How to market music online: A Beginner's Guide for 2024

Music Marketing, Branding, Promotion, and Advertising for DJs and Producers

Music and the music business are two different things

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Got talent? That's not enough anymore in the highly competitiveworld of electronic music. The industry moves at lightning speed, with new DJs and producers popping up daily. But don't fret - we've got your back.

We know it can be tough to find your footing in the early stages, so Edmwarriors created this guide to give you the lowdown on how to market your music online in 2023 like a boss. We'll take you step-by-step from how to create your brand as an artist, to defining your target audience and finally reaching their ears.

No matter where you are on your music journey – whether you’re a seasoned pro or a fresh-faced newbie – this guide is your ultimate companion and will bring everything you need to get your music heard, including basic marketing concepts, branding, promotion strategies and other useful tips.

Let's pull back the curtain and delve deeper into the multifaceted world of music marketing.
Be sure to check out our Complete Guide to Ghost Production , where you can learn how to sell your EDM tracks and make money from your passion, and grow your following as well.

How to market your music online: Understanding the Differences Between Marketing, Branding, Promotion, and Advertising

Before we dive into the many things you need to know about how to market your music online, let's begin by establishing the fundamentals and elucidating the underlying concepts. You may probably feela bit overwhelmed by all the technical jargon like marketing, branding, promotion and advertisement. Let's take a step back and break down what each of these terms mean. Once you have a clear understanding of the basics, you'll be well-equipped to develop a winning strategy for your artistic brand.

Marketing for online music

Marketing is not a single action, but rather a broad term that encompasses a group of activities or set of tools aimed at achieving a specific objective. Marketing is not a tool but a process. It goes beyond advertising products or companies and extends to selling ideas, persuading people to take action, and more. But what the heck is marketing anyway?

Learning how to market music online entails the process of exploring, creating and delivering value to meet the needs of the market through products or services that may interest consumers. In other words it is the connecting bridge between your music and your consumers who we can even call “fans”.

Marketing comprises a powerful toolkit that includes market research, branding, advertising, promotion, and other tactics and activities that work together to achieve success. The ultimate objective of marketing is to create a strong and favorable image of a product, service, or idea in the minds of consumers.

Branding: a key aspect you need to market your music successfully

Branding is the art of creating a powerful and unforgettable identity for a product, company, individual, or idea. It encompasses diverse possibilities and makes it possible to create a brand out of anything, ranging from establishing your artist name to curating your dog's enchanting Instagram profile. Whatever it is, branding involves creating a distinct identity that stands out and leaves a lasting impression on your audience and is a crucial thing you need to think about if you want to learn how to market your music online

To create a successful brand, you need to craft a unique idea, develop a consistent art or creative direction, choose the correct tone of voice, style your message, and carefully select visual elements that resonate with your idea and target audience. Brand identity is a proposal; it's how you express a message to your audience through words, images, and other elements.

To succeed in branding, you must have a deep understanding of your target audience, stay ahead of market trends, and consistently execute a well-crafted strategy that resonates with your audience. Knowing all of this will teach you how to market your music successfully and stand out from the music-making crowd. A creative way you can get started is by using our free DJ name generator to get the creative juices flowing.

Promotion: how to market your music by spreading the word

Promotion is a broader term that encompasses all the commercial activities aimed at increasing sales and customer engagement and is another key aspect of how to market your music successfully, online and offline. Promoting includes advertising, as well as other tactics such as sales promotions (discounts), personal selling, public relations, and direct marketing. Promotion can be either paid or unpaid and aims to stimulate demand, build brand loyalty, and encourage customer retention.

Advertising: how to market music through different media channels

Advertising, on the other hand, is just another component of marketing. It refers specifically to the use of various media platforms, such as television, radio, print, and online (social media and blogs), to communicate a message or promote a product or service to a target audience. Advertising is a paid form of communication that is designed to persuade potential customers to take a specific action, such as purchasing a product or service, signing up for a newsletter, or visiting a website. Advertising can offer many creative possibilities on how to market music in a way that is both distinctive to your personal brand and also highly effective.

