50 ways to promote a single and bring it to the masses
Jake Udell
Here are the first 50 ways to promote a single that came to mind (in no direct order and definitely not in order of importance) –
- Lyric Video
- Create recognizable artwork
- Debut the song at a show before it’s released
- Lock in the right premiere partner
- Give the song to your super fans early via text
- Moving visualizer with the artwork (never static)
- Get YouTube promoter channels to post it
- Shoot a music video
- Create a trailer and or behind the scenes content from the music video
- Send out a modern press release to friends and press contacts
- Design a t-shirt or other merch for the single
- Utilize social banners to direct traffic to the song
- Capture live footage at a show and repurpose it with the single in the background
- Utilize a press partner to do a social takeover at the shoot
- If it’s an acoustic song, create a remix. If it’s a produced song, create an acoustic version.
- Regardless of the above point, commission remixes
- Redeliver the single with a new feature
- Shoot a video of how the song came to be (can also capture this in real time i.e. Songs from Scratch)
- Create a studio shoot (i.e. In the Room)
- Instastory that swipes up
- Get influencers to post the song or a video with the song in the background and tag the artist
- Get the single synced in TV, movies, advertising, etc.
- Annotate the lyrics on Genius
- Send the fans an e-mail newsletter
- Write a catchy headline and seed it with the press… Something that will grab attention. Here’s one that got me a year ago.
- Do a pop-up show to perform the song in a public or private location
- Send the song to DJ promo lists to get it played in the club
- If you’re not on a label, find a radio promotion partner
- Take out a billboard that makes onlookers double take
- Make an artist playlist and put the song at the top
- Submit your song to playlist forms and relevant curators
- Send a message to fans via PandoraAMP and set as focus track
- Set as Spotify’s Artist Pick
- Utilize SubmitHub to reach more blogs and get feedback on the single
- Exchange soundcloud reposts with other artists
- Shazam the song from the artist’s profile with a message
- Run digital ads against similar artists
- Go live on instagram when the song premieres
- Do a contest to reward sharing
- Create memes utilizing pop culture moments
- Shoot collaborative content with influencers specifically geared around the message of the single
- Hire a publicist
- Write a list of the 50 most important people in your network (could be friends and family at first) who need to hear the song and will support the movement over time. Share it with them.
- Find creative ways to express gratitude to those that support the single
- Do a listening party
- Encourage fans to create UGC around the single with specific calls to action
- Identify priority international markets and a strategy to reach fans there
- Incorporate it into the tour name
- Pick a release date that markets itself, like Smino’s album release date being his hometown’s area code.
- Make sure the story of the song has THE SAUCE… Not just a headline, but an actual shareable story directly tied to the brand identity and the career the artist aspires to have. If it makes people curious, it can build an artist brand – Here’s a great example.
The bottomline is checking all these boxes and securing each and every opportunity will only be as meaningful as the talent of the artist, the quality of the song, and the X FACTOR behind why people should care. You must hook them.
So what did I miss?
Our company has a release template we follow for each single / EP / album release. I didn’t refer to it to write this post, but I am interested in what’s missing from above – What’s been your best or favorite single release tactic? Looking forward to hearing from you!
Check out ‘The Song Is The Single’ by Barr:
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.
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