Technology has transformed the tools indie musicians use to record, distribute and market their music. There is no longer an excuse to not have your music on streaming service. All the resources in the world are available to help you incentivize your art.
Analytics are a key factor and having a true understanding of your fanbase allows artists to tailor their marketing strategies to those who are consuming their music. Before you have a budget, or choose to spend on expensive marketing campaigns, graphics, or music promotion services, take the time to invest in yourself with these intuitive tools, and some elbow grease.
Spotify for Artists
As an independent artist, analytics regarding your audience are priceless. Spotify for Artists provides insights that are invaluable and should actively be utilized in your marketing strategy. Spotify for Artists provides unique data on your audience including their location, age, and engagement.
Analyze your streams by song, project, or playlist. Find your top cities or countries, so you can execute target social media marketing, or look to perform in the locations that love your music the most.
It is also a no-brainer to submit each new release to Spotify-curated playlists. While these playlists are highly selective, landing a song on one can transform your career, and change your life. There is no cost to submit, why not play the lottery for free?
Daily Playlist
Daily Playlists is the premier free option for user-curated playlist submissions. Free submission credits are provided weekly, and an option to pay for additional credits if necessary. One of the best features of Daily Playlists is its filters. You can customize results for your style of music by subgenres, and sort view based on playlist followers, number of songs on the playlist, and playlister activity. You are notified for accepted/denied submissions and can navigate playlists to determine where your songs will be a good fit.
While there are some playlists that are relatively inactive, and do not generate many streams, there is still value in getting your music featured. The Spotify algorithm recognizes playlist adds, which can make your music more and more visible on the platform. It is highly suggested that you research playlists before submitting and be sure to share accepted submissions via social media for cross promotion opportunities.
ForTunes
Once you have submitted via Daily Playlist or other submission sources, you can track your results with a great tool called ForTunes. Highlighting benchmarks in your music career, ForTunes can be synched with Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube and social media to alert you about playlist additions, follower/stream thresholds and other reasons to celebrate in your music career. Even better, it auto-generates graphics that are easily sharable on social media to share your accomplishments with your followers.
There is a premium offering available too, which offers playlist recommendations, audience and engagement insights, and information about your plays and streams. For $7.99/month, this is an affordable resource for artists looking to get a bit more out of the platform. ForTunes is accessible on the web, but the more robust option is the mobile app.
Canva
We’re living in a visually driven world, and good music is expected to be paired with good art. The problem is graphics can be expensive. Canva is an excellent, free solution which can help you design cover art, fliers, social media graphics, logos and so much more. The platform is web-based, easy to use and intuitive, even for those with no graphic design experience.
We suggest that you use your better judgment – releasing a big album, or designing your first merch? You should probably leave that to the professionals. However, in a pinch, Canva offers a user-friendly solution to design solid graphics, for free.
At Today’s Hip Hop, we provide independent artists with the tools, resources, and platform to empower themselves, and monetize their career. Follow us on Instagram, and feel free to reach out directly if you believe you or an artist you know is ready to take this next step forward.
by Jack Carenza
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