The inner workings of the music industry are complicated. Understanding the fundamentals of algorithmic music discovery can help indie artists develop successful strategies. The truth is though, there is no foolproof formula to planning a single release.
But we all know one thing for sure. It starts with a song.
You write a song, you record the song, and now you want to share that song with the world on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and YouTube.
Once the song goes live, it could change the world, it could go completely ignored, or a million and one things in between could happen. And while luck can play a part in that song’s success, a good portion of the outcome being deemed succcesful is at least partially up to you.
The Benefits of Planning a Single Release
The digital era is super friendly towards singles and there are myriad ways to get traction out of just one song. Frequency drives algorithmic streaming activity and the more often you release new music, the more platforms like Spotify and YouTube promote you.
Other benefits of releasing singles over albums include:
- No need to manufacture a physical product
- Singles are playlist-friendly
- Modern listeners often prefer singles over entire albums
- Marketing and production are laser-focused, potentially improving overall results
- Provides an opportunity for a more intimate connection with your audience
- A low-risk way to experiment with PR strategy
- Less stressful than writing, recording, and producing an entire album at once
Whatever steps you decide to implement when planning a single release, prepare to do the grunt work. Indie artists are often also their own manager, producer, marketing agent, promotional team, sponsor, and pretty much everything else.
So dig in, do your research, write a thousand emails, learn to accept rejection, and celebrate the small wins that lead listeners to your music.
That said, this step by step guide can help you plan your single release in a way that can generate more exposure and boost potential sales for your music.
Create a Great Song
While all music lovers may not be music connoisseurs, listeners know when a song is remarkable. And though major label recording artists with big promotional budgets still dominate mainstream radio, independent artists are selling music and winning GRAMMY Awards more than ever.
Why?
Because their music is telling the truth and cutting through the crap. It’s great music that resonates with their audience and that results in viral streams, shares, and downloads.
Protect Your Rights
Before promoting your single, you must protect your rights, especially if you’ve collaborated with another artist, producer, videographer, etc.
Get signed legal agreements in writing that detail how sales revenue, publishing rights, and copyright ownership are shared.
Get free artist agreement templates here or reach out to Respect My Region via email at info@respectmyregion.com for more assistance.
Set a Release Date
Make sure you give yourself sufficient time to implement your full promotional strategy. Excitement is terrific, but patience is paramount if you want to generate sales.
It takes time to build buzz and momentum. Give yourself at least 6 to 12 weeks from the moment you activate your campaign to the formal release date.
Schedule Distribution
Once you set the release date, begin scheduling distribution. Choose a digital distribution service to publish and push the single to streaming and sales platforms like iTunes/Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Tidal, YouTube Music, and many others.
Popular distribution services include CDBaby, TuneCore, LANDR, and DistroKid.
Register Your Work
Before releasing any part of your music, make sure you protect your copyright by registering it with a performance rights organization (PRO). If you aren’t already a member of a PRO, choose ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. Each has pros and cons, but all will protect your rights and collect royalties for you.
Sound Exchange also collects artist royalties and pays you when digital platforms play your music. You may want to register your music with the US Copyright Office for good measure.
Set Goals For Your New Single
Planning a single release includes setting concrete goals. Too often, independent artists create great music, post it online, cross their fingers, and end up disappointed when the outcome is crickets. As a new or underground indie artist with a small or nonexistent fan base, you must set a reasonable target, apart from making sales.
What’s important to you?
Do you want streams, shares, video views, downloads?
Rank them in order of importance, focus on the top down, and decide on a number. For emerging indie artists, building visibility is everything. The money may come later, but not if no one knows about you.
Develop Marketing and Promotion Strategy
Now it’s time to think about how you can meet (or exceed) the goals you have set. Use every platform at your disposal together to create a promotional web that always links back to itself. Create a press release, choose artwork for your single, plan a music video, and develop your marketing strategy.
Include links to other promo posts in every promotional prop. If you post something on Instagram, post links to related posts on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and any other platforms you use.
Consider your goals and match your strategy to the desired outcome. For instance, to get X number of shares, you could start a “Share And Win” campaign on social media. What they win is up to you, but the point is to increase the number of times your single gets shared. Various online tools and platforms can help you create a campaign.
Get Publicity For Your Single
Whatever marketing strategy you use, you need to get it in front of as many people as possible to boost your chances of gaining a favorable outcome.
Examples of getting publicity for yourself would be reaching out to editors and writers who work for or with music websites, blogs, and local news publications. Some places feature music and news for free while others charge depending on the relationship.
The key is to build a relationship and deliver value for them time and time again so that they might be inclined to support you back with their platform. Introduce yourself via email or DM and ask if it’s alright to send over some music or news about yourself that might be worth featuring at some point. RMR has worked with numerous hip-hop and rap artists get featured on Spotify playlists, music publications, and even assisted with Instagram verificiations + the needed strategy to get that blue check.
Radio Airplay
One of the best ways to secure radio airplay is to get on as many appropriate indie radio channels as possible. Plan to air your single at least four weeks before the official release date.
Ideally, you’ll want to get radio interviews so you can discuss your story, songwriting, single, and connect with listeners on a more personal level. Then, post interviews on all your promotional channels and social media.
Build a list of radio channels and look for contact information. Start reaching out to them and ask if you can pitch music for future consideration.
Music Blogs
Music blogs are another highly effective channel artists can use to gain exposure. Submit press releases, singles, interviews, and anything else a blog may want to cover to build brand awareness. Asking music blogs to review your music is a highly beneficial way to get supportive quotes and feedback that you can post on social media and use in future promotions.
Get our free list of indie radio stations by Subscribing to our email list and shooting us an email to info@respectmyregion.com ATTN indie radio station. For a list of the best music blogs for indie artists today, contact the same email above and use ATTN best music blog list.
