7 LITTLE KNOWN TECHNIQUES ON HOW TO GET YOUR MUSIC HEARD

So you've set up your SoundCloud or ReverbNation page, put out an EP or album, and announced to all your social media that you've released the greatest track on earth.

But, no one wants any part to do with your music! This is largely because of the saturation of just about everyone claiming they're a 'dedicated' musician nowadays.

Anybody with a microphone can just hop on the music train and put out something online.

In short, if having a career in music were easy every aspiring artist would have one!

However, if you've been around the block a couple times you'd know that almost no one is able to go full-time with their music.

Luckily, here's some little known tips about getting your music heard that you might not hear everywhere else...

The last thing an artist needs is their friends telling them they're the greatest thing on earth if their music isn't up to par yet.

You need honest feedback! Sometimes you won't like what you hear from your critiques, but if someone wants to call you their friend, they have to give tough love.

I'm not saying your friends should nitpick about everythingggg in the song, but if something can be significantly improved, they should tell you.

Good music is the first step to getting heard. Don't overlook that.

There's already enough artists who think that just posting on social media is somehow going to get them a full-time career in music.

YOU don't need to be another one of those. I'm dreaming of the day when musicians have enough brains to realize that if something isn't working, you need to switch up your business strategy.

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me, "I've been in the music business for XX years," I'd be rich. Then comes the follow up question I ask.

"So if you've been in the music business that long, you MUST be full-time by now, right?"

And of course, that answer is usually no. Mostly because people are hard-headed and don't think they need any advice.

If everybodyyyy else is simply posting on social media, and none of them are making any progress, what on earth makes someone think they'll have different success?

Follow what works, not what doesn't.

If everybody else jumped off a bridge would you do it?

INSTEAD, look at what's working for some of the more successful independent musicians online.

Take a little bit of their strategy and apply it to your business model. Then, look at some other artists who are having success and take a little bit of their strategy too.

Obviously, doing a play-by-play from someone else might not work for you, so taking a little bit here and a little bit there makes it unique to your situation.

It's more of a "think along these lines" strategy rather than copying and pasting.

This isn't your favorite subject, I can already tell that. But it needs to be talked about.

Imagine for a second that you're a film director.

You could be the BEST film director in the world, spend months, even years working on a new project. You pick the right actors, have a budget for the locations, and put your absolute best foot forward in making the film awesome!

Now, even though this film might be amazing... word of mouth is only going to take it so far.

Why?

Because there are a TON of other film makers out there doing incredible pictures as well.

This is completely analogous to the music world.

You can be one of the most talented artists alive, if people don't get the chance to listen to your music it's as good as gone.

This is why having a budget that includes music promotion is so important.

Music submissions are only going to get you so far. Getting promotion is a smart, guaranteed way to get your music to fresh ears.

Watching a music marketing webinar and taking a course are some extremely genuine ways to obtain knowledge about furthering your career.

I think artists initially get scared of signing up for courses because they see a price tag at the beginning, and they aren't sure if they're able to adequately perform all the things listed in the course.

I took a couple courses a few years ago when I was first starting out, and it one of the BEST decisions I could've made for my career.

A course is definitely dependent on how much effort you're willing to put into it. It's not for the lazy, it's not for the passive, it's not for the complainers.

Google is the #1 traffic source for my site!

To be honest, ranking on Google is not the easiest thing, but once you have it down pat, the traffic just comes in without you having to worry about it :).

Ever heard of musicians talk about using SEO?

Probably not too much. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is about optimizing your website to rank for certain keywords that people type in.

Once your site ranks higher, you get more traffic to your music, blog, album release, etc.

WHY WOULD SOMEONE PASS UP FREE WEBSITE TRAFFIC?

Because they haven't heard of it, or they're not hard working enough to recognize the opportunity.

This may sound harsh, but don't be another dumb artist. There are already enough people who don't take the time to educate themselves on advanced music marketing strategies, and it shows by their lack of income.

Trade promotion with artists who have similar followings as you.

If you only have a few hundred SoundCloud followers, seek out other musicians who have a small following and trade re-posts with them.

This is a great organic growth strategy!

It does take some time for this to work, but this should be done in excess to promotion and music submissions.