Reaching a large audience is a pretty tough undertaking, so it’s important to find ways to maximize your project’s online presence. In this video taken from our free course, “Touring on a Shoestring”, Jeremy Young walks us through some helpful tips for doing just that.
Share your music online.
One of the most important steps toward enhancing your online presence is making sure your music is streamable somewhere. At this stage of the game, it may be wise to use a service that’s free for both you and the listener, like SoundCloud, or Mixcloud. Sites like these tend to have fairly active communities, which can allow listeners to engage with your music and build some buzz around your band.
If you’re hoping to sell your music online, Jeremy recommends Bandcamp, which allows you to make your music streamable for free, but also utilizes the PayPal system in order to facilitate selling downloads and hard copies of your music. (And check out our recent article with advice on tagging your music effectively on Bandcamp and SoundCloud.)
YouTube is another great place to share your music. Since there’s a visual component here, this creates a different sort of experience than the other sites, but one that offers even more potential for virality should you get the post just right.
Create an electronic press kit.
Some venues prefer that you send a link to an electronic press kit (or “EPK”). It’s basically a band’s résumé — offline, it would be called a one-sheet. The goal here is to put your best foot forward in an easily digestible format.
You’ll want to include things like bands you’ve opened for, venues you’ve played, and press quotes. Additionally, be sure to feature the songs you’re most proud of and the images you like best.
Write a short band bio that summarizes the group’s history, as well as the names of band members. If you are associated with other artists and/or labels, include that information as well.
If you don’t want to build your EPK from scratch, check out sites like Sonicbids, ArtistEcard, ReverbNation, and Indie on the Move for help.
Post live show info in as many places as you can.
Unless you’re keeping a gig secret for some reason, aim to post show information in as many places as possible. Utilize sites like Songkick to stay organized while doing this.
Consider creating a band website.
Depending on your goals, time, and budget, it may be worth creating an entire site devoted to your band. This gives you a single place to point people to when sharing your group. From here, you can link out to various social media platforms.
Of course, many groups are forgoing personal websites in favor of maintaining active social media profiles. Twitter and Facebook allow you to share information with your followers on platforms that are already incredibly familiar to them.
What’s the point of all of this?
The more work you put into building your online presence, the more discoverable your group becomes. Additionally, maintaining your online presence can make you appear more professional to bookers, promoters, and anyone else with whom you hope to do business.
If you’re hoping for more examples and insights, check out the SoundCloud, Facebook, and Songkick pages of some of your favorite artists to see what seems to work and what you can replicate.
Looking for more music marketing tips? Sign up for our free DIY touring course, Touring on a Shoestring, and start learning today!
