An Indie Musician's Diary VOL. 1

Indie Album Promotion Tips

June 12 Update

I had a great weekend and I hope you did too: it was sunny, warm and I got sunburned; I swam in the cold Swedish ocean for the first time this year and  we had a grill party with some awesome friends. Now, back to work. 

Let me tell you, do I ever have back pain today!  I'd love to mix 24/7 and get this album done, but I've got to sleep eat and look into promoting the album too...and now my shoulder and back are making everything painful to do.  That's life. Here goes..this chapter was almost done the other day, so I just added a bit more to today's research. Hope you'll enjoy getting this brief inside look into the promotion process of an indie album.

As I approach the release of my album, Change My Mind, I have to think about how this is ever going to be heard out in the "noise". I need a game plan. There is so much music out there and only 10% of all music on Spotify is every played more than a few times. There is a way to get heard which demands some work and it will always cost an indie musician time and money. It's called promotion. In this chapter you get to hear what we indies have to do to get our music out there with a bang as inexpensively as possible. I can't possibly cover everything about promotion here, but I have a few goodies for you that I have been considering. 

How?

The video on top gives some tips on how to release your album

- Don't promote the whole album at once unless you have to. Promote one song at a time if you can. Take it and let the music video go wild and when that response drops down release the next. I think this is the Utopia option. What I mean is, unless you are releasing digitally & for free (Amuse, et.al.) this option, although being the best one, can be the most expensive. I am releasing everything at once on Spotify and all digital stores but will be releasing each song in its final mastered form, one song at a time in a well thought through release scheme - dropping it on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram, one song at a time. 

- distribute your album/single on all streaming services don't just drop it on SoundCloud or YouTube. I'm doing it through CDBaby this time around. (Sorry, I have no release date as of yet.)

- run a specific ad campaign on Facebook targeted to people who listen to music like yours. This is a biggie. Dawn Beyer sat down every day at 9 a.m. and serenaded her fans and got thousands of followers before releasing her first album. That's free. You can repost live sends again and get even more viewers. But what he is talking about in targeted ads is a whole 'nother thing. Look into targeted ads through/on your FB page. Don't have a Facebook for your band/artist's name. Get one. FB is one of the best ways to promote your music to a target audience for a small sum of money. 

- create your unique story and share it on blogs

When?

Promotion starts before the release. Here are some things to think about/fix BEFORE the release of your next album:

- Get your assets in order EPK, press kit, other files, HD-pictures, posters, mp3s, whatever you are going to need. Make sure it is all in order before you work on promotion. Make sure you have a map for each album with a map for the music, one for art, one for press stuff and so on. Having things in order in your Dropbox means you can share stuff with the gatekeepers who will be helping you get the exposure. (Don't forget to make backups somewhere else!)