How to Market Music: What it is and Why it’s Important for Your Music Career

To truly excel in the music industry, it is crucial to grasp the foundational concept that underpins all success: how to market your art and skills to let people know you exist.

By definition - marketing refers to the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs and wants through the creation, promotion, and distribution of products or services. It involves understanding customer behavior, developing and communicating a brand identity, and creating strategies to reach and engage with target audiences.

Therefore, we can understand that music marketing encompasses a wide range of activities, including market research, brand identity development, advertising, promotion, and public relations - all working together to achieve a common goal: inspiring your target audience to take a specific action, whether that means buying an album, following you on Instagram, purchasing merch, pre-saving your latest single or streaming it on Spotify – any call to action can be marketed in a way that will bring the desired result you need.

Long story short, if you're serious about making it in the music industry, it's time to start thinking like a marketer and harness the multitude of benefits offered by its diverse range of activities. By embracing the power of marketing music and developing a comprehensive strategy that speaks to your fans and reflects your unique sound and style, you can differentiate yourself from the abundant competition and create a lasting impact that resonates with audiences around the world.

Learn how to market your music in three stages:

• Analysis of market opportunities - defining, analyzing and getting to know your target audience.
• Definition of strategy - designing and establishing the way to reach them with your music in a short or even a long time, depending on the type of plan you want to execute. If you are wondering how to market music online, this is where the bulk of the work is done.
• Action planning - establishing goals and the activities that should be carried out, in order to achieve the desired results.

How to Market Your Music in 2023 by Creating Your DJ Brand Identity and Standing Out from the Crowd

Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room.

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Branding is the art of building a unique identity that resonates with your target audience. It's more than just a logo, tagline, or an album art cover - it's a critical part of any individual or organization seeking to differentiate themselves from competitors, build trust and loyalty with customers, in this case, fans, and create a lasting impression and identity in their minds. This identity should reflect your brand’s values, personality, and mission, and should be communicated consistently across all touchpoints, including your social media channels, album covers, advertising, website, voice and communication tone. If you are wondering how to market music in 2023, then know that branding is the way to share your uniqueness as an artist.

But music branding is not just about selling records or getting bookings. It’s about creating a connection with your audience and building a community around your music. As branding expert Bernadette Jiwa says, “A brand is not a logo, it's a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It's not what you say it is, it's what they say it is.”

Are you ready to elevate your music project to the next level? We will show you, in three simple steps, how to create and develop a brand identity for your music project that truly represents your unique style and resonates with your fans.

How to market your music in 2023 by discovering your brand identity.
The first thing you should do before starting your music career is to discover yourself as an artist and find your "true purpose" in life.

We are not discussing Existentialism or the true nature of the human condition. We are talking about brand identity – the first step in creating a brand as a DJ or artist is to define that very idea. This involves identifying your values, mission, and vision and how they relate to your music. Consider your style, genre, and audience, then think about what sets you apart from other artists in your sub-genre.

To do this, there are several questions you should ask yourself in order to understand what your artist statement is, what you want to say through your work, what art (in this case, music) means to you, and why yoursis unique:

• What message do you want to convey with your music?
• What emotions do you want to express?
• What makes your music unique?
• What makes YOU unique?

If your personal brand does not tell a story, you have already lost half of your potential audience. Today, artists must have a message, purpose, and mission. It is not enough to simply release music into the air. Once you have a clear idea of your brand identity, you can start to develop a sound and visual identity that reflects it. This may include your music sound, logo, color palette, music production elements, storytelling, and more. You can even say that this is a preliminary step that will definitely help you learn how to market your music in 2023.

Brainstorming your brand elements: and important step in learning how to market music online

Assuming you have already found your identity as an artist, you have reached the moment of awakening where you have discovered yourself and unveiled the essence of your being as an artist. You now know the message you want to share with the world.

