As a budding musical artist, you’ve likely wondered how you will get your music out into the world. You obviously want to play as many gigs as possible, but that just isn’t enough for those of us who really want to share our art.
This is where recorded music steps in. Recorded tracks act like your business card and are often the only way to ensure people continue to listen to and share your music long after your Saturday night gig at the local bar.
Recording a few songs is easy enough, but how do you earn money for your work? If this is a question you find yourself asking, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn more about what you need to know and do in order to sell your music online.
Creating a Website and Social Media Accounts
People spend a lot of time on the internet and as such, it’s possible they’ll come across you and your music online. Therefore, it’s highly important that you have a variety of avenues for promoting your music on the web, including a strong website and active social media accounts.
As far as social media goes, here are some good places to get started:
If you set up multiple social media accounts, make sure you’re able to keep up with all of them. This means posting consistently and giving people a reason to follow your page by offering giveaways, free downloads, and exciting news updates on a regular basis.
Don’t believe that an online presence is as powerful as we claim? Check out this video for a deeper understanding of why it’s important to make yourself available online:
Considering Your Publishing Options
With a good online presence and a loyal fanbase in place, it’s time to decide how you will go about publishing your music. Many musicians think that signing on with a big record label is the one and only road to success in the music business. On the other hand, for many of those same musicians, the idea of working with a record label is not attractive in the least.
Fortunately, that “big label” myth isn’t true. In fact, thanks to modern technology, making money as an independent musician is now easier than ever.
By finding the right aggregator, you can publish your music on the most popular online music stores, such as iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, and Spotify.
Most aggregators charge a very reasonable fee and to make a good thing even better, all of this is done with very little administrative work on your part.
The biggest problem you will likely come across won’t be finding an aggregator to work with, but deciding which one to work with. Not sure where to begin in choosing an aggregator? Take a look at this video for a nice comparison of the more popular aggregators out there:
Promoting Your New Music
Once your music has been published and is available for purchase or streaming, you’ll need to make sure that loyal fanbase you worked so hard to develop knows about it.
This might involve several social media posts or shares – and maybe a free download or two – leading up to the release and a big online celebration on release day. Your fans will be excited about the amazing music you are bringing into their lives and your public announcements will increase the likelihood that they will purchase it.
If you’re looking for more inspiration on how to promote your music, watch this video for some awesome ideas:
With these few tips (as well as the others in the videos we’ve shared!), you’ll be sure to build up your fanbase and start selling music to avid listeners in no time.
Have you already had success selling your music online? If so, do you have more advice?
Share with us in the comments!
Pay us no mind—- great , concise video—with no fluff! Well done dude!