How to Promote music: Developing your mindset and skills for Marketing

After being exposed to a large audience, good music starts to market itself on its own. It takes marketing to build momentum, but good music keeps it going. However, almost every artist wonder the question “How to Promote music without breaking the bank?”

Marketing is not enough to make a substandard song good.  A poorly written song cannot be turned into a hit just on the basis of promotion. Surely, it might be able to take a song from zero to a million plays or even more than that. However, the song's temporary popularity does not mean that people will get accustomed to listening to bad music. People want to listen to that kind of music that makes them feel good. Neither can marketing makes them feel so, nor can a poorly written song. 

Marketing is not a magic trick. Growing your streams and fanbase will only be feasible if you produce good music. First, some time needs to be devoted to honing your songwriting and production skills. If you are in the initial phase of your career as a musician, you should focus on your craft and work hard. Get familiar with the fundamentals. Hone your songwriting skills. Make as much music as possible. On the contrary, if you are already creating great music, you need not stop focusing on your art after your first successful work. As you have just started and the journey is going to be long.

Business-oriented or artistic?

One of the major problems that musicians might have to struggle with initially is switching to and fro from an artistic line of thought to a business mindset. 

As an artist, you place a higher priority on making music than worrying about business and marketing. You might find it challenging to switch from a creative into a marketing line of thought.

And so, there are several chances of falling into either of these two traps.

People who do this end up complaining about how the music industry is unfair. Many musicians tend to ignore the marketing and business sides of their projects and just keep making music. It becomes impossible to separate the marketing and business side of your project from your music and artistry. In the end, it becomes dry, boring, and uninspiring and you start hating it.

The solution is to be both creative and practical.

The music you make should be something you enjoy. Maximum amount of time should be spent on honing your craft. Hence, it is equally important to be aware of what is happening in the industry if you wish to grow your career. Developing your brand is crucial.

You can only deal with this issue using a holistic approach. The way you brand your music will affect your creative decisions. It's smart to shift your style to what the market wants if you have a song that is doing well in a different style than what you usually make.

Here is a list of a few resources that you could use to inspire your marketing and business acumen:

• Relentless by Tim Grover

• How to Fight a Hydra by Josh Kaufman

• The Entrepreneur Mind by Kevin D Johnson

• How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

Following is the list of resources you could use to strengthen your artist mindset:

• Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield

• Mastery by Robert Greene

• The Producer’s Guide to Workflow & Creativity

Keep striving to learn more

According to experts, the artists who do well are the ones who have the following traits:

• They are highly motivated. 

• They have a great work ethic. 

• They are consistent performers and are in the business for the long term.

• They learn as much as they can.