It's time to develop your brand around that very identity so that you can express it through all the senses. When people hear, see, or read what you’ve put out, they should immediately understand what you’re all about. To begin with, let's start with the creative direction. This refers to the art style and direction of all the elements that are integrated into your brand or project.

For example, when you think of The Weeknd or Bruno Mars, you probably associate them with the 70s-80s era. This is not a coincidence. To achieve this perception, they have carefully considered all aspects of their public personas – their clothing, photography, sound, movements on stage, and more.

As a preliminary step of how to market your music, you can start by brainstorming about your personal approach to all of this. Once you are clear about the creative direction that matches well with your identity and message, start developing the following elements:

• Type of sound - Consider in which genre you will compose and the music production characteristics that define your personal style.
• Storytelling - Decide how to communicate your message effectively. Determine what stories will convey your mission to your audience. Your personal approach and style is something that will develop and get fine-tuned over time, as you continue to advance as a music maker.
• Visual elements - Choose a dress style, photography style, graphic design, and color palette that reflect your brand's image on art covers, videos, merchandise, lives, and more. In reality, all of these elements will be on every piece of media and advertising that will represent you to the public.
• Tone of voice - Determine the tone of voice and style of communication you will use on social media, interviews, and other public interactions. This is an important aspect of marketing your music, as it leads to a consistency that will make you easy to recognise for your fans.

This element may seem obvious, but it is always good to remember: choose your stage name. It’s with this name that you will be known, recognized and referenced. It is also important that your artistic pseudonym is intelligible (i.e. readable and pronounceable) in other languages. This is a serious choice that must be well thought out because artists don’t keep changing their name for each work released, right? Another fundamental element is your logo. It can take many forms, such as a name or a symbol. You can research artists like Prince, AC/DC or any other ones that are instantly recognisable by their logo alone. Having a striking visual element to your brand can get attention far quicker than most artistic pseudonyms can.

Other elements that are essential to build your brand are font typography, color palette, and icons. The palette usually consists of three colors. It is also common to work with two fonts, one for shorter and impactful texts and another for longer texts. Today, the world has multiple platforms and possibilities for dissemination and interaction. This must be considered when planning your logo and identity, as you will apply both to web pages, social networks, and eventually to printed material (such as a record, a ticket, a book cover). Ask yourself this: will the logo look good on all these versions?

Let’s take for example “Fred Again..”, if you're into UK house, you probably already know about him. His brand identity conveys the real, spontaneous, and ordinary everyday life. To transmit these values, he uses many elements that are not only limited to music:

• All of his social media content is based on low-quality video selfies. He never releases videos that are made on big budgets –DIY video performance is his thing.
• He never brags with fancy clothes but wears something very plain, always accompanied by basic white earphones with a cable.
• He often uses real voice messages with personal content in his tracks to evoke the everyday.
• He raves in the street or in public places with people and fans.
• Unlike other DJs, he plays the music in his sets live, using a MIDI controller and keyboards, trying to make his performance "as real as possible” – this makes each live set different and unique.
• The way he writes on social media, names his tracks, and albums is informal and casual, always focusing on the mundane aspects of his life (dates, moments of his life, and so on).

From our insights, this works for him, in addition to making good music and doing great live performances. He’s become a well-known figure in the EDM scene. This is just an example. His ways may not work for you, but the idea is there – here’s an artist with a great all-around brand and social persona, which you can use as an example to help learn how to market your music in 2023.

We know it might sound like a lot of work, but don't worry. You can work on your branding bit by bit. As long as you are progressing, your brand will be evolving.

Where to present your brand: how to market your music by choosing the best way to present it.
Once you have successfully created and configured all the elements of your brand, it's time to showcase it to the world by selecting the channels that best align with your personal identity. Take some time to consider which channels will best represent your voice and image. Nowadays, social media gives you fast and easy access to an extremely large amount of potential listeners, from all different backgrounds and walks of life.

