Free Music Promotion Tips!

Music promotion is absolutely vital for success. But there’s a problem. The price tag that comes with it can be very daunting for a budding new artist. And the last thing you want is to break into the piggy bank…

Thankfully, music promotion doesn’t have to cost the pig an arm and a leg. In fact, you can probably get away without it costing either! There are plenty of strategies out there which you can use to share music with the world for free, or with no upfront costs. Meaning your little piggy bank keeps all his limbs.

Our music marketing experts have put together this selection of low-budget promotion tools, ideas and strategies. The perfect guide for an artist who is just starting out. These are easy tasks that you can probably kickstart on your own, with minimal hassle and no upfront fees… Meaning you get to keep all of your piggy’s valued limbs!

1. Check out the local forums and facebook groups!

There are literally thousands of forums for musicians online. And Facebook is a social network, it’s designed for networking! Pick a couple of relevant facebook groups and forums and then make an effort to actively contribute to those communities. You will come across many similar artists, opening some collaboration or cross-promotion opportunities, find some good tips to help you grow and strike gold with some new fans.

2. Make your music available to your audience!

Okay, this is the most important one. You can’t expect your music to grow if it’s just sitting on your computer, and there’s no point promoting music that can’t be found! There are so many amazing platforms to upload your music to, such as Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple. If you haven’t already got your music uploaded to these, this should be your top priority! You don’t want to limit yourself to just one platform. Your fans are scattered across dozens of platforms, so your music should be too. Enlist the services of a digital music distribution company and get your music live on as many platforms as you like. Identity Music charges no upfront and no hidden fees for distributing your music. Instead, they work on a royalties share basis, meaning you’ll be making bank before you start paying. Find out more information about our music distribution here.

3. Take advantage of collaboration opportunities

This one is both free and fun! Hopefully you’ll be trying out those forums and facebook music groups, and when you do, see if you can link up with someone to make a collab. This can come in many different forms. Perhaps a track together, or a remix of a song, or maybe a joint show… who knows! But you will both benefit from the exposure to the eachothers audience. Try to pick artists whos fans will appreciate your style.

4. Host a virtual show

The local gig scene isn’t there right now. But, you can perform a gig to fans all over the world, from the comfort of your living room! It can be a great way to get your music out there, and potentially earn you a few quick bucks. You can check out live streaming virtual shows in our recent blog post: Can’t concert? Live stream!

5. Apply to some local festivals

Like the local gigs, festivals aren’t really happening right now (Sad face!). That being said, there is no reason not to get a head start. Start your outreach for 2021 and beat the masses.

Festivals are great for potential growth. You’ll meet other artists, contacts and get to play to an audience of potential fans. Often, local festivals will be volunteer and community hosted, meaning you won’t be getting paid. You should be able to work out if the potential benefits outweigh any costs to you, or lack of payment. Bear in mind that these events can hold thousands of people… That’s a lot of ears!

6. Google Adwords

You might be thinking “Google isn’t the best way to promote my music”, and you are kind of right! It’s not typically a music promotion tool that would be used. However, Google offers £75 free credit, provided you invest £25. So it can give a good amount of advertising for free. It probably won’t work so well for getting you more streams, but it would be a great place to advertise any upcoming gigs or events.

7. Create an online store

If you’ve got your branding down, then this is something you might wanna consider! Firstly, you can make some cash through selling merchandise. Oh, and with the google adwords credit you’ll be able to advertise it with £75 free credit! Secondly, you’ll have people wearing your merch… Talk about a walking billboard! And they paid you to do it? It can’t get any better.

8. Try guest blogging

This is a great strategy if you are someone who loves writing! If you’ve got some ideas, opinions, insight or tips about the music industry, you could look to put some blog posts together for a popular blog/forum. Check out this list of Top 50 Music Blogs in the UK, to find some potential spaces to post!

9. Do some networking

In the age of Love Island, bloggers and influencers are massive! Now, even the biggest companies like Coca-cola use influencers as a key promotion strategy. You should take a page out of their book (or a sip out of their can), and utilise them too. By creating a small network of contacts you’ll have a music promotion hub at your fingertips!

Important tip: Don’t dive straight in to talking promotion! You need to invest some time in building a relationship.

10. Find sponsorship opportunities

If you need a cash injection, sponsorship is definitely worth looking at. If you can help a business to grow, then it’s worth reaching out to them and making a proposal. Take care when picking a sponsor… If they don’t match your brand, you might end up looking like a sell out!

11. Promotional Partnerships

Have you ever heard of “You scratch my back, i’ll scratch yours”? Because it’s time to get scratching! Do a favour for a business and ask for a favour in return. For example, hanging your posters in their store, in return for listing them as a sponsor at your next performance

12. Do a cover

Use covers in a smart way – to attract the attention of likely fans with a familiar topic. Music listeners are attracted to familiarity, so if you do a cover of a popular song and upload it, you will likely pick up new listeners who would want to check out what else you have on offer. Check that you have all the rights management sorted, so it doesn’t come back to bite you! This can be done using Identity Music’s rights management services, check out our services page for more information.

13. Just ask!!

We thought it was important to round off with the most accessible of all…. Ask! There are plenty of people around you who will be willing to help spread the word about your music; friends, family, fans. But this is often overlooked and pushed aside. Perhaps it’s something that doesn’t occur to artists, or perhaps it’s fear of being rejected, but you have people who can help for free all around you.

If you don’t want to just ask fans to share your music, you could establish it as a competition. Get your fans to share your link and then select a random one to win a prize (If its a branded prize, you’re still adding to your promotion!).

Now that you have a few pointers, we’ve got our fingers crossed you’ll start to see a some growth! For more dedicated and advanced promotion strategies, we recommend reaching out to the Identity Music promotion team, and discussing what is available to you. Using our pre-established network of contacts, playlisters and extensive knowledge, we’ll be able to give yourself the best music promotion possible. To find out more about our services, get in touch with our team here.

With Identity Music you can get your music all over the globe in order to gain the maximum exposure. By using our distribution and music promotion services, you’ll be able to take control while watching your music reach new heights.

Also, Identity Music believes in piggy protection. Someone’s got to protect the PiggyBanks! #TeamPig