Artist promotion before the Web 2.0 explosion was largely based on traditional marketing methods that have been successful for hundreds of years. This style of marketing, commonly known as interruption marketing, involved swamping the potential consumer with messages in a variety of mediums. For example, television, radio, and billboard ads often heavily promoted new artists and their singles. While this style of marketing may have been successful in the past, it is extremely expensive and typically requires a big financial investment from a major label entity. However, thanks to useful social media tools, artists today don’t need to break the bank in order to draw potential fans. Coupled with a strong blogging presence, musicians can practice inbound marketing, a type of marketing in which compelling, unique content draws other people to actively discover new music. By using these blogging and social media tools, musicians can more effectively spend their time promoting their music.

Music Blogging is Crucial

The music blogosphere is often one of the most neglected niches of music marketing. The average person spends about 2 to 3 hours just searching for information on their favorite blogs. One great way to really tap into the power of blogging for music is through actually creating a blog of your own. Instead of mass-mailing your press release to thousands of disinterested press publications, try actually responding to other like-minding bloggers in your posts. It’s easy to find music bloggers of all shapes and sizes, whether you’re a country artist or an alternative metal act. Use content management systems like WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr to post trackbacks to other bloggers’ relevant articles. In doing so, not only will you gain a valuable backlink (which has the potential to move your articles up in search engines), but you may also make a significant connection in the real world. The music business is all about networking, so use blogging to promote your music and establish valuable contacts who may already be involved in the industry. Interestingly enough, very few major label artists work to maintain a relevant and interactive blog. Instead of sitting back and waiting for a big break, be proactive and get in touch with the blogging world.

Social Media Promotion for Bands

Social media is a relatively new tool for bands to utilize. One of the first tools developed specifically for bands was MySpace. However, most bands still take an outbound marketing approach to their social media, sending out mass spam messages on Purevolume, MySpace, Facebook, and any other site that they can find. Unfortunately, this method of using social media becomes saturated quite quickly, and may even turn off some listeners from even checking out your music. A more effective social media strategy to promote music would be to connect it with the previously mentioned blogging platform. Instead of using social media to send unsolicited messages, use tools like Twitter and Facebook to really connect with the people who are talking about your music. Set up a Google Alert for your bands name, and send a personal greeting to everyone who blogs about your site. In doing so, you help to maintain a friendly spirit of community and establish yourself as an authority figure in the blogging world. If you have relevant, exciting content, people will discover your music blog. Social media tools work hand in hand with blogging to encourage a strong sense of community, which will ultimately drive people to listen to your music and recognize your band name.

Michael Benich is the Youngstown Local Music Examiner. You can read the rest of his articles about local music, social media, and blogging at his blog entitled 9th and Ash.