Some popular channels you can consider are social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. If your brand focuses on a creative environment, you can also consider platforms like Pinterest and even Tumblr. On the other hand, if you want to associate your brand with spontaneity, platforms like TikTok, Twitch, or even BeReal may be a good fit. Remember, choosing the right channels to connect with your audience is crucial in building brand recognition and fostering a loyal following. To decide how to best market your music online you should know its tone – this is the best way to determine the online platform that will best suit your art.

How to Market and Promote Music: The Best Strategies to Get it Heard and Build a Fanbase

Once you’ve masterfully crafted a robust brand identity, it is essential to effectively communicate and share it with the world. This can be achieved through a well-planned and comprehensive promotional strategy, which is something you need to engage in to learn how to market and promote music that you’ve made

Promotion refers to the activities and strategies employed to raise awareness, visibility, and exposure for musical artists, bands, or their specific works such as albums, singles, or performances. It encompasses a range of techniques and activities aimed at reaching a wider audience, building a fan base, and increasing the popularity and success of the music, whether they might be paid or not.

To begin, you must meticulously design the promotion strategy, taking into account your specific goals, budget, and target audience. Whether it involves promoting a single, an album, or your personal brand as an artist, the campaign should incorporate a diverse range of elements, but In today's digital landscape, the prominence of social networks and streaming playlists cannot be overlooked They hold a significant influence and should be given utmost attention in your promotional campaign. Here is an essential compilation of tools that you need to consider, along with guidance on how to utilize them effectively:

Social media promotion: the modern way to market music

Social media is like a boundless window to the world, and the best part is—it won't cost you a dime. As a DJ, you possess an unprecedented opportunity to connect with people you could only dream of reaching in the past. It's time to seize the moment and learn how important it is to market your music online.

Yet, understanding the nuances of social networks can be a tricky endeavor, leading many artists to feel disheartened. Worry not, by dissecting and understanding the purpose behind each social platform, you can unlock their true potential and wield them to your advantage. So, take note of these essential insights that will guide you on your social media journey:

Instagram - your brand itdentity’s biggest weapon: Instagram provides a tremendous opportunity to communicate your brand identity, develop storytelling, interact with your fans, and build their loyalty. The visual factor that Instagram offers is great for expressing your artistic proposal in seconds – all the visual elements that signal your personal brand can be taken advantage of the platform, making it an ideal place to market music.

YouTube - find new dedicated fans: YouTube enables you to create quality content that will connect with your fans in a unique way. It's a more long-term platform that goes beyond just receiving likes; it helps you gain dedicated fans. Here are some ideas you can develop:

• Live sets – streaming your sets live or even uploading them can inspire people to come and see your performances.
• Behind the scenes: making tracks, preparing sets, shows, etc. This will give your fans insight into your creative process and help strengthen their connection to you.
• Vlogs and podcasts: this is where fans can see you in a more casual manner and with this form of communication you can have guests, with whom you can explore interesting musical or other ideas.

Another useful feature is YouTube ads, which can help you market your music on the platform itself.

Twitter - let them know you: Twitter presents a fantastic opportunity to delve deeper into your proposal and make it known to a wider audience. With its emphasis on expressing opinions, this platform provides a free and flexible avenue to precisely articulate the message and storytelling of your brand. By using Twitter's unique features, you can effectively engage with your audience, refine your brand narrative, and amplify your brand's presence in the digital landscape.

There are countless other options available for you to explore, allowing you to unleash your creativity to the fullest. However, it's important to note that the four options mentioned earlier are absolutely essential to market your music and personal brand successfully.

How to market music with playlists placements

Social media serves as a powerful tool for brand exposure, but when it comes to acquiring streams and solidifying your reputation as a DJ or producer, playlists take center stage. Particularly for those starting out with a modest following, playlists on popular streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Prime Music, and others hold immense opportunities to market your music. They provide a gateway to wider audience reach and serve as a stamp of validation for your talent. So, aim high and secure a spot on these influential playlists to propel your music career to new heights.

