10 Best Places to Promote Your Music Online
The internet has changed the music industry for good: technologies, streaming, social media, and eCommerce are giving artists more opportunities to expose their music to larger audiences and expand their fan base. Below you can find the 10 best places to promote yourself and increase your online visibility.
1. Create your own music website with Wix Music
Why Wix Music is the most encompassing marketing solution for you as a musician? Simply put, it has you covered with all the tools you need to promote. In particular, Wix Music helps:
Sell your music 100% commission-free, directly from your website
Spread your music to over 120 of the most popular music channels on the internet
Distribute your tunes to top online stores and streaming services like iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Rdio, and more
Push your gigs through seamless integrations with Bandsintown or Songkick to promote your shows and sell tickets directly from your website
Sell your merch by adding an online store to your website
Use beautiful templates that come ready-made with everything you need for a professional-looking website or totally customizable templates
2. Promote your shows on Bandsintown & Songkick
Both Bandsintown and Songkickhelp ensure that your next show is played to a packed house by promoting your shows, as well as let site viewers discover the hottest shows in their hood.
As an added bonus, connecting your Bandsintown or Songkick accounts to your Wix Music site automatically updates any new tour dates and allows ticket purchasing on your website without lifting a finger.
3. Get your own YouTube channel
YouTube is an incredible place to get noticed. For example, Justin Bieber and the Weeknd were discovered on this platform! If you’re itching to get your music to the masses, you better believe that you need a YouTube channel to get you started.
4. Host your music on Apple Music / iTunes
Apple Music & iTunes are widely regarded for hosting the largest online music library in the world. Moreover, the new Apple Music service helps users discover new tunes based on what they’re already listening to. Don’t be afraid to try it!
5. Add your music to Last.fm
Last.fm is one of the easiest ways for new fans to make your music their latest obsession. Add your music to Last.fm, and they’ll put you on playlists with bands that your fans already love.
Besides, if you’re part of Wix Music’s distribution offering, any music that you upload onto your site will automatically be spread across Last.fm.
6. Familiarize yourself with Reddit Music
Many of the viral things you see online made it to Reddit first, and that’s why musicians need to familiarize themselves with the Reddit Music thread. The community allows musicians to get a genuine feel for how their music is being perceived by audiences, but be careful, the hardcore users can be harsh on noobs. Just be respectful and authentic and you’ll make it just fine.
7. Upload your music to Spotify
Spotify has almost every recorded artist in their libraries, so you would absolutely want to be there too. With their super-amazing Discover tool for finding new artists, your channel might get connected with bigger names that play similar music.
8. Use hashtags on Twitter (@TwitterMusic)
Twitter is the perfect place for music fans to find their next favorite band. Allow them to find you first by using popular hashtags like #music, #rap, #jazz. Also, pay attention to hot music hashtags like #MusicMonday and #NewMusicFriday when operating your band’s Twitter account for added exposure.
9. Find music blogs
A music blog is always an excellent idea to keep up with the trends, know how to hype your next show, or even how to review your album that will earn you some serious street cred, and some genuine new fans.
10. Spread your music with Jukebox Live
Music and mobile are a combo as old as the internet itself; so needless to say, it’s just as important to spread your music on mobile apps as it is on popular websites. The soon-to-be-released mobile app Jukebox Live lets bands publish their gigs within its platform and others that the band hosts their presence. It makes finding live ‘cover’ bands easy to find in a geolocation and gives the audience a real-time interface to the band during performances. More to come, jukeboxliveband.com.