A Musician’s guide to podcasting

Podcasts are a great segway into other entertainment realms to help build your brand. Here’s how musicians can take advantage of your power.

by Angela Tyler of Sound Fly

It might seem like podcasts are reserved for celebrities or bands with a huge following, but you’re actually in a great position to be a podcast guest yourself. 

Speaking as a publicist who has gotten her indie clients on podcasts with huge follower counts, it’s completely possible to get yourself on a podcast and use it to build your brand. But being a guest on other podcasts isn’t the only way to do it. 

Take a look at some of the ways you can do that, including of course, how to land on your favorite podcasts.

1. Guest on Other Podcasts

This is one of the best and most obvious ways to build your brand and spread your work out there to listening communities. But here’s where I want you to get creative and think outside the box. 

There are a lot of music related podcasts you can pitch yourself to — start by checking out some of our favorite podcasts or by exploring your own. Music and music business podcasts are great because they’ll often interview you about your music, the inspiration behind your song and lyrics and you get to really chat through what you’re passionate about. But when it comes to brand building, there are so many podcasts that you can reach out to even outside of the music sphere.

This is where it’s important to know and lean on your brand; find your “why.” If part of your brand is health and wellness, you might approach podcasts that have a focus on wellness so that you can lend your expertise and opinions on a subject you’re passionate about. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities outside the typical echo chambers of music news. 

People that are interested in what you stand for and who you are will be more likely to check out your music after getting to know you and your beliefs more than someone who just randomly stumbles across your music. 

2. Start Your Own!

Seriously! It’s not as hard or intimidating as it might seem and what’s better than getting to play your music and interview your friends? You can make the podcast whatever you want. If you have a big enough following it could be a behind the scenes look at your day-to-day activities, or it can be more of a business-focused podcast interviewing artists and experts.

One example of an artist who incorporates their brand well is Andy Frascoand his World Saving podcast which leans heavily into mental health and having guests on to share their struggles, the things that have helped them, and how they’ve healed. Another example is QuestLove Supreme, which has had everyone from Jack White to Michelle Obama on the show, delivering interviews and music combined with lots of humor (which is exactly what you’d expect from his brand).

Even our podcast, Themes and Variation brings music education to life through peer to peer conversation, just like we do over at Soundfly!

3. Sponsor a Podcast

Before you speed read past this one, there are more ways to do this than simply paying for it, although that’s something you can consider. Hear me out.

You might be surprised that a lot of smaller podcasts actually do have sponsorship offers that start as low as $30 to have your song on a podcast episode and linked in the show notes. And just like partnering with local brands that might not have a huge budget, in-kind agreements and alternative promo sharing relationships are definitely at play here. 

You can also use the other skills you have like offering to write a podcast their intro theme music, or give away merch or concert tickets to their listeners. Get creative!

4. Create a Playlist of Your Favorites

Just like how creating a playlist of your favorite songs can be a great way to network and grow your own audience, so is creating a playlist of some of your favorite podcast episodes that represent your brand. It can be a creative way to get on the podcasts radar as well as for you to further cement your brand in the eyes of your fans. 

Let’s go with with the same health angle. Maybe you pick 20 of your favorite podcasts, big and small and share it with fans, explaining why you chose these. Maybe you even turn it into social media content, making a post or story about why each episode is important to you.

5. Get Involved With Pod Communities 

Even if you aren’t on a podcast (yet!) you can still get involved with communities on Reddit, Discord, and Facebook that align with your brand and mission. 

Get into some discussions or do research to get a better understanding of which episodes resonated with folks. Learn what people really liked or are talking about and use that as fuel for your future decisions on your own brand. Everything from future opportunities, content creation, song writing, and more can be discovered through this type of engagement. 

Podcasts are a brilliant way to build your brand and to grow your fanbase this year. Take a look at different music (and non-music) podcasts, see what resonates, and build! Oh, and have fun too! 

Angela Mastrogiacomo is the founder of Muddy Paw PR, where her artists have seen placement on Alternative Press, Spotify, Noisey, Substream, and more, as well as the Director of Community and Events for Music Launch Co. Her free training ‘Reaching a Wider Audience Without Spending A Dime’ helps emerging artists cut through the noise and get in front of fans and industry influencers in just a few steps. She loves baked goods, a good book, and hanging with her dog Sawyer.