Market your music by pitching it to editorial playlists

Editorial playlists, the holy grail of playlists, are the official selections curated directly by the streaming services themselves. These powerhouses boast a massive subscriber base and wield immense influence. However, cracking the code to get your music featured on them is no small feat. Fear not, for the process of submitting your music is relatively straightforward, providing a glimmer of hope for aspiring artists who want to market their music to the widest possible audience.

Third party playlists: a great way to market music

Third-party playlists refer to curated collections of songs that are not created by streaming services themselves, but rather by independent individuals or companies like labels, agencies, or media entities. These playlists offer a more accessible avenue for music marketing. You can reach out to the playlist owners and explore options such as paying for a placement or negotiating another type of agreement.

Create your own playlist and advertise it to market your music

This strategy is highly effective and recommended. It involves creating your own playlist and using paid advertising to promote it. To understand the mechanics and benefits of this approach, refer to the dedicated chapter on paid advertising.

PR (Public Relations): an essential element in how to market music

PR involves the management of communication between an artist and their target audience. It includes activities such as press releases, media outreach, and event planning. A good PR strategy can help an artist to create a positive public image, attract new fans, and gain the attention of music industry professionals. In order to implement an effective PR campaign, an artist should start by identifying their target audience and crafting a message that will resonate with them. This message should then be communicated through various channels, including social media, email, and press releases. PR is an essential element if you want to know how to market your music with a bang.

Media Placement: marketing your music by bringing it to people

Media placement plays a crucial role in marketing an artist's music and increasing their visibility. It involves actively seeking opportunities to have your music or DJ brand featured in various media outlets such as magazines, blogs, radio stations, and online platforms. To effectively implement media placement as part of your PR strategy, consider the following steps:

Event Planning: marketing your music in the real world

Events can serve as powerful platforms for connecting with your audience, building a strong fan base, and generating media attention. Here are some key points to consider when incorporating event planning into your PR strategy when you market your music in the real world:

• Investing in strategic collaborations with established artists can be an effective strategy for music promotion. Paying renowned producers to work on your tracks, popular DJs to do B2B, or featuring popular artists on your album can increase your visibility and appeal to your target audience. However, it's crucial to ensure that these collaborations align with your artistic vision and resonate strongly with your audience, otherwise it will be money wasted.
• Thoroughly research potential collaborators, seek genuine connections, and showcase your unique artistic voice. Collaborating with emerging artists to collaborate with their unique styles and use all the digital platforms available to connect with potential collaborators. Combine all of this with consistent branding and a strong online presence and you get a comprehensive music marketing strategy.

Music Advertising: How to Market Your Music and Create Ads on Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

Music Advertisement is the strategic use of paying for placement in various mediums. The cost of advertising is based on specific metrics, such as the number of views, clicks, or conversions generated by the campaign.

In today's world, consumers have become increasingly immune to traditional forms of paid advertising, and as a result, the impact of such ads has diminished. However, with the right approach, it's still possible to achieve good results through paid advertising. By taking a creative and strategic approach on how to market your music, you can effectively capture the attention of your target audience and drive engagement with your personal artistic brand.

We will be focusing on online advertising as it has become one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways for independent artists to reach their target audience. Traditional advertising mediums like television and radio can be quite expensive and are often not feasible for artists with limited budgets. However, the internet provides a variety of platforms for artists to advertise their work. Meta is one of the most widely used and effective options available.

Setting up Meta Ads on Facebook Business Manager: marketing your music from a convenient dashboard

Meta Ads are advertisements that run on Instagram and Facebook, which are two of the most popular social media platforms. These ads are highly targeted, meaning they can reach specific groups of people based on their interests, demographics, and behavior, which makes it very convenient to market your music.

