music videos account for 95% of the most popular videos.

2. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

These three social media sites are where the majority of the digital world congregates, so being active on each is essential to expanding your reach.

You are familiar with the procedure. Twitter, the hub of all things viral and word-of-mouth, is the playground of the majority of influencers and aspiring music journalists, with 330 million MAU. People will learn about your live events on Facebook, which has a whopping 2.38 billion MASU and is the most popular social networking platform globally. With 1 billion MAUs, Instagram is a terrific platform to develop a distinctive brand and design.

Each platform needs a customised strategy because each has a distinct specialty, audience, and—most important—content format.

3. Spotify

With 365 million active users each year, Spotify has the largest users of any music streaming service in the world and has 31% of the market. Depending on your plan, your objective can be getting featured by the “middle-tail” of third-party influencers, who can bring enormous exposure and transform careers, or getting included on editorial or label-owned playlists. The latter is simpler to accomplish, yet it still requires effort and time, and as a result, the advertising impact of a single plug is diminished.

These days, even a single song included on well-known Spotify playlists may change the game, thus playlists should be the focus of any music marketing strategy. But keep in mind that the album is still an essential artist-focused medium.

4. TikTok

The latest topic of obsession in the world of music marketing is TikTok. Users of the platform can transform music into memes that are suitable for sharing, and it turns out that these can be very effective. Making your music accessible to users so they can create their own content and spread word-of-mouth is the new frontier in music marketing. The innovator in this emerging market is TikTok.

TikTok proves that your audience is your most valuable source of media since they share, interact with, and promote your YouTube video on Twitter and Facebook. But make no mistake—even Lil Nas X’s meteoric ascension on the platform was the result of a meticulously planned marketing campaign that focused on social media sites with high viral potential.

5. AMP for Pandora and Spotify

Spotify and Pandora have more than 150 million combined “ad-supported” users, which presents a significant chance to reach new audiences. The holy grail of advertising is being in front of the consumer at the point of purchase, and audio adverts can help you promote your music to new listeners while they are really listening to it.

Additionally, since Spotify and Pandora allow you to target your fans at the ideal time – while they’re listening to your music — the streaming platforms are perfect for connecting with fans and marketing live events.

6. Radio

Radio is one of the most effective media for attracting new audiences, while not being the all-pervasive force it once was.

The effectiveness of radio varies by market and by audience, with an older demographic predominating among listeners (young listeners nowadays prefer streaming). However, despite the fact that its exact significance depends on your target market, radio exposure is unquestionably an essential performance measure and a crucial element of success.

Conclusion

Finding new listeners for your music demands an approach that meets the digital masses on their own turf, whether it’s listening on YouTube or Spotify, browsing Rolling Stone and PitchFork, or turning your song into a meme on TikTok. No marketing technique will make your music better. Each of these platforms and technologies will help you reach a new audience segment, but in order to continually hone, iterate, and improve your approach, you need the data that connects them all.

We adore the music industry because it is constantly innovating. Music industry professionals must remain flexible and constantly innovate in order to stay ahead of the curve. Marketing methods that were effective yesterday may not be effective today. Often, finding this quiet place is a question of going out there and trying new things, and using data to see if that’s something worth exploring further. Learn more about how Soundcharts can assist you in achieving this.