Today’s music industry is inundated with amazing talent from all around the world, and more than ever, hundreds of thousands of artists are trying to be the next big thing. This naturally has benefitted the music industry to no end but has also made it much more difficult for artists to progress to a comfortable position as a professional musician, let alone become famous.
There is some incredible talent out there that will never see the light of day. This sad realisation can be very off-putting for prospective musicians, no matter their skill level. But for those dedicated and tenacious enough to continue pursuing their dreams in spite of the poor odds, there are some tactics to employ to maximise your chances of becoming successful. Here are some methods for you to take your musical career to the next level.
It’s a rarity now if anyone, especially millennials and younger generations, aren’t on social media in some way. As a musician, the chances are you currently promote yourself or have at least tried to promote yourself on platforms like Twitter and Instagram. There’s nothing more deflating than putting your work out there and getting absolutely no engagement at all though. If you’re struggling to build a connection with an audience, or even if you feel as though you’re stagnating and aren’t gaining more followers, it may be time to revisit your social media plan.
First of all, identify the demographics of your target audience, and figure out the best way to deliver content to them. There is no magic statistic for this, as demographics are different for every genre and style of music. Spend time researching how to effectively use social media as a musician and then create a plan to stick to. This plan should include the type of content you need to create including eye-catching graphics, and when to schedule specific posts to get the best reach possible. Social media is the best medium to promote your work now, so don’t neglect it.
Sometimes we just need a helping hand to get into the spotlight. Most musicians have been in your position before and know the pain of having the work be ignored and underappreciated, especially when lots of time and effort has been expended. Reach out to experienced musicians in your field or similar ones and enquire about collaborating with them. You’ll likely get a lot of knock-backs but stay vigilant. It may only take one collab to boost your audience by thousands, instantly catapulting you to another level.
On the other hand, it’s worth considering a collaboration with someone on a similar playing field to you. You might find that you’ll both end up directing your audience towards each other and both of you will benefit from more followers. Ultimately, remember that working with people is better than shutting everyone out and trying to do this journey alone. Build strong friendships with other artists and you’ll see the benefits of these alliances in no time.
Don’t fall into the idea of becoming a brand more than a real person. In the world of digital marketing, it can be easy to end up promoting your brand more than you as an artist. This is especially common for bands as you’ll use the band’s name more than the names of individual members. Spend some quality time researching how to write a music artist bio to give your audience a better idea of who you are. Knowing the person behind your favourite music can serve to improve the listening experience. Adding a personal touch to your music can encourage your audience to put more effort into supporting you than normal.
On the back of showing a more personal side to your music, you should consider creating a community around you of other artists as well as fans. No matter where you live in the world, with the continued development of the internet and digital services, creating a community to engage with you and support your music is much easier. Using social media, forums, or even chatroom software like Discord are ideal ways of building this support network. Don’t let this become a sole focus however, as it can be easy to stay in this bubble and turn your attention inwards. Instead, keep strengthening this group by adding more and more people to it and creating a supportive and caring environment for both fans and other musicians.
The huge number of musicians on the planet brings with it a heavy saturation of genres and styles too. Every innovation is quickly adopted by hundreds of other artists making those new quirks feel old, overused, and forced. The best thing you can do to stand out is to try to be innovative yourself. This is far easier said than done, and many innovations come to people from nowhere. Being innovative isn’t an inherent skill but being able to identify situations that require innovation is. This goes hand-in-hand with creativity, and you’ll likely be better at thinking of innovative new ways to do things than you believe. Ultimately, don’t force these things. Let these ideas come naturally but remain aware of opportunities as much as possible; you’ll be surprised at how often great ideas can appear.
Offering digital content is now just as important as playing live shows, especially following the pandemic. Online shows are now accepted as being a good option for showcasing talent and the music industry as a whole has continued to use livestreaming to increase their profits, too. Of course, now it’s much easier to play live gigs with lockdown restrictions being lifted, so don’t forget to restart your live music efforts if you’ve previously been unable to do so. It might sound like switching to an entirely digital platform will be more efficient and cost-effective, but live gigs still pay more in general than anything else. Ticket sales to your show will be much better than the money you’ll make from ad revenue, especially in the early days of your career.