Recently, a new argument has come about whether independent musicians should be marketing their music online. Should they promote new releases across social platforms, or is this begging too much?
There’s been quite the stir within the music world recently, all thanks to this video. Within this Reel, a music artist speaks about it being embarrassing to promote yourself online. There’s an idea that sharing your content and asking people to listen is somewhat cringe, and not something many independent music artists want to do.
However, this argument wasn’t accepted by all musicians. Many had a lot to say in response to the comments. Without marketing, how can you expect for listeners to discover your music? Unless you have a whole team in your corner, you’re going to struggle to gain an audience by sitting back and waiting for them to find you.
The talented artist within the Instagram video refers to Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Saying she wishes she could be like him, and arguing that he wouldn’t involve himself with TikTok dances and other means of social exposure. However, this isn’t necessarily true. He didn’t join in these social trends, because they weren’t a thing in his prime.
It wasn’t simply a case of him not needing to. Instead, it was more a fact of, these social channels not being established at that stage. Within the video (which is ironic as it’s on social media) she speaks of Thom as though he is a quirky guy who made a name for himself without needing to dive into wild trends.
Music artist promotion has changed
When, in actual fact, he did exactly that. No, he didn’t join in TikTok dances, but then many independent artists don’t. But, what Thom Yorke did get involved with is 90s TV shows. Everything from MTV to breakfast radio interviews. If it brought attention to Radiohead, then he’d get involved. Just, as every music artist would.
This is the same type of self-promotion that independent artists are involving themselves with today, the only difference is the stage they’re performing on. Social media is a platform any artist can access. You don’t have to wait to be invited on, like with radio channels. Instead, you can take your music there and be your own promotion.
There should be no judgement or discouragement when it comes to social media promotion. Instead, it should be praised because you’re believing in yourself and your work by putting it out there for all to listen. It can be an incredibly vulnerable place to be, the online world. So, ignore anyone trying to tell you it’s embarrassing or desperate.
Of course, like with any outlet, social media can be uncool, but, that’s just down to how it’s used. Each platform offers its own set of opportunities. It’s down to how you use them. You’ll get out of them what you put in. So, if you’re creating silly, cringe videos, then don’t expect to see major growth in terms of a loyal and supportive audience.
However, if you’re releasing videos of you vibing to your latest work, or self-promoting, you’re likely to see interest. Listeners want to find new music and coming across independent artists who put love and passion into both their content, and their marketing will interest these listeners. So, keep promoting, and keep sharing your work.
