Budget Music Promotion Techniques You Need To Know

If you are an indie artist or band, you are likely not starting your career with very deep pockets to promote your music with. Music promotion can indeed be done without having to spend a significant sum of money, but the trade-off is that it will take its sweet time and effort.

Before we begin, the general disclaimer is that before focusing on music promotion, your priority should be your music in the first place. Make sure you are making the music you love and are putting effort into making it the best it can be. 

With that out of the way, here we have curated 5 tips that will help you do music marketing while on a budget.

1. Have a Consistent Presence

One of the best ways to promote your music is by being consistent in making it. Oftentimes, a new artist might release a song which does well, and the artist lets the traction die out. Instead, this is where you feed the flame and push out more music. Nothing is as valuable as fans being consistently excited about your new releases.

This is one of the easiest and non-mechanical ways to do music promotion — utilize all the buzz as well as you can, and keep being the musician you like to be. 

To create this buzz in the first place, again, you have to be consistent. Make a proper schedule and stick to it. Plan how many songs you want to release per year, and allot times for writing and production. Try to follow your plans and be on track. This will help you increase your listeners and make you a reliable source of music for new fans. Make sure you don’t waste time on projects you’re not too excited about. Here’s 7 Things Indie Artists Should Say “No” To.

2. Playlisting

Today, a huge part of being successful as an indie artist is getting your music onto well-known playlists. Spotify is arguably the biggest in the business when it comes to these playlists. Getting your songs on some playlists on music platforms will help you gain a large number of new listeners and start developing new fans. 

There are different types of Spotify playlists that you can try to get your songs into. These playlists are made by various curators. Some are made by users like yourself, others by algorithms, and some by Spotify’s own curators. If the concept of different kinds of Spotify playlists confuses you, then you are not alone. Which is why we have made a dedicated blog post just to break down how each kind of Spotify playlist works.

Research about different playlists where your kind of music fits, and then pitch your songs to the specific playlists you prefer. Curators charge a small fee to consider your songs for their playlists, which is why you must research a playlist before you pitch your music to them, to make sure you’re not throwing your money on a playlist where your music doesn’t even fit. We’ve extensively talked about finding playlist curators in our other blog posts, like this one. 

3. Short Form Content

It is the era of Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram. Social media is free for all to use, and you must make the most of it. After the emergence of apps like TikTok, Reels on Instagram and Shorts on YouTube, short-form video has rapidly become one of the most popular forms of content. It has thrust several different creators into popularity and helped them build a solid fan base. If you want to do music marketing in a new, fun, and exciting way, you don’t have to look very far.

You can promote your music on these platforms in several different ways. Some of these include:

• Making lip-sync videos of the catchiest part of your song
• Making a meme or dance out of a part of your song
• Starting a trend/giveaway related to making videos using your song

Make sure that you are posting consistently and creatively. Also, don’t hold yourself back from hopping onto existing trends or putting a new spin on them. This can be an easy way to gain traction. 

4. Know Your Audience

One of the first steps of music promotion is recognizing your audience. You need to know the people you are selling to before selling the product. When you make music, ask yourself who you see listening to and who you want to promote it towards. Once you have figured out the target audience, you need to build an appropriate story to promote your music towards that target audience.

You can figure out the trends happening in the community, engage with some people from that community, or join conversations with your target audience. This is a foundational step in building a music career. Don’t overthink approaching new people and finding your niche. 

5. Do Cover Songs

Another easy way to gain more fans, expand your audience, and promote music is by doing cover songs. It might be a tough act to follow, as you are probably a fan of the artist. You might feel insecure about your talent compared to them, but this can help you find fans who have the same favourite artists as you and the same inspirations. This can help form a strong bond with various people and introduce your music to an entirely new audience. 

Many music fans keenly search for cover songs of their favourite artists, and you can appeal to these fans. Make sure to add something new and personal to your rendition of the song. This will help people not only enjoy their favourite song but also in getting to know you. 

These tips might not gain you new listeners instantly, but the secret to success in the music industry is patience and consistency. Don’t lose hope but instead, try to make the best music you can. What appeals to listeners is not the number of streams you have but the quality of your music. We’ve just talked about how to effectively promote your music with little money; here’s how you can use that music to earn more money.