Just because you are a musician does not mean you are a genius when it comes to music marketing. Mistakes are bound to happen. Music marketing is a niche with its own particular challenges. If you have already dabbled in your own marketing you might be wondering which techniques are working for you and which ones are a waste of your time. Here is a short overview of some music marketing mistakes you may be making.

Music Marketing Mistake #1 – Poor Planning

It may be the bane of many new entrepreneurs, but planning is the major key to success when you begin a new venture. The first thing you do when you begin a business is to develop a marketing plan. In this respect, starting a new business and marketing your new music have much in common. It makes little sense to simply throw yourself out into the world with no idea what to do once you get there. Having a plan gives musicians a direction, goals to focus on, and potentially positive outcomes to pursue.

Music Marketing Mistake #2 – Not Branching Out

For many artists that are just getting their feet wet, they may think that social media is the place to be. It is true, there has been success there. However, successful musicians use a variety of different marketing techniques to expand their fan base. It is never a good idea to put all your effort into one avenue. Just as music fans have various ways to connect and enjoy their favorite music, there are various ways to reach them. The internet is all the rage right now and having a website and social media presence is essential. Not all music fans circulate the web though and artists need to get out there and be creative to truly share their sound with potential fans. Live shows, tours, meet and greets, interviews, and reviews are all important to add to the marketing portfolio when trying to get your songs out to the masses. Some people find new music on the radio, some by going to live shows, others by word of mouth and, yes, there are many searching the Internet for new music.

Music Marketing Mistake #3 – Social Media Abuse

While no one can deny that social media sites have become a haven for new and independent artists, only using them when marketing is foolhardy. Elemental-Consulting.com (2008) wrote “While it’s good to have a presence at most sites so that fans can potentially find you, it still takes time and effort to update and maintain those pages and drive people to them.”1 Popular social media sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter are fantastic ways to keep connected with your fans but having said that, here are some things to consider before registering at all these sites. Social media works best when you are dedicated to maintenance and upkeep. If you cannot keep all the sites you are associated with updated and current, then the audience that follows you on these sites will get bored and look elsewhere for their music connection. There is also no real way to track the progress you are getting out of these kinds of sites. Just because someone asks to ‘friend’ you online, does not mean that they will become fans who will pay for your music, merchandise and live shows.

Music Marketing Mistake #4 – Being Stingy

Online sharing sites truly changed the way music industry veterans think about their product.

If you are offering something for free, how are you to make any money?

Many artists and recording labels panicked and the result is a crackdown on the distribution of music. While locking down the product to ensure that the public is paying for what they own, it eliminates much of the ability to share music with individuals who might enjoy it. For all the critics of file sharing, there are others that believe offering some of the product for free enables more people to find it, use it, love it. Marketing guru, Seth Godin (2008), has done much writing speaking to the idea that if you are interested in selling a product or expanding a market, you have to offer something for free to get attention. He also mentions the following “If the product you make becomes digital, expect that the product you make will be copied.”2 Artists should spend some time finding a happy medium between giving away their work and earning profits with it.

These types of music marketing mistakes are just the beginning when creating a strategy on how to sell your music to the public. Another important promotion technique is to remember not to give up. Most musicians do not fall into success overnight.

Source: www.En-Derin.com

FOOTNOTES

1 – Elemental-Consulting.com. (2008, May 27). 9 Myths and Mistakes in Online Music Marketing. Digital Marketing Strategy.

2 – Godin, Seth. (2008, January 7). Music Lessons. Seth Godin’s Blog..

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-Until Next Time

En Derin

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