Marketing Your Music to the Internet Masses

With the world moving at the speed of Twitter, determining the best marketing strategy for your music (or any other product / service) can be a confusing proposition.  The best advice that I ever received related to this challenge came from one of my professors at Full Sail University, and it was two simple words: “try everything.”

In truth, he was lecturing us on how to market ourselves to potential employers after graduation, but I have found that the principle works equally well in marketing your music to the masses.

Obviously, not any one person or band can really try everything, but the point is to be open to all possibilities. To be open to all possibilities, you need to know what they are.

While in school, I became intrigued with the vast field of digital marketing, and learning about it completely changed how I market my clients’ music and run my company. Every musician and entrepreneur should take that course, because it is the portal to a completely new understanding of doing business on the Internet. If taking that course is not an option, a month’s worth of intense research on the topic would be well worth the time.

Imitation is still the sincerest form of flattery. After you have exposed yourself to the various digital marketing techniques that are available, remember to pay attention to what successful people are doing. After studying the subject, you will be surprised at how easily you identify the marketing tactics that are being used upon you, and if they are working, mimic them and use them yourself!

Nothing has really changed about marketing since the creation of the Internet except the delivery system. Marketing is still primarily about word of mouth advertising. This video by Gary Vaynerchuk provides good support for this notion. 

The good news for musicians and entrepreneurs is that now your mouth can be heard worldwide from a device you carry with you 24/7. BE CAREFUL. Just like in the old days, a bad reputation will spread just as quickly as a good one, and you do not want to find yourself in the middle of a McDonald's style hashtag battle for your reputation.

For more tips on successful music marketing, see this article on the CDBaby blog page.