Meta Ads offer a range of ad formats, including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and story ads. Advertisers can use them to promote a product, service, or event, and they can be customized to suit different goals, such as increasing website traffic, generating leads, or increasing brand awareness.

Step 1: Create a Facebook Business Manager Account to market your music

To get started with marketing music with Meta Ads, you'll need to create a Facebook Business Manager account. If you already have a Facebook Page for your music or DJ persona, you can use that to sign up for Business Manager. If not, you can create a new page specifically for your music or DJ persona.

Step 2: Create an Ad Account

Once you have a Facebook Business Manager account set up, you can create an ad account. Go to "Business Settings" and select "Ad Accounts." Click on "Add" and follow the prompts to create a new ad account. You'll need to provide some basic information about your business, such as its name and billing information.

Step 3: Choose Your Advertising Objective when marketing your music

Now that you have an ad account set up, you can create your first ad campaign. When creating a new campaign, you'll need to choose your advertising objective about how you want to go about marketing your music. This will determine what you want to achieve with your ad, such as increasing website traffic or generating leads. Choose the objective that best aligns with your goals.

Step 4: Define Your Target Audience – a crucial aspect of how to market music

Once you've chosen your advertising objective, you'll need to define your target audience. This is where you can get specific about who you want your ad to reach. You can choose things like age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors. For example, if you're an electronic music DJ, you might choose to target people who have attended electronic music festivals in the past. Knowing your audience is a fundamental aspect of how to market music successfully.

Step 5: Choose Your Ad Format

Now it's time to choose your ad format. Meta Ads offer a range of options, including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and stories ads. Choose the format that best suits your advertising goals and the content you want to promote.

Step 6: Create Your Ad

With your target audience and ad format selected, it's time to create your ad. You'll need to upload your creative assets, such as images or videos, and write your ad copy. Make sure your ad is visually appealing and is consistent with your visual style, as well as engaging to capture your audience's attention.

Step 7: Set Your Ad Budget and Schedule

Finally, you'll need to set your ad budget and schedule. Choose how much you want to spend on your ad and how long you want it to run. You can also choose to run it continuously or set a specific start and end date.

And that's it! With these steps, you can set up your first Meta Ad campaign to learn how to market music from firsthand experience and reach a wider audience. Remember to monitor your ad's performance regularly and adjust your targeting and as needed to maximize its effectiveness.

How to market music by utilizing advertising strategies

Even though nowadays consumers are becoming immune to traditional paid ads, reducing their impact, with a creative approach you can achieve good results. So, instead of just putting an ad with your song on Spotify, be creative in how you market your music. For example, here are three strategies to release singles to capture your audience's attention:

Market music with playlist advertisement

Promote a playlist with music related to your genre, style or audience. In this music marketing strategy you'll play your track and place it at the top of your playlist. People are always searching for new music so they might feel attracted to it. Your ad won’t feel like an ad, and you will get followers for your playlist.

Market your music using audience interaction

Interact with your audience by throwing a challenge for them to participate in. For example, ask people to choose the artwork for a single or guess a specific instrument contained in your track. This way, you can engage them with your music and offer a reward for their participation. Interaction can offer many creative and fun ways to market your music.

Storytelling: how to market music in a personal way

Utilize the power of storytelling to captivate your audience and create an emotional connection with your music. Create a cohesive narrative aligned with your brand identity that grabs attention and resonates with your listeners. The more creative you can be, the better the chances of leaving a lasting impression. Knowing how to market music takes some skill and a lot of creative thinking – the more unique your approach is to your persona, the more impactful and memorable your promotion will be.

Join Edmwarriors today and become a part of a collective of stellar EDM music producers , where you can sharpen your skills and build a network of collaborators and fans.

FAQ

What are some of the elements that make a striking personal brand for musicians?

What are some of the best platforms online where I can market my music?

Is getting featured on a playlist a good way to get exposure?