17 ways to promote your music online
By Julia Kater of Bandzoogle Blog
With so many ways to promote your music online, and only so many hours in the day, how do you decide which platforms are actually worth your time to get your music out there?
If you try to promote your music through every channel available to you, all at the same time, you're going to spread yourself too thin and eventually burn out. On top of that, you'll end up frustrated that all of your hard work hasn't actually amounted to much.
So rather than attempt the impossible, focus your efforts on a handful of platforms where your existing and potential fans are most likely to spend their time online. Start your music promotion by focusing on the platforms that you most enjoy using, and build from there.
Check out the 17 of the best ways to promote your music online.
1. Your Website
To be sure that you'll always have a place for your fans to find you online, make a music website with a custom domain name. Your website should be a one-stop shop that includes your latest music, an EPK, your official artist bio, upcoming events, a merch store, and more.
You'll use your website to promote music online by sharing new releases, adding your full discography, and gathering interest in your live show. It takes work to keep it up to date, but if used effectively, a music website is the most robust way to get your fans to directly support your music. For more ideas on building your online presence, check out these music promotion strategies for indie artists.
2. Email List
Your email list is likely the most valuable music marketing tool you'll have. Unlike social media platforms where algorithms determine who sees your content and when, your emails are guaranteed to land in your subscribers' inboxes at the times you determine.
Whether or not you have new music on the horizon, sending a regular monthly newsletter is a great way to keep your fans engaged and informed about all things going on with you and your band. This fan engagement is key to building a community that cares - and one that will be there when you have new music to promote.
3. Electronic Press Kit (EPK)
An EPK is an essential tool when it comes to promoting your music online. You can use it to create media assets that go along with a new music release, support your album promotion strategy, or add an EPK tailored to help you book more shows and reach more fans.
Your digital press kit should include an up-to-date bio, music, photos, videos, tour dates, press coverage, social links, and contact information.
+Read more: "15 Must-Have Tools to Market Music and Grow a Fan Base"
4. Podcasts
Securing an interview on a podcast, or getting your music featured, is a great way to reach new music fans. Even a feature on a local podcast will give a new audience a more in-depth look at your music and who you are as a musician.
To promote your music online, you could start your own podcast and talk about your band with regular episodes. You can also reach out for an interview, or pitch your songs to podcasts. Just be sure to take some time and research podcasts that would be a good fit for your music. With video podcasts growing on YouTube and Spotify, a podcast feature can now reach even more listeners. Podcasts are just one of many creative ways to promote your band to new audiences.
5. Groover
Groover has quickly become one of the go-tos for DIY musicians to promote their releases online.
It's a music promotion platform that allows you to directly send your music to the best playlist curators, radios, blogs, labels, and music pros. You can choose among 3,500 music curators available worldwide - they listen to your track and you receive a guaranteed feedback within 7 days, alongside coverage (playlist placements, blog articles, and more).
You can even use Groover to promote your music on TikTok to help increase followers and get your music trending!
6. Blogs
You might think of blogs as being outdated in the age of TikTok and Spotify, but blogs have a lot to offer when it comes to getting in front of new fans and promoting your music online.
Writing a music blog is a great way to offer insight into your career, and regularly adding content shows that you're an active musician. You can add posts that provide insight into your creative process, roundups of new music you've been loving, or tour diaries. You can also use this content to help you pitch music bloggers for features, which can only help with your website's SEO and gain you more fans.
Looking for ideas? Check out 13 topics that musicians can easily blog about.
7. Facebook
With all social platforms it's important to look at your fan demographics and then determine where your time is best spent to promote your music online. As a social media platform used by billions, Facebook is still considered essential for promoting music online. While it has become increasingly difficult to reach fans organically over the last few years, there's still weight in using Facebook to promote your music, especially if this is where your demographic of fans show up online.
If there's an audience you want to reach and you have some budget to work with, get comfortable with Ads Manager to create and measure Facebook ad campaigns. As long as you dedicate some time to testing and optimizing, Facebook ads can be one of the most affordable ways to promote your music online.
+Read more: "How Musicians Leave Money on Their Own Websites"
8. Instagram
Between Stories, Reels, your grid, Lives, and comments and engagement on other people's posts, there are plenty of ways to build your visual brand on Instagram.
Try out the different options to see which one(s) you can commit to building organic Instagram traffic, from playing clips on your instrument with Reels, to sharing behind the scenes Stories for your fans. If you have a little money to put towards growing your presence, you can advertise and promote Instagram posts through Facebook Ads Manager in the same way that you'd promote a Facebook post.
9. TikTok
TikTok has quickly become a popular way to promote music online; trending on TikTok can do big things for your music career. The video app is especially popular among Gen Z, but older demographics have wasted no time hopping on the bandwagon.
