How to Promote Your Experimental Music to the Right People

Experimental music can be harder to promote than other genres. If you’re playing hip hop, EDM, or thrash metal, audiences and promoters have some idea of what to expect. If you say your music is experimental, they can have no idea what to expect. And if they do have any preconceived notions, they’re liable to be colored by one or two experimental bands the person is familiar with.

This can make it difficult to cut through the noise and promote your music. But with the right combination of online savvy and real-world promotion, you can make your music stand out on its own merits. Here’s a simple guide.

Create Your Best Possible Work

Before you start promoting anything, you’ve got to start with the basics: your actual music. Even the best promotion isn’t going to make a difference if your listeners don’t like what they’re hearing. Any number of terrible albums have gotten huge label support, only to flop once people start listening.

Now, a lot of this is subjective; not everybody is going to like every band. But there are also certain things you need to do to put your best foot forward.

Most importantly, you want to spend the time and money required to create professional-sounding tracks. If you’re recording vocals or live instruments, this means going to a studio and recording with the proper equipment. And no matter what your style, you’ll need to mix and master your tracks until you’re completely satisfied.

You’ve only got one chance to make a first impression. Make sure you’re proud of what you’re promoting.

Take Advantage of Social Media

Nowadays, putting your music online is only the first step. To truly take advantage of all the web has to offer, you also need to make it easy to share your music.

In other words, it’s not enough just to post your music on iTunes and Spotify. You also need to create social media accounts, where you can post links to your content, and encourage people to share it with their friends.

Facebook is ideal for shouting out your shows and recordings to as wide an audience as possible. You can share pretty much any kind of link, so it’s good for all kinds of content. Not only that, but you can use the Facebook Events feature to invite fans to your shows.

Twitter is one you wouldn’t often think of for musicians, but it’s hugely popular with members of the press. Think of it as a place to promote yourself to those people, as opposed to the general public.

There are plenty of other social media sites as well, such as Instagram, Tumblr, and TikTok. TikTok is a particularly powerful tool, since it’s optimized for short clips. So send out a 10-second TikTok of your next live performance, so people know what they’re missing!

Share Your Music on Music Sharing Sites

In addition to ordinary social media, there are also a number of websites dedicated specifically to sharing music. SoundCloud is the first one that comes to mind. It has the broadest audience, so you get the most potential exposure. SoundCloud also makes it easy to share your music on other social networks.

Bandcamp is another great option. It’s not as social media-friendly as SoundCloud, but it offers monetization options, so you can get paid for your music. There are plenty of niche sites as well, with their own hardcore fans. These sites won’t reach as broad of an audience, but they’re full of users who are open to new artists.

Get Verified

Want to get the most from your social media pages? You’ll need to get them verified. Verified pages rank higher in search results, and give your listeners confidence that the account actually belongs to you.

Remember: to promote your music effectively, it’s not sufficient just to have your tracks posted somewhere. You also need to control your messaging across all your social media platforms, and use them all to support each-other. With verified accounts, you’ll be able to do this much more easily.

Promote Yourself in the Real World

So far, we’ve talked a lot about promoting your music on the internet. And that’s only fair, since social media is where many people find new content.

But the biggest music fans like to see shows in person. To reach them, you need to be actively playing shows. Once again, put your best foot forward. Invest in a band flyer that represents your music well, and hang a killer concert poster you can be proud of.

Of course, it’s tough to get people to come see a band they’ve never heard of. When you’re playing out, send out a press release. Create a mailing list for your fans, so you can let people know when you’re playing in their area. These are all old-school tools, but they’re key to building word of mouth and generating a positive buzz for your music.

One final benefit of playing live shows is that it’s a perfect way of networking. You can meet other bands, engage with fans in person, and get to know the people who run your local venues.

Digital promotion might be essential for promoting music in the 21st century. But it’s still no replacement for good old fashioned live shows and in-person networking.