Content:
Artwork
Copyright it
Digital Press Release
Digital Distribution
Spotify Editorial Playlist Submission
Music Submission Platforms
Get on social media
You've just finished producing your new hit song and really want to expose it to the world and get it heard, but you have no idea how to do that and you are unsure on the steps you have to take once you have completed making your song.
There are so many things you can do as a music artist to get your song exposed, however some things need to be done first before moving on to other tasks. We have compiled a list below of the 8 tasks music artists should do, once they have completed producing their track. Make sure you've finished your final mix and you are 100% sure and happy with the outcome.
1 - Artwork
Single and album artwork is extremely important for any music artist. Once you have created a few songs, you need to create a picture cover, which can give your future fans a glimpse on what they can expect from your song. The artwork should not just be seen as a picture on the front of your record any more, it is more than that. It goes hand in hand with your online brand and image.
The music you create will always be the ultimate representation of who you are as an artist, that is clear, but the visual elements representing your music and the song title is crucial for your success as an artist. Your single artwork gives you a great opportunity to grab the public's attention and create an eye-catching design that will make the public want to listen to your own songs. The image itself will lead the right audience to your music and turn passive listeners into active listeners and fans. Just remember that your music artwork represents who you are as an artist.
2. Copyright It
Now that you have your artwork covered, your song is ready to be distributed and streamed across multiple platforms, but WAIT! Having produced a song of such high quality, it is necessary to protect it. This is where the next step of copywriting your song comes into play.
By copywriting your music, you become not only the songwriter, but also the legal owner of your music. No matter which stage you are at in your music career, copyrighting your music gives you the exclusive rights to distribute your music, and create offshoots and samples based on the music you created. Overall the music legally becomes your intellectual property. This gives you, the music artist, full control of how your music is used and distributed. A bonus to copywriting your music, is that you can earn money from copyright royalty pay-outs whenever your music is used by others.
If you're in touch with a music supervisor, speak with them or learn online about how to copyright your particular song. Examples for big organizations that can register your music are BMI, ASCAP and SESAC (in the US)
3 - Singer Songwriter Digital Press Release
Many music business professionals that are well established will tell you the importance of having a well written press release. This can be a difficult task for any up and coming artist new on the music scene. It can be challenging to write about your own achievements as an artist that comes across as appealing to the press. You can also attend music conferences or read online about how other artists go about press releases.
It is important to note that DIY PR is by no means an easy task for any artist. There are many reasons why experienced and well known music PR executives are in such high demand. The main reason for this is that the best PR executives will already have developed a well established and strong relationship with influencers and well respected individuals in the music industry over years. That being said, if you don’t have the budget to hire these professionals, DIY PR is the next best thing.
If you want to get any sort of positive media attention and blog coverage for your music, you need to be able to create an appealing and well written press release. You're probably wondering, “What is a press release and what does it consist of?”
A press release is a document with a collection of already existing information about a music artist, including information regarding a release or an upcoming event. Music reviews, tour dates and images are all usually included in a press release. A press release is sent out by music artists to journalists and media organizations, with the goal of getting any sort of press coverage. Therefore a press release needs to include all the necessary information that a journalist would need to write about you as an artist.
4 - Digital Distribution
Once you completed the writing of your press release, you can now start to promote and send your music out to the world!
This can be done by the use of digital music distribution companies. These companies are the link between your completed song and the streaming platforms, for example: Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Tidal etc..
These digital distribution companies have become essential in the process of promoting your music, as they help you expose your music to all your potential future fans. Digital distribution done correctly can grow your visibility immensely and assists you in getting your music heard by as many people as possible.
Not so long ago, music distributors and music publishers would get your records into stores and through promotion, record labels would get the public to go and purchase them. Throughout this process, each middleman would take a percentage of your profit. In addition, Getting a hold of good music publishers can be a great way to get your music heard and get you in contact with a record label or recording studios because of their connections.
In today's day and age, the music distribution process has changed and has become simplified. All you need to do is submit your music onto an online digital distribution platform, and they will send and deliver your song to music streaming platforms. You, as the artist, will receive royalties depending on how many streams you receive and on which platform your music is streamed through. The payment will be done through your digital distributor account.
There are plenty of digital distribution platforms you can use to submit your songs to. CD Baby, TuneCore and DistroKid are amongst some of the more popular and well known digital distribution companies. You should take time and research these different platforms and all of their fees. Some digital distributors state that they don’t take a cut, however there can be hidden fees you may not know about. So make sure that you are able to keep 100% of your royalties.
As an indie artist, save yourself the hassle and cost of physical distribution when releasing your first album. Start by building an audience and a name with digital releases. A huge bonus of using digital distribution companies is that most of this companies are not taking away you’re rights to your music. This means that if your next single is better represented by another distributor, you are not obligated to work with the same digital distributor.
5 - Spotify Editorial Playlist Submission
As mentioned above, digital distribution companies send your songs to music streaming platforms, one of them being Spotify. As we all know, Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming platforms that allows you to stream basically any song in the world. Getting placed on a popular Spotify playlist that have a large following, is a huge win for any indie artists trying to promote their art. Spotify hosts different types of playlists, some being harder than others to get your song placed on. The playlist that can benefit you the most in terms of streams and exposure would be a Spotify editorial playlist. However, it is important to note that not every song you send to Spotify will make it to the editorial playlist.
Editorial playlists are playlists that are created and managed by Spotify themselves. These playlists differ from user curated playlists, which are playlists created by Spotify registered users. Spotify Editorial playlists can have a massive impact on the amount of listeners and likes your song will receive. The main reason for this is because Spotify values their own playlists more than independently curated playlists such as user - generated or Algorithmic Playlists.
It is important to note that in order to qualify for a place on a Spotify editorial playlist, your song must be unreleased, and you need to have already selected a release date for your song.
To find out more about how to get onto Spotify Editorial Playlists, check out one of our previous blog posts, “How To Get On Spotify Editorial Playlists”
6 - Music Submission Platforms
Artists worldwide know that the more streaming platforms they can get their music placed on, the more exposure their music will receive. Music submission platforms provide a service to music artists that allows artists to simply submit their music to Spotify Playlists, Youtube Channels and TikTok influencers to name a few. Submission platforms can help artists gain exponential music exposure with very little hassle.
One Submit is an online music submission platform that gives indie artists the opportunity to submit their music to curators from different platforms such as Spotify playlists, Youtube channels, Blogs, Radio stations and more. A curator will review and listen to your song, and if they like it, they will add it to their playlist/channel. We are all about connecting artists to curators!
7 - Get on Social Media:
Now that all of your music is uploaded and submitted onto different streaming platforms, it is time for you to start promoting your newly released songs on all social media platforms. You will need to create an artist profile on every major social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok in order to boost your online social media presence. Being active on these social media platforms is crucial in developing and maintaining a fanbase and can have a major impact on the amount of song streams you will receive.
You would want to create fun and engaging content for your followers as they are the ones who are going to listen to your music. Having a simple guitar and vocal recorded directly on your phone works great to post content while also showing off your music. Content such as song covers, song teasers prior to the release of a song, tour dates and collaborating with other artists are great examples of content that will keep your followers engaged and keep them constantly wanting to see more. It is also very important to interact with your followers as this will help you develop a loyal fan base overtime
Once you have started to promote your work on social media, remember to remain active on all your online platforms, as the more effort and time you put into each piece of content, for example creating single artwork or performing a song cover of a popular song, you are bound to get results, it is just a matter of patience, consistency, diligence and effort.
Goodluck!