7 - Free Music Promotion: Get Heard Because Your Music is Great!

(Free Music Promotion)

The Internet has shattered the traditional music distribution process and made it a lot easier.
Distributing your music to fans doesn’t have to be a burden on your pockets anymore as you
know longer have to pay to print off CDs. Here are some of the best free music promotion
tactics, both online and offline methods, you can use to promote your music.

Free music promotion you can do online

Submit music to blogs

Music bloggers have influence over their audience, and getting featured on them can give you a
great boost to your music career. You can submit your music to blogs and gain access to an
established audience. Just won free tweet from the prominent music blogger can change your
career:

https://twitter.com/pitchfork/status/933116201223507968

Make sure to have an updated SoundCloud profile to send to them. Most music bloggers prefer
to listen to new artists on streaming websites instead of downloading tracks from email
attachments.

Write guest posts for reputed music blogs

Writing a guest post for a music blog is just as helpful as being featured on it. If they like your
article, you might also get an opportunity to get featured on their blog and get free music
promotion in future.

Post video reviews of your instruments

Posting reviews of instruments works really well if you want to promote your music. Every
musician researches instruments before buying them. Whether they buy their first guitar,
keyboard, microphone or DJ equipment, they all read articles and watch video reviews of them.
Famous DJ Bass Kleph uses YouTube to post reviews of latest DJ gear and also posts vlogs on
his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_FapkWr6Fo

If you want to be sneaky, just work in one of your songs as something you are demoing on the
new instrument.

Upload music on SoundCloud

SoundCloud is the best online resource you could have for free music promotion. You can
upload music on the website and promote it using multiple strategies. SoundCloud has a
number of benefits:
 ● Free limited hours of upload duration.
● Get exposure to major record labels who are active on the platform.
● Connect with famous musicians on the platform and collaborate with them.
If you haven't already, learn how to set up your SoundCloud profile.

Upload music on YouTube and Vimeo

Just as audio streaming site like SoundCloud, video streaming sites like YouTube and Vimeo
offer a platform for musicians to upload videos and get free music promotion. Many people are
using YouTube as an online radio station. They build their own playlists, and you need to get on
them. Not just for promotion, but for getting paid through YouTube AdSense.
SoundCloud’s biggest artist, Chance The Rapper, won multiple Grammy awards with nothing
but SoundCloud. He also uses YouTube to promote his music. He even cross-promotes
YouTube and SoundCloud through his SoundCloud bio. Here’s his latest single Smoke Again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=DWZBchgVSvc

Cover songs
Finding good songs to cover is also a great way to promote your own music. When songs go
viral you can capitalize on search results by posting cover songs. In the track title mention the
name of the trending song, the original artist, and then your band name in brackets mentioning
that it's a cover.
There are many artists who use this strategy. Tyler Ward is famous for posting cover songs on
YouTube, he has done hundreds of cover songs. His cover of Love The Way You Lie has
millions of views on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUsWGNnqJ5U

Make an EPK
Having a great press kit is really important for a musician. It can be helpful to promote your
music in many ways like sending it to:
● Record labels
● Concert promoters
● PR companies
● Other music industry professionals
If you can’t afford to hire a designer to make a press kit, you can make an EPK. Once you have
designed it you can send the links to record labels and get free music promotion. Here’s an
example of an EPK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av4d5w10Guk
Develop a free website
A website plays an important role in music marketing. Your website is going to be the center of
everything you do online. There are lots of free website providers like:
● Wordpress
● Wix
● Blogspot
You can create a great website, and upload your SoundCloud links to get free music promotion
through the website. See how Bruno Mars promotes his music through his website:

Image

Set up an email list

An email list is a really effective resource that nobody talks about in music marketing. Set up
your website to collect emails from your visitors. You can then use this email list to promote your
merchandise, and build hype for upcoming songs and tours.

Post music tutorials on YouTube

Posting music tutorials on YouTube can be used as a cross promotion strategy with
SoundCloud. In this way, a musician can collect more followers and get free music promotion on
SoundCloud.
DJ and YouTuber Ella Skins uses the same strategy. He posted at this mixing tutorial, and you
can see his SoundCloud account link in the description:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uduQ2wJSC8U

Start a podcast channel on SoundCloud

If you don’t know have a podcast channel on SoundCloud, you should definitely start one. You
can publish your music in the podcast episodes and have your audience listen to it. You can
start a podcast series on any topic and incorporate your music during the breaks and get free
music promotion.

Use local online groups and community forums

If you’re performing in a certain city, you can publish an ad on online forums of that city, or in the
relevant groups of that city and promote your music for free. You can even sell more tickets
using this strategy. Include a teaser video of your biggest song for those who have never heard
you before.

Online fan engagement strategies: Facebook

Everyone uses Facebook for free music promotion, but are you using all of its features? There
are many ways you can promote your music using Facebook:
 ● Use groups on the platform to promote music amongst a specific community, or to music
groups who just love listening to great music.
● You can post about your live shows on Facebook events and invite fans to come over for
the show. Even Jay-Z uses this strategy for his concerts:

● Facebook lives helps you interact directly with your fans.