You can create your own short videos, but be sure to also release your music to the platform as well so it can be used as audio snippets. The fine-tuned algorithm and addictive format give you a good chance of organically reaching a new audience with TikTok in comparison to other social media platforms.
10. Discord
Discord seems set to become the TikTok of the music industry, and might become one of the best ways to build an engaged fanbase if it's a platform that resonates for you.
You can hang around on other people's servers to get comfortable and build new connections and fans organically. Then, when you're ready, consider starting your own server to really nurture your existing fanbase and promote your music.
11. Snapchat
Snapchat is a casual, in-the-moment social media app, more about building and engaging a fanbase than selling music directly. It is a fun way to connect with fans, especially if your target audience skews younger.
It tends to feel more personal than other social media apps, which can lead to some unique marketing opportunities that don't necessarily feel like "marketing." So keep that in mind if you decide to promote your music through Snapchat.
12. Twitch
Because Twitch focuses on live video streaming, the platform gained a lot of popularity early in the pandemic. Its staying power is thanks not only to the way it allows artists to do virtual comments, but also to its vibrant community.
If you're a regular performer, Twitch is a good avenue to put on livestream concerts with an interactive feel. You can also promote your music on Twitch by hosting Q & A sessions, streaming rehearsals, or giving online classes and workshops.
+Read more: "DIY Music Distribution Checklist: Everything You Need to Know"
13. YouTube
YouTube is an enormous driver of music discovery. To use YouTube to promote your music online, upload and share videos regularly.
With the addition and rising popularity of YouTube Shorts, you can now bring all your favorite platforms together under YouTube's roof. To help promote your music, try creating Shorts (which are a lot like Reels or TikToks) as an additional way to capture, and keep, the attention of fans. Once they discover your Shorts, it's a natural transition to continue discovering your music through your channel's music videos. To really make the most of YouTube for music promotion, optimize your channel description with relevant keywords and organize your uploads into playlists so new visitors can easily explore your catalog.
14. Influencer partnerships and brand collaborations
One of the fastest-growing methods of promotion in all industries is influencer marketing: when you partner with social media influencers to promote a product (in your case, your music!).
A lot of nano-influencers (those with under 10k followers) will work with you for little or no charge, and this is a great way to get in front of a totally new audience. They can feature your music in a Reel, do a joint Live with you, or have your song in the background of a TikTok post.
You can also incorporate the help of local brands that can grow alongside you as you promote your music. For example, working with a local clothing company to wear one of their shirts in your music video, with the stipulation that you tag and mention them in the description and they share your video to all their fans.
The more specific you can make these partnerships and collaborations to you and your audience's interests, the more successful you'll be.
15. Streaming services (Spotify, Apple, Amazon)
Most fans use streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon to listen to their favorite artists and discover new music, so you'll want to make sure your releases are available on all of them. DistroKid is the easiest way to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, and 150+ platforms.
Getting even one of your songs featured on a playlist can work wonders for your music career. There are millions of playlists out there for every subgenre, mood, and activity imaginable, which translates into a golden opportunity to reach the right audience at the right time. Use Spotify for Artists to pitch your tracks to editorial playlists at least three weeks before your release date. For a deeper dive into single releases, check out these tips on promoting your song.
You can also create your own playlist that includes your music and the music of other local artists or artists you admire, then use your social media or even ads to promote it and get it more listeners. Once it's complete, share the playlist with other indie artists you included, so they can share it with their audience as well!
16. Bandcamp
Bandcamp is a marketplace where music fans can listen to your music, or purchase downloads, vinyls, and even cassettes. The Bandcamp app allows listeners to stream music from their favourite artists.
Bandcamp is well-known for their community, so it's well worth adding your music there for discovery purposes. You can also directly integrate your Bandcamp player to your Bandzoogle website, making sure that your fans can support you directly.
17. Bandsintown
Bandsintown is the largest concert discovery platform, used by over 500,000 artists and 50 million fans.
It's a great way for performing artists to gain extra exposure for their shows, whether you're heading out on tour, live streaming from home, or anything in between. You'll be able to sync all of your upcoming events across your website and social media channels to be sure your fans can track your dates and catch your music in person.
All of these options to reach new listeners make promoting your music online a tangible goal for any independent artist. When starting out though, it's important to remember that all of your efforts should really be about the music.
For your best chances at success, choose a few platforms where you feel comfortable, or where you are able to grow a following quickly because your music suits the service. Then focus on those promotional tools to build lasting relationships with your fans. You can always add more options once you get into a routine of promoting your music online in an authentic way.
For a deeper look at tying all of these channels together, explore our complete guide to marketing your music online.
