Your song is finished and ready to be shared with the world. That brings up the question: 'How do you publish the song online on, for example, Spotify?' What do you have to take into account in order to maximise the chance of success? In this blog we give you a guideline with a number of steps to follow on how to release your song!
Step 1: Find distribution partners
We take the streaming service Spotify as an example during this step-by-step plan, because it is one of the the most popular streaming services worldwide. But also take a look at other streaming services such as Deezer and Apple Music.
For the first step in getting your song on Spotify - it is important to look for a distribution partner. A distribution partner is a mediator between you and Spotify. There are various online distribution partners, all with a different payment system. So look carefully at the conditions that you find important!
Some distribution partners are free. An example of this is DISTROKID. Spotify owns DISTROKID shares, ad that's why they upload music faster on Spotify and making checking your artist account easier. The most used (also paid) distribution partners are Cdbaby and TUNECORE. Spotify was making it possible to directly upload your songs, but that project is on hold.
One of the many Gigstarter acts with music on Spotify: Change The LetterStep 2: Create a release plan
Before your song is published, you must make a release plan. Without this plan your song will disappear in the sea of new uploads from artists. The first step of the release plan is to set a date. Think carefully about the pros and cons of the date you choose for the release.
Research shows that many people listen to new music on the so-called "Release Friday". At the same time, social media is less busy that day, which makes your online marketing less effective. Once the date is known, you start the promotion. You start releasing teasers a few months in advance. Make people curious! You can read more about this topic in the following steps.
Step 3: Select platforms
It is important that you keep your followers on social media informed about your new music. There are different media for each type of content that you want to post. The most used channels to promote are Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. When your post is intended as entertainment for your fans, Facebook and Instagram are more common media. Here, image, video and text are important to generate reach for your content. People who use this social media often look to get entertaining information.
Facebook is still by far the largest social media channel in the UK. Since Facebook is used by a large number of people, all target groups are present on the platform. With this in mind, you can always reach the right target group with sponsored content. The disadvantage of Facebook is the low number of young users, the majority of young people use Instagram and YouTube. When you focus on this younger target group, it is important to put more focus on these platforms for the promotion of your music.
We also recommend to take a look at the Google Academy. You can get free certificates and find out everything about online advertising on social platforms and Google itself!
Step 4: Promote your song before release
A few weeks before the release, you officially announce that a new tune is coming. At this moment you are sharing small teasers of the song with your followers. Also make sure that there is a possibility of a pre-save button. This increases the involvement of your fans even before the song is released.
It is best for the external promotion to contact playlist makers and journalists. Also think about reaching out to your local radio and newspapers. The more publicity, the better. Of course you want your new song to be heard to by many people. But how do you ensure that your song is promoted so that listeners actually remember it?
Social Media
Of course you don't have to literally post a message with the text "listen to my new song that will be released soon". This way you do not have the attention of your followers. What you can do is show a piece of content of your music, tell your followers the story of what the song is about, or show the cover of the song. Don't scare the viewer with a lot of content, but build it up slowly.
Involve your listeners and become one with them
Make sure you are on the same level with your fans. One way to get this done is to interact with your supporters. You can do this by asking your fans questions and responding to messages from your followers. That way, your followers will become even more involved in the work you do and create.
Do not only think about the online possibilities, you can also have an offline release party
Step 5: Release!
This is the moment that your song can finally be shared with the world! It is ready to stream and can be shared anywhere. When you have made the listener curious with some previews before the release, it is now important to put this all together for them and to share the complete story of the song. This gives the listener a good experience! Don't promote it too much. If you post a message too often, it can seem desperate for your followers. Find a balance in this, but don't be afraid to be proud of your work.
Step 6: Push trough
After the release, you can start emailing extensively again. Make sure that your song is mentioned on as many platforms as possible, this can ensure that it has much greater reach. Continue trying to appear on blogs, relevant talk shows, regional/national radio shows, magazines and newspapers with your song for about three months after the release. After the release, do not forget to continue he promotion on your own channels!
With this step-by-step plan we hope to have given you loads of inspiration and ideas to send your creativity and musicality into the world. Good luck to all of you!
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