25 Ways To Promote Your Music For Free

While having your friends and family as your number one fans is a blessing, it is not enough to have them as the only people listening to your music. Besides getting you very few streams, having no other fans besides those close to you brings your music’s validity into question. Perhaps your music isn’t so good, and your loved ones only pretend to love it to avoid hurting your feelings? Maybe, maybe not.

To get your music to reach more people so you can make a meaningful livelihood from it therefore, you need to promote your music. If you are an upcoming artist, you might find it difficult to pay for interviews and promoters.  It is, however, not entirely impossible to promote your music. Below are 25 ways through which you can promote your music for free;

1. Ensure that there is a smart link available for all your music and share the links extensively on all your social media platforms so your fans can easily access your music.

2. Start a music blog where you give details and stories that inspire your music and other insights into yourself as an artist and your creative process.

3. Pitch your music to music reviewers on YouTube who listen and react to new music live on their channels.

4. Submit your music to both Spotify and independent curators for consideration and placement on playlists.

5. Prepare a live set and organize a free concert for the public on various streaming platforms to give your fans a meaningful virtual performance and attract more fans. 

6. Partner with content creators like Vloggers on YouTube who can use your songs as background music or soundtracks for their visual content, thereby exposing your music to newer audiences.

7. Start creative challenges like dance challenges that are simple and fun to do then share them on platforms like Tiktok where they can attract more participants and eventually go viral.

8. Create fan groups on social media platforms where you can interact with your fans and share music updates and new releases.

9. Make a point of expanding your networks and connections in the music industry so that you may get professional and insightful help whenever you need it and have access to useful referrals.

10. Collaborate with other upcoming musicians who are also trying to find their footing in the industry. They are just as invested in getting to the top as you are so they’ll help promote your music and increase your fan base.

11. Participate in as many music competitions as possible. They will give you and your music a lot of exposure while costing you nothing.

12. Befriend DJs in your local scene and get them to add your music to their mixes and playlists so more people can hear it.

13. Ensure your music is on Shazam so that potential fans can easily find it whenever they hear it playing somewhere.

14. Upload your music online and avail it for free download and streaming. This will make it easier for listeners not familiar with you to listen to your music before becoming bonafide fans.

15. Tag your music on both image and video posts to your Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Snapchat stories to captivate and capture your viewers’ interest.

16. Enlist the help of friends, family and existing fans to tag and share your music on their social media posts to increase your visibility.

17. Seek official permission to cover and remix songs by other established artists in your genre that have done well. This will draw more attention to your music.

18. Find a unique, captivating way of branding yourself that will generate interest in you and your music whether it’s your sense of fashion and style, personality, manner of speaking or even taglines (such as Dj Khaled’s infamous “Another one!”).

19. Reach out to satellite and internet radio stations and seek to have your songs placed on their radio playlists to expose you to a bigger audience.

20. Take up any opportunities to perform at local gigs, parties and other local concerts. Whether or not you get paid, you’ll have showcased your talent and recruited several new fans into your army.

21. Record yourself singing or rapping along to your music then upload the videos to your Facebook and Instagram pages to boost your relatability and to increase your visibility as well.

22. Use live chats to engage with your fans on matters music, your personal life, and to give them updates on your next releases.

23. Organize small scale competitions and challenges among your fans and offer the winners pieces of your branded merchandise as rewards. While this might cost you a few coins, circulating branded merch does a lot more for your image and brand.

24. If you already have music videos for your songs, make a point of posting Behind the Scenes footage on YouTube to give your fans a closer glimpse into your creative process.

25. From the mail list you accumulate from your music blog, you can send updates of your latest music to your fans as well as other content surrounding your music.

All these tips have varying levels of success and with consistent application, they will help to expand your fan base and build your reputation and brand as a hallmark of good, high-quality music.