Streaming platforms are the lifeblood of modern music. At the turn of the millennium, YouTube was regarded as a small space for the 'little guy'. Today, YouTube has over one billion active users and a 40% share of the video-on-demand market, as compared to 1.6 billion and 39% for Spotify.
That means that YouTube and Spotify are where the next generation of artists are showcasing their talent. Spotify is used to access large numbers of listeners in every country around the world. With over 30 million tracks in the catalogue, Spotify is the first stop for artists looking to find an audience for their music.
The way artists promote their music on Spotify depends on many factors, such as your target audience, which listeners you'd like to attract and the sort of music you are making. That means that when you make your music, there are different ways you can promote it. These can be as simple as:
Find a song with a good hook and a bit of an arty sound, not too heavy or mainstream. You can find a large number of songs with good potential for promotion on the 'Live Music' playlist.
I recommend looking for a song that will bring something different to the table. Something that has an upbeat drumbeat, and a good tempo. It should also sound different from other popular music in your genre.
The music industry is extremely competitive, so I suggest getting a song as good as possible and then creating a trailer for it. A trailer should give a hint of the song's flavour and atmosphere.
In the trailer, you can see my visuals for 'Out of Mind'. My visuals reflect the upbeat and energetic feeling of the song. It's an album with a bassy sound, that sounds so good in the car or on the dancefloor. I know it will bring something different to the table for people to listen.
Blogs are a great way to promote your music. You should submit to blogs about your music and the promotion of your music. While you don't need to write to a blog every day (as this may be time-consuming), you should definitely write to one blog post a week.
If you need help finding blogs to send your music to, try Promo Panda, which is our public relations tool that helps artists find great blogs to send their music to for reviews.
Your blog posts can be similar to the YouTube videos you produce. They should convey a good idea about the song, why you created it and how people can listen to it.
Your blog posts should include a playlist where listeners can listen to a sample of your music. You can use Soundcloud to upload a playlist with your music, but you can also upload it directly to your blog.
Blog posts can be on any topic related to your music.
I have a blog about my studio, and I use this to promote my music. I also have a blog dedicated to live shows, where I write about my previous shows and share my memories from the show. I have also written a blog about DJing, which is mainly about tips and tricks that I have picked up over the years.
I recommend finding an interesting topic that is related to your music. For example, I wrote a blog post about writing ambient music, so that people who are not into my darker ambient sound, could still appreciate what I do.
One of the best ways to promote your music is to use social media. The goal here is to get as many people to listen to your music as possible. This is easier said than done, but there are some methods you can use.
If you are interested in creating a buzz around your music, start a Facebook group for your fans. The 'Founders' Facebook group is dedicated to all the music artists out there.
Some of the members of the group have worked with acts such as Skrillex, EDM artists such as Above & Beyond and numerous other well-known artists in the EDM scene.
The group is popular because everyone can have a voice, and everyone can share their views on different bands and artists. It's great for interacting with other musicians and creating buzz around your music.
To make a playlist, you just need to drag the play button on the bottom right of the screen, to make a playlist. Then click on the Spotify logo. When Spotify offers a playlist with a tag 'New', you should click on it.
Every time you click on a new playlist, you will be redirected to the 'Playlists' tab.
Then you will see two lists on the right. One is the 'Instantly Playable' list, which contains the newest songs Spotify has added. If you don't like that kind of music, don't click on it. The other list is called 'Your Daily Mix'. If you like what you hear on the playlist, you will be able to make a playlist out of it.
Learn more about playlists on Spotify by reading our 'Music Marketing 101' article.
Take a look at Spotify and see what kind of music is popular in your niche. There will be a 'Current Spotlight' button below the tag 'Featured', which will give you a list of top songs. In the right side of the screen, click on 'Music Genres', to find the list of genres, you're looking for.
To find popular music in your niche, just type the name of your niche, in the search bar, and click on the 'Featured' button.
You will get a list of songs, which you can click on to download. You can also create a playlist out of them.
Use the feature 'Playlist' on Spotify
You will get a new playlist in Spotify called 'My playlists'. This list is something similar to 'Lists'. It contains all the songs that you have created.
Every time you upload a new song, this playlist is updated automatically. If you want to create your own playlists, just click on the big arrow at the bottom right of the screen, and create a playlist.
To make a playlist on Spotify, you just need to add a different genre of songs. To do that, click on the red 'Music Genres' button at the top right of the screen. Then click on the list of 'Collections'. You can also create a playlist based on a song, which isn't in a particular collection.
You can use a song's tag on this page to find other playlists with the same genre. To use its tag on this playlist, click on the hashtag button, and then the song.
Even if you don't have a custom playlist, you can still send a playlist to your subscribers. Just make a playlist from an existing playlist you have uploaded. After that, you have to add the playlist to the blog.
Just select the menu icon on the right, and go to the 'Blog' tab.
Now you have to write a short introduction of the playlist. This way, your audience will know what to expect from it, and what to expect from it, in case they are getting a new email from you. It will give a feeling of anticipation, and make people expect something good from you.
You can even use a lyric of the song you are sending, to make people know what they are getting themselves into.
How to make a playlist on Spotify, by using a random playlist generator
Even though, you can create a playlist with any of the existing playlists, using a random playlist.