● You can store a variety of videos in the Featured Videos section.
● Facebook even has some hashtag functionality.
Facebook is about more than just posting updates. Use all of its features for the best free music
promotion you can get.
Use Twitter and its trending feature
Twitter’s trending feature allows you to see what’s going on in your city. Start a hashtag
campaign and incorporate it with your music videos, singles, and concerts and get free music
promotion from the Twitterati.
Selena Gomez was recently promoting her single Bad Liar using the hashtag #badliar. It helped
her get on Billboard’s top 100 charts:

https://twitter.com/selenagomez/status/865064318215233536

Use Instagram’s live videos and hashtags

Just like Twitter’s search results, Instagram’s hashtag results are filtered accordingly and can
help musicians in getting a song viral.
Instagram’s live feature is also very useful to promote yourself as an artist. You can talk about
your upcoming shows in the city you’re performing and ask your fans to visit you. Zedd and
Liam Payne used Instagram stories to talk to the fans about their new song Get Low:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV38zDSyEHo

The song has over 400,000 plays on SoundCloud so far:

https://soundcloud.com/zedd/get-low

You can also post stories on Instagram with a swipe-up link for your SoundCloud tracks.

Live Q&As on YouTube

YouTube’s live is another great way to talk to the fans from your recording studio. ROMY WAVE
from YouTube went live on YouTube and played songs for her fans and also had a little chat
with them through YouTube’s super chat window:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAPy3pBDiEQ

Post WhatsApp and Snapchat stories

WhatsApp and Snapchat have Story features which lets you publish a 24-hour post. The appeal
of this content is that it is limited, and it can lead to higher engagement and shares.

Ask fans to remix your songs

One of the oldest strategies in music marketing is remixing songs. You can add extra flavor to it
by asking the fans to remix the song for you. You can even conduct a competition online and
giveaway a gift to the best composer. In this way, you don’t have to spend too much time and in
return you even get free music promotion.
The DJ duo Colourz did this:

https://twitter.com/OfficialColourz/status/597123304395132928
Write a blog which speaks to fans
A blog can be a powerful resource in music marketing if used properly. Have a well-designed
theme for your blog and talk about the latest trends in the music industry. Talk to the fans and
ask them what is it that they like in current musicians and perhaps review their music on your
blog.

Do a vlog where you answer fan questions and interact

Just like a blog, you can start posting vlogs on YouTube and start talking to your fans. This not
only helps you in free music promotion but also builds the fan-artist relationship.
The Bass Wizard is a famous vlogger on YouTube who uploads vlogs on his YouTube channel
regularly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb_w0U3OpMs

Free music promotion tactics you can do offline

Collaborate with artists

Artists have been collaborating in order to mutually benefit for decades. The two of you share
your audiences, and you both end up with more new fans. Your location doesn't have to stop
you, even those living in remote areas can use online collaboration tools to connect.
Every time you meet a new musician at an event, or concert, is another chance to see if you can
find a new collaborator. The famous girl group Fifth Harmony collaborated with YouTube cover
band Boyce Avenue. Their song Mirrors was a hit earning millions of views on YouTube and
181,000 plays on SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/boyce-avenue/mirrors-boyce-avenue-feat

Build your network and befriend artist managers

Artist managers work with PR companies and concert promoters. Having artist managers as
friends is really good for musicians looking to enter the music industry. If you know a few artist
managers who work with famous musicians, they might pitch your demos to them, rewarding
you with free music promotion.

https://twitter.com/PhillyTheBoss/status/894586388208914432

Perform at local events

Performing at local shows in your city is a good way to promote yourself as a musician and gain
experience for live shows. This strategy is exactly what you should implement if you’re just
entering into the music business as you’d not be having enough connections in the music
industry.
Find open mic nights, open talent shows, small promoters looking for opening bands and other
local opportunities.
Perform at a charity event
There are a lot of benefits involved in hosting a charity show. You don’t necessarily have to host
the whole show, just being a part of it is going to give you great press support. Many charity
events are organized in different cities and we’ve seen famous artists organizing charity shows.
Canadian singer Alessia Cara performed at Global Citizen Festival this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stqQ8QaulXQ

You might not get to perform at Global Citizen Festival in the beginning of your career, but there
will be many charity events being hosted in your city or somewhere nearby.

Enroll yourself into a music competition

Music competitions provide you the platform you’re looking for. If you’re a serious musician, you
should consider applying in music competitions like:
● America’s Got Talent
● American Idol
● X-Factor
● The Voice
There are many other local competitions happening all around the world, but these are the
major music competitions that will give you an international audience. Here are the best bands
from America’s Got Talent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18OuoRzoyrk

In this modern age, offline resources might be a little limited compared to online channels. You
would be foolish to neglect them as they can still help you build your Fanbase

Learn free music promotion tactics to get free publicity

We have looked at some of the best free music promotion tactics. You can choose any
marketing strategies that suit your marketing plan, or just the ones that you enjoy doing. If your
music is good enough and you choose the right marketing tactics, you’ll be surely get good
response from people, and build your music career.