Music Marketing – Tips and Information at a Glance

Are you looking for tips and information on music marketing? Here you’ll find important information on everything from marketing concepts to music marketing.

Definition

Music marketing includes all activities for the qualitative and quantitative optimization of sales and marketing strategies for music products. The central task of music marketing is to meet the needs and expectations of customers, the target group.

stages of marketing concept

In order to implement a successful marketing campaign or a successful marketing idea, the following work steps must be carried out. There are 6 stages here:

• Situation Analysis: A status quo identifies the current status of the artist/band. Typically, a SWOT model (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis) is used here.
• Marketing Goals: This is where you set your goals. What do you want to achieve, where do you want to go? These include goals such as: expanding reach, increasing sales and turnover, increasing concert attendance, strengthening fan loyalty or improving image.
• Marketing Strategy: Strategy determines how to achieve the stated goals. What are the markets and most importantly, which target group do you hope to reach?
• Marketing measures: What are the specific actions? This is where the marketing mix comes into play (price policy, product policy, promotions, distribution policy). In short: what are you trying to sell? What is your own product? Which channels should be used to distribute music? Where do you want to present yourself as a musician? Offline (flyers, trade fairs, concerts) or online (social media, website, Spotify…).
• Marketing Budget: In order to achieve the stated goals, funds are required. Therefore, at the end of the strategy, there should be a fixed budget. Since unforeseen events often occur, a reserve of approximately 10% should be considered when planning your budget.
• Marketing Controls: At the final stage, the effectiveness of the previously defined control parameters is regularly checked. Are specific measures effective or going in the wrong direction? The knowledge gained can be used for the optimization of marketing campaigns.

Marketing Musicians: Tips

Here you will find an overview of the most important tips for successful music marketing:

• Social Media: Use most of the free social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or SoundCloud to spread the word about your music and get new fans/followers. I’ve summarized other great tips for you in my article Social Media for Musicians.
• Create a website: To be easily found in Google, I recommend creating a website (preferably using WordPress) that you can use as a kind of digital business card. This is the possibility of achieving further impact with the help of a blog. For better rankings in Google, I recommend reading an article on my SEO blog.
• Musician portals: In addition to large social networks, use musician portals such as Myownmusic, Reverbnation or SoundCloud to find not only fans, but also partners, and get access to professionals who can help you grow as a musician or as a musician The cue band. For that, I recommend my article “Marketing Your Own Music”, and my blog post “Marketing Yourself as a Musician”.

FAQ

How do I market my music?

As a musician, something that can help with your marketing is sending your finished recordings to radio stations, the press, or prominent music blogs. You can also use social media channels like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to increase your reach. Very old school, own website and of course lots of live performances to help you get noticed too.

Is music a product?

Yes, of course music or a song or an album can be considered a product. In its finished state, it is subject to the laws of the market, and if you make music professionally, it should generate sales or profits.

How do you promote an album?

There are different ways to do this. You can promote your new album at live shows and events. You can also choose to promote online using various relevant social media channels such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to draw attention to new releases through music videos.

How do I get to know my music?

On the one hand, a lot of hard work (see 10 Rules for Success). On the other hand, you can use festivals, concerts, and bar appearances to increase your musical popularity. A third option is to promote online (social media and your own website).