Building Hype: 5 Crucial Pre-Release Music Marketing Tips

Introduction:

We see it all the time now. Artists start teasing their song via TikTok or Reels, months before the song is even slated to be released. Building the anticipation for your releases is key in captivating the attention of your existing audience, but also reaching a new one.

Pre-release marketing can be like walking a tightrope, knowing exactly when to start promoting something, and knowing how long is too long before release. Hopefully with these 5 tips, you can start to build out a release plan that works for you.

Here are 5 Crucial Pre-Release Music Marketing Tips to build hype around your releases! 👇🏻

Photo Credit: https://topagency.com/blog/social-media-marketing-for-musicians/

1. Know Your Audience 🧠

No business sells its products without fully understanding WHO is buying them, right? Well, music is very similar in that respect. If you spend the time researching who your audience is, getting to know their listening habits, streaming preferences, age, location, and so on - you can start to tailor a marketing plan that speaks directly to them. The power of understanding your audience is endless. It will help you to know where to access their attention, what cities to first perform in, which order to release your music in, and so on.

Thankfully, most DSP’s have in depth analytics about your audience. Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, etc all have dashboards in which you can break down age, gender, location, and what else they’re listening to. This data is unbelievably valuable to the independent musician. You can access these analytics by logging into your “For Artists” account associated with each platform. Do this! Immediately!

Once you start to have a clearer understanding of who is consuming your music, you can use that information in a number of ways.

1. Book a “single release party” in the city that streams your music most

2. See which age range is most engaged with your music, and learn where to reach them.

   • For example: Facebook’s median age is much higher than TikTok’s, so if your audience tends to be 35+, maybe put more effort into your Facebook presence, and vice versa.

   • This also works in reverse. If you are lacking in a certain demographic, you can use this information to reach them where they’re at. If your audience is mainly 35+ then maybe that's a perfect excuse to finally get on TikTok and reach a younger audience.

3. Learn from which of your songs are doing best and why

   • You shouldn’t let your fans dictate the art you make, BUT if you know what style is most successful of yours, there’s no harm in building that style out in order to be consistent when still trying to make your name

4. Run advertisements in the cities that stream your music most

There are honestly endless use cases for understanding your audience. It’s a crucial part of being an artist and running a business - so don’t be afraid! Go get to know your audience!

Source: https://artists.spotify.com/blog/how-to-read-your-spotify-for-artists-data

2. Creating a Buzz 🐝

The idea of “creating a buzz” can seem daunting and nearly impossible. Why does some content go viral, when I put no effort into it? Why are my best and most thought out videos doing nothing? Well, it comes down to volume. The more unique pieces of content you can generate, regardless of quality, creates more touch points and access points for people to discover your music.

I HATE being a “content creator,”  I just want to be a musician. The unfortunate reality for someone my age (30) is that in order to reach a broader audience, I have to play the game. That doesn’t mean I have to throw on my disco shoes and do a corny dance for TikTok, all it means is that I need to document my process, and give fans a small window into my personality.

If you have a phone, you’re already 90% of the way there. Pop up that video app, and start shooting! You don’t need to be Steven Spielberg over here.

Here are some examples of content that you can make to create a buzz:

1. Lyric performance videos

   • Shoot one static video (HD or 4K) of yourself singing along to your song

   • Edit this to add motion and excitement to the shot (pans, zooms, cuts)

   • ADD LYRICS TO THE VIDEO - this is so important. Most folks don’t have the volume on when watching videos, so this still gives them context

   • Chop the entire song up into multiple sections (chorus, verse one, verse two, etc)

   • Boom there’s 5 pieces of content

2. Behind the scenes

   • Roll the camera as you’re making a beat, or writing a song, or playing piano

   • Chop it up into a quick video

3. Photo montages

4. Lyric videos

   • Make a karaoke style graphic with the lyrics and your song to put out on YouTube

5. Proper photoshoot photos

6. Reaction videos

7. Direct to camera announcements

The amount of different styles of content that you can create is endless, so not everything will work for you. Find something that feels genuine and honest, and stick with that. Once you’ve got a folder full of content, it’s time to release it via social media platforms.

• For videos/Reels:

  • If using your unreleased song, be sure to name your user audio to the name of the song you’re releasing

  • Use a trending song with the volume on 0 in order to grab the attention of those searching for that song

  • Use appropriate hashtags

  • Tag relevant people involved in your song (producers, songwriter, mix engineer, manager, etc.)

• For photos:

  • Tag relevant people (the photographer, producers, songwriter, etc.)

  • Tag the brands you’re wearing, or gear you’re using in the photo

  • Be sure to share to your story + main feed

Across the board, any content you release should be echo’ed across your other channels. YouTube shorts, TikTok, Reels, Snapchat, etc. should all have the same content as one another, so that you’re maximizing your chances of discovery.

3. Leveraging Existing Fan Base 🎤

Why go through all the trouble of trying to reach a new audience, if you’re not even going to put in the effort to appreciate and engage with the fans who are already fans? Leveraging and engaging your existing fanbase is crucial in creating a buzz, and getting the word out there to new fans.

1. Giveaways

• Offer something to your fans in exchange for supporting your record.

• “If you pre-save my song, I’ll send you the unreleased merch!”

• “If you share my next post to your story, I’ll send you the original voice memo of the song”

This creates a feeling of exclusivity, belonging, and being a part of the club, BEFORE your momentum really builds.

2. Superfans

• I call them superfans, but these are just essentially ride or die fans who will be with you through thick and thin.

• Recognize who those fans are, the ones who engage with you most and reach out to them personally.

• A little message will go a long way, and asking them for help in supporting your new song will really help to move the needle in an organic way.

3. Street team

• Create a guerilla marketing street team. Ask who wants to be involved, gather their email, and put them to work!

• Print out flyers and ship them to your street team. Have them post them on campuses, coffee shops, etc.

• Reward your street team with exclusive content, promotions, access to product, etc.

4. Timing & Distribution ⏰

This is a great way to get more mileage out of your blogs and increase traffic. However, it's important to use the right type of content on Facebook. If you write about topics like parenting, personal finance, or food, they might not be as relevant on Facebook as other types of posts.

If you are looking to make money online, affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular. Affiliate marketing allows bloggers to earn commissions by promoting products and services from others. The blogger does not need to own any product or service to be able to promote them. All he needs is a link to the product or service which he wants to promote.

5. Building Momentum📈

In a perfect world, all of this promotion has a snowball effect. One person tells two, those two tell five, and so on. The goal here is to build momentum, but if you show all of your cards immediately, you run the risk of killing the momentum, and boring your fans before the song has even been released.

That’s why it’s crucial to build a calendar outlining each of these calls to actions, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for your fans to follow before eventually arriving at the full meal! Make sure each request for engagement, call to action, etc. is a bit more fleshed out than the last. If you’re doing giveaways, start small, and don’t give TOO much away. If you’re activating your street team, don’t request too much of them until the music is actually released. If you’re teasing the song in a TikTok or Reel, make sure each time you go back to your audience, you’re showcasing more and more of the song. You need to keep people interested and engaged, so be sure not to use the same language, promoting the same 5 second clip of the song over and over.

Conclusion

Having your song stand out from the millions of other releases can feel daunting, but if you find a consistent, heart-felt promotional strategy in order to get your audience engaged, I promise it will help to push you in the right direction. From knowing your audience, creating that initial spark, leveraging your exciting fanbase, to timing it out and building upon it, each step of the process has room for creativity and honesty. Be yourself in your marketing, people want to hear from you directly, they want a peek into your process. Give them that! Build out a calendar, compile some great content, and build the buzz that will help get you to the next level!