Unsigned Artists Promotion: Strategies by Eric Dalius

If you follow a lot of big name artists, you’re probably aware that they rarely need to worry about promoting their music. This is because their record labels often take care of these duties. Such labels create billboard advertisements, radio commercials, and publicity events to draw attention to the artist’s new releases.

If you’re an unsigned artist you will need to do all this heavy lifting yourself while lacking the funding that major artists receive from their record labels. So how can one promote their music effectively as an unsigned artist? This guide will cover just that.

1.     Collaborate With Bigger Artists

One of the speediest ways to get your name out there is by collaborating with bigger artists. This could be artists in the underground community with a sizable following, or even a signed artist who you are friends with.

This strategy is advantageous because it exposes the popular artists’s audience to your music. If you are particularly skilled or offer a music style that aligns with this audience’s tastes, you may end up gaining lots of new fans.

Many artists are also open to the idea of collaboration if they feel it will benefit their career. So consider brushing up on your songwriting or production skills and creating exciting music with another artist in the scene.

2.     Create and Maintain Social Media Accounts

You might have followed your favorite artist on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to receive updates about their tours, new music, and personal happenings. If the artist is signed to a major record label, there’s a good chance the label has hired a social media manager to maintain the account and create posts regularly. Such accounts may have millions of followers eager to learn what their favorite artist is up to.

As an unsigned artist, you can also set up your own social media accounts. Maintaining these profiles doesn’t take up too much time, so you won’t need to worry about hiring a dedicated social media manager for your accounts.

Setting up social media accounts is important because it offers a way for your fans to receive updates and also draw in new fans. You can also use your social media accounts to interact with fans in the comments. This helps build a better relationship with your fanbase and keep people interested in you and your music.

3.     Perform Live Frequently

One of the most affordable ways to promote your music as an unsigned artist is to perform live regularly. After all, live performances offer you an opportunity to showcase your talent publicly and get people interested in your music.

For this reason, you should consider performing at open mic nights around your city. If you have gained a sizable following in the community, you can leverage it to get performance slots at concert halls or music festivals.

You can also tailor your live performances to fit specific venues and show off your versatility as a musician. For example, if you’re a heavy rock artist, you can consider performing stripped down acoustic arrangements of some of your tracks at small coffeehouse events.

A skilled musician’s live performance energy can be infectious, so you will definitely be able to pull in a lot of new fans by performing live frequently.

4.     Distribute Free Merchandise

As an unsigned artist, you probably don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on music promotion. However, you may be able to spend a few hundred dollars on merchandise and distribute it to new fans.

For example, you can get a few dozen custom t-shirts with your album cover or artist name printed on the front and give them away to fans at concerts. These fans will then promote your music whenever they are seen wearing these shirts in public.

You can also offer to give away free merchandise as part of a contest on your social media accounts. Such contests help create buzz and increase fan engagement, both of which can lead to you gaining new fans.

5.     Send Your Music to College Radio Stations

Getting radio play is vital for any artist that wants to make it big. However, most radio stations are willing to play music only from signed artists. This means your chances of getting airplay from major radio stations is slim. However, you may have better luck with college radio stations.

College radio stations were all the rage in the 80s and 90s and were responsible for helping many indie bands gain popularity among young college-aged listeners. This included acts such as R.E.M, Nirvana, and even U2.

Many college radio stations still exist today, with many radio-jockeys keeping a close ear out for any new and exciting bands they can play on the radio shows. For this reason, you should consider sending some of the college radio-jockeys free copies on your singles, EPs, and albums. If they end up liking the way your music sounds, there’s a good chance they will end up featuring it on their shows. If you’re really lucky, they may even invite you over for an on-air interview.

6.     Add Your Music to Music Streaming Platforms

The emergence of music streaming platforms shook up the music world in many ways. One of these is that artists no longer needed to rely on physical media sales such as CD or vinyl sales to earn money from their music.

If you add your music to major streaming platforms such as Spotify, TIDAL, and Apply Music, you can receive money each time people stream it. Maintaining a presence on such platforms is also vital for promotion purposes. This is because they allow people who have discovered you through other places such as social media or live performances to actually look up and listen to your music. This means someone who is curious about your music could very well turn into a lifelong fan after hearing your discography.

Spotify alone has over 200 million users, so you will be missing out if you haven’t added your music to these streaming platforms.

7.     Start Using MuzicSwipe

MuzicSwipe is a new app designed to help indie musicians gain traction in the music world. It matches listeners with the type of music they are interested in using simple selection and filtering methods.

To use this app, you simply need to create a profile and upload 15-second previews of your music. People who are seeking new music in the same genre will then be presented with these previews and will match with your artist profile if they have liked three of your music clips.

The app is incredibly easy to use, so you can gain plenty of new fans if the clips you upload sound exciting and pull-in listeners instantly.

Finding Success as an Unsigned Artist

Unsigned artists promotion isn’t always easy, but there are plenty of great ways to work around the promotion challenges presented to you. So consider implementing the strategies described above and getting your name out there.