Want 2022 to be the year your music reaches more people than ever before? Then you need the marketing and promotional strategies that will work for today’s audiences.

Some tactics will never die, like performing at live shows. But now that listeners learn more about artists through social media, stream music from sponsored playlists, and have tools at their fingertips to share our new favorite songs with friends and family, there are also new and developing promotional tools available to artists. It might be time to shake up the way you’re establishing your brand and try some new marketing tactics.

Here are 10 effective strategies for reaching an audience you should try as we head into 2022. Some are timeless words of wisdom that are still relevant, while others are new trends that are changing the way people are marketing their music right now.

1. Define Your Brand and Stick to It

You can’t start your promotion strategies until you have something to promote. Of course, you want to promote your beats and music. But to get people to your music, you first need to promote your brand.

Without a solid brand, you’re just throwing your content out into the world and hoping it finds a home. Your brand captures what you stand for and what you want your audience to think about you.

Start by thinking about your values and the most important aspects of your personality that you want to convey. From there, imagine what colors, imagery, clothes, and music would go with those words.

Only once you have your brand can you start to think about promotion.

2. Gain Authority Through Verifications

With so much music out there online, people don’t have time to check out every rapper on Spotify. They look for signs of authority, like being verified, to find artists that they’re more likely going to enjoy.

When you get verified on music platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, you have more tools at your disposal to personalize your account and make it stand out from the rest. That blue checkmark shows that you’re a legitimate, serious artist with a fanbase already. When listeners see that sign, they’re more likely to trust that you put out good music.

3. Learn about Your Audience and Create More of What They Love

Take a close look at what you’ve been producing and who has been listening. What are the demographics, and what would those demographics be looking for in your next release? What do they want to see from you in each promotion?

If you don’t know where to start, look at your analytics online. For example, you can learn more about your followers, like age and gender, and base marketing strategies on that.

4. Don’t Forget Your Current Fans

When you have a tribe of devoted fans, don’t disappoint them in the search for more — more likes, more followers, more shares, etc.

Some artists make the mistake of changing themselves to fit what they think can garner them more of a following. What they don’t realize is that if they change their brand to gain a bigger following, they may lose the followers they already had.

While you can use a promotion plan to gain more success, you shouldn’t abandon your core base. Instead, make content that’s attractive to new demographics without compromising the sound your fans fell in love with.

5. Build Connections Within the Industry

When you look for marketing opportunities for your music, you don’t need to act alone. By making meaningful connections and networking, you’ll have a team to rely on that’s more powerful than if it’s just you.

Thankfully, there are several ways you can start making meaningful connections so that others can join you in your promotion efforts.

Send Out Press Releases

Putting together a press release to be sent out to blogs and outlets is a great way of reaching a brand-new group of potential listeners. A well-organized electronic press kit on your website is also a great way to get more coverage.

Reach Out to Playlists

Artists who are added to sponsored playlists get serious results. Just look at this statistic from Vox that says featured artists get an immediate 50 to 100 percent increase in streams immediately after being featured. And there’s an average of a 20 percent increase in the long term.

Take the time to pitch your music to playlists and get a serious boost in the number of people tuning in.

Go to Events

While reaching out over email to blogs and trying to get on digital playlists are great strategies, don’t forget about bringing your brand to in-person venues. Attending events, networking opportunities, and other shows can get you in contact with professionals who can get you the right connections or provide you with a boost themselves.

Set Up Collaborations

You’re not the only artist looking for extra promotion opportunities. With so many other musicians and influencers looking for ways to gain a larger audience, you can collaborate, and both of you will benefit from the cross-promotion.

6. Make Time for Meaningful Interactions with Fans

Don’t just put content out to be viewed by fans. If you want a loyal following, interact with them online as much as possible. This could be through likes, comments, or even sharing the content they create about your music.

7. Choose Your Platforms for Promotion

A website is a home base for fans once they have found you. But a great website won’t do much for you if no one sees it.

Social media platforms are how you’ll get people to check out your music. But not all platforms will be the right place for you. And it’s better to have great content on a few than mediocre content on all the platforms.

So, select where you think you’ll do well and focus your efforts there. Each app is better suited for certain demographics. For rap, TikTok is king.

Create Engaging Content

 Social media is not the place for your entire portfolio. Don’t post full videos of everything you’ve done, including music videos and interviews. Instead, post engaging teasers that lead people to other platforms, like your website, YouTube, or Spotify.

You want to create content that will get people curious about you. Once they get hyped about your personality, they will be interested enough to go check out your music.

8. Have a Plan for Music Releases

Don’t just drop a single of your new beats and say “Hey, it’s out!” in a social media story. Create a strategy. Build momentum for a few weeks leading up to the release. Have a date set to promote. With some forethought to your marketing strategy, you’ll have the most successful release yet.

Also, have other content to back up the release, like:

• Behind-the-scenes videos
• Teasers of the instrumentals
• Artwork
• Press photos

Give them a reason to come back between songs and feel motivated to check out your releases.

9. Host Contests & Giveaways

We’re not saying to run a contest or giveaway each week. But a well-timed giveaway in the scheme of a larger strategy can get you far more interactions and give you a major boost in the algorithm. So create a prize worth liking, commenting, and sharing for, and soon your fans will be spreading the news of your music.

10. Paid Advertising

Paid advertising won’t get you far without the proper foundation. However, once you have engaging content to promote, successful releases, and you have the support of the music community, paid advertising can help you reach more of your target demographic and funnel them into the marketing strategies you’ve been working on.

Gain More Fans Through Powerful Marketing

Perhaps one of the things not listed is one of the most important: make good music. You can use all the promotion strategies in the world, but without good music, you’re just another artist with some beats on Instagram.

Keep focusing on your craft, but incorporate these tactics into your game plan for the new year, and you’ll see more fans than in 2021.

Browse Beats & Instrumentals

Listen to our extensive and exclusive catalog of over 400 custom-made beats and instrumentals, available for free download or purchase.