Indie musicians can use new ways to promote their music in 2024. With platforms like Spotify and TikTok being the most popular ways people find new music, it’s really important to be there with your music and use all the tools available to be fully present on these platforms and gain more and more listeners, fans, and followers.
Spotify is undoubtedly the biggest streaming platform in the world.
The key is to place your music on popular Spotify playlists and expose your music to new audiences and potential new fans.
However, because over 3 million songs are added to the platform each month, the competition is fierce, and your music needs to be top notch to have full potential to land placements with top playlists.
There are 2 ways to submit your music to Spotify playlists:
* Using a music submission service
* Contact playlisters by yourself
Using a Spotify playlist submission service
You can use different music submission services to send your music to Spotify playlist curators within your chosen music genre.
Platforms like One Submit, can save you a lot of time and effort, and can place your music on playlists using their Spotify playlist submission service.
The advantage here is that you’ll receive a response and written review from every playlist curator you submit your music to, The downside is that it costs money to use these services.
The platform also has a TikTok music promotion service, blogs, YouTube channel submissions, and more. Check out the best music promotion services available
Contact playlisters by yourself
Start by identifying Spotify playlists that fit your music style and have suitable follower counts – small playlists won’t get you much traction, but the mega-popular ones are hard to land. Using a tool like ChartMetric can help you search and filter Spotify playlists to find ones that are a good match.
Once you’ve identified some playlists to target, look into getting in touch with the playlist curators directly if possible. Having an existing relationship can help immensely when trying to pitch your music. Follow and engage with curators on social media, message them about your upcoming releases, and try to form a connection. Offer to do collaborations, cross-promotions, or whatever else you can to build a relationship.
When you want to share your song, write a brief and personal message explaining why your song is a good fit for their playlist and for the people who listen to it. Please tell us when you arrive, but don’t ask too much or be pushy about it. It might take a while to get your music on playlists, so it’s important to keep trying and not give up.
Finally, use Spotify’s algorithm to your advantage. Engage your existing fan base around your new release to help drive streaming numbers. Spotify’s algorithm looks at stats like new listens, followers, and saves to identify rising artists and songs gaining momentum – so give them a boost on release week, and your chances of organic playlist adds will improve too.
Music Blog and Website Submissions
Getting written about by music blogs and culture websites remains an essential part of promotion. Though blog buzz doesn’t drive discovery like playlists, editorials on well-known sites lend credibility and can drive new traffic.
Start by researching music blogs and websites that cover your genre or style. Look for sites that post frequently, get decent traffic and engagement, and have posted about artists similar to you. Compile a list of 10-20 blogs to target for your release.
Prepare a professional press kit including your new single/album, a short bio, high-res artist photos and any helpful press quotes or charts. Adapt your pitch email for each blog, explaining why you’re a great fit for their audience. Personalize each pitch while retaining professionalism.
For timing, pitch smaller blogs 4-6 weeks before your release date, then follow up with bigger sites 2-3 weeks out. Stress exclusivity offers and premieres to bigger blogs whenever possible – offering a first listen often helps guarantee coverage.
Don’t get discouraged by lack of responses – follow up politely a maximum of 2 times if you don’t hear back after your initial pitch. If you’ve got a sizable budget, explore paid options like sponsored posts and ads on music sites. Otherwise, keep trying to build genuine connections with key editors and writers.
Leverage any positive blog coverage by sharing on social media and with your mailing list. Keep developing media relationships over time to become a “go-to” artist for premieres, features, and reviews.
In 2024, TikTok will take center stage for music discovery and promotion. With over 1 billion monthly users watching endless streams of short videos, mastering TikTok promotion is now mandatory for indie artists.
Start by studying trending tracks on TikTok to pinpoint songs that spawn viral dance challenges, meme trends, and more. Take note of which music styles fit naturally in 15-60 second videos. Track releases from artists like Lil Nas X who have leveraged TikTok to breakout hits.
When releasing new music, create your own TikTok videos featuring the song. Shoot creative lyric videos, behind the scenes clips, dances, or anything else fitting the vibe. Hashtag your posts with trending challenges whenever possible, while tagging the song name and your handle. Cross-promote by directing people to stream the full song.
You can also reach out to influencers in your music niche and offer them pre-release samples to help kickstart more organic usage. Micro and nano influencers with highly engaged followings in your genre can be very influential in making songs go viral on TikTok, so build relationships with creators making content similar to what you’d envision for your song.
Usage in multiple viral TikToks can snowball a song’s success, so focus on getting that initial traction on the platform, then letting the content ecosystem take over. With the power of TikTok’s algorithm, songs can go from zero to #1 in record time – as long as you lay the groundwork.
Once you pick up some buzz on TikTok, lean into it aggressively. Produce supplementary content like dance tutorials to further promote vitality while highlighting your song. If a meme or challenge emerges, support spreading it as far and wide as possible.
TikTok is the new secret weapon for indie artist marketing in 2024. Learn how to be creative, nimble, and relentless in leveraging the ultra- influential platform for music promotion.
Mastering Music Promotion in 2024
For unsigned and independent artists, it can feel hugely difficult to make a dent in such an oversaturated music landscape. But by taking advantage of platforms like Spotify, music blogs, and TikTok through targeted outreach, clever cross-promotion and a beat-by-beat promotion strategy, it’s still possible for indie artists to build an audience in 2024.
Remember that music discovery today is a marathon, not a sprint. Consistency in releasing quality music and promotional content is critical. Don’t get discouraged by initial low streaming numbers or a lack of virality – with persistence and creativity, success can come when you least expect it. Track data, find what gains traction, and then double down on it.
Music promotion today also means engaging directly with fans and platforms daily through social media and messaging. Build genuine connections, foster your community, and develop your brand as an artist. Success in 2024 requires non stop hustle across all channels of discovery and interaction.
The music industry will only get more competitive as more artists arrive on the scene every day. But strategic promotion, authentic community-building and tireless dedication to your craft will ensure your music gets the ears it deserves. With the right musical and promotional chops, unsigned artists can still thrive and find their audience – even in 2024.
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