After spending months or even years writing music and spending more money on equipment and software to record/produce it, you have to pay even more to have everything mixed and mastered and finally got some artwork.
You can forgive yourself for wanting to relax and let the world take it all in.
But, the hard part is just getting the music done.
You can’t depend on people discovering your music, with more music released every day. You need to promote your music to people, ideally to the most interested people, and encourage them to become fans. This is marketing.
It might seem like you don’t have enough money at this point. And even if there were, how much should it be spent?
The IFPI researched how record labels invest in a new artist. About 60% of the total budget was spent on marketing, including video production and touring support. The remainder went to making the record and paying the artist’s advance. We suggest that you use the following rule of thumb: spend as much on marketing as you did making the music.
Music-making costs = Music marketing
It could add up to a significant amount, but you don’t have to have it all on Day 1, especially if you avoid items with a large upfront cost (such as radio and press).
What should you spend your marketing budget on?
1. Video
2. Photos
3. Digital advertising
1. Video
It doesn’t matter if you are making a music video, an animation or just stills. It would help if you had something to accompany each piece of music. You don’t have to spend a lot of money (or even PS50,000) to be a success. You can take a photo in the Peak District or make an animation with a friend.
2. Photos
Spend a day with a friend PS100 and take photos of yourself in different locations wearing different clothes. These photos will last a lifetime and can be used for social media and given to blogs that feature your music.
These videos and photos are essentially content that you can reuse over time. It is not possible to rely on everyone listening to the song once released. Photos and videos are useful because you don’t require the cover art to be repeated repeatedly.
3. Digital advertising
While other forms of paid advertising like radio and press can still be powerful, digital advertising offers significant advantages that are particularly important for small budgets.
First, there is no upfront expense. It is completely transparent, and you can control your budget.
You’ll also be able to track your results very accurately. You can track, for example, how many people follow you on Spotify or purchase tickets to a show.
Thirdly, retargeting. A retargeting pool can include anyone who engages with your Instagram posts, visits your website or watches a YouTube video. This allows you to show them a follow-up’ ad. You can communicate with them even if they don’t subscribe to your mailing list or follow you on Instagram.
Finally, the results you get will be consistent with your investment. You are not guaranteed to get music from a radio DJ or magazine editor.
It’s less likely that you will get support from radio or the press if you don’t have many followers on Instagram and monthly Spotify listeners. This can feel like a Catch 22 situation. It would be best if you had the support of radio stations and music presses to grow your audience. But you can’t get that support without an audience. Digital advertising is a great way to get out of this mess and not be dependent on industry gatekeepers.
Your audience on Instagram and Spotify grows, and you might start to get approached by magazine editors, radio DJs, and even record label A&Rs.
Let’s now look at some examples of marketing budgets. Let’s look at the beginning stages of an artist’s life: releasing your first single, EP, and then your debut album. We will also discuss how your marketing budget may evolve during each stage.
The first single
You’re still in the early stages of your career so you might have a small budget. However, you managed to get everything together as inexpensively as possible. To master the song and distribute it, you mixed it yourself using Land. You can create the artwork using an alternative to Photoshop, such as Gimp and Pixlr.
The cost of an HD WAV master and distribution of one single is PS48 + PS17.99 + PS9.00 = PS74.99.
Perfect! Spending the same amount on marketing (PS75) is a great place for a start.
This is the scenario that Feed was created for. It allows you to manage your budget, invest gradually and make the most of advertising via Facebook and Instagram.
You can talk about the song for six weeks by regularly posting on social media during the release process and afterwards. You can create lyric videos or playlists of songs you love – whatever you feel is best to help people discover the song.
You can spend on average PS1.79 per day for digital advertising with a budget of PS75 spread over six weeks (42 days). The Feed allows you to promote your posts and engage people who have already come across your post on social media.
You can also create a link within Feed for each ad so people can go to your Spotify or Bandcamp pages. This allows you to grow your Instagram and Facebook followings simultaneously.
The EP
It’s been six months since the original song was released. The song has been streaming well, and some people have bought it on Bandcamp. The money you have been saving each month has helped make the song more affordable.
You’ve spent 6 months finishing the EP. You mix the songs again, but this time for PS400, you could have the master in a studio. A friend created the artwork for PS75. You paid PS25 to a digital distributor for distribution. PS500 overall.
This time, you have PS500 to spend on marketing.
You can market PS500 in many ways. We designed Feed for you to help you grow.
You might consider asking a friend to pay you PS50 for some photos. These credits can be used for your Instagram account and given to bloggers who want to write about them. SubmitHub offers free credits that can be used to submit your music to blogs and playlists on Spotify.
The EP contains the single, which was released six months ago. However, each of the remaining four tracks can be released six weeks apart to create a 5-month campaign.
You can spend on average PS3 per day or PS90 per month on digital advertising with the remaining PS450 in your marketing budget. This is for a 6-month (150-day) campaign. Feed will use this again to promote your posts and re-engage people who discovered you after the first single was released.
People will remember you and your work if they regularly see your posts on Facebook and Instagram. This helps to build long-term fans. This is more effective than a single activity near a song release.
A mailing list is a great way to send people to streaming services like Spotify or Bandcamp. It is important to know your fans and how you can reach them again. Things like an Instagram following or mailing list allow that. You don’t need to market to them again after the album is released.