Music Creator Roadmap Part 8 - All Roads Lead to Marketing

Welcome to part 8 of the Music Creator Roadmap breakdown. If you have not read parts 1-7 be sure to check them out here.

Here’s the flow chart again for your reference:

Let's face it, making it in the music business isn't just about how well you can play or sing. It's also about how well you can get people to actually listen to your music. It is also how you get the right team members to believe in your project and want to work with you.

That's why all roads on the roadmap lead to marketing.

Marketing is the engine that drives your music career forward. Think about it like this: no matter how great your music is, it won't matter if no one hears it. Marketing is essential for every business and brand, regardless of the path you choose on the roadmap.

Whether you're on the path to becoming a Touring Performer, a Creative Artist, or a Writer Producer, marketing is the way forward.

It's about creating a narrative that resonates, establishing a brand that connects, and deploying strategies that engage. Even if you're not directly in the limelight, ensuring your music is released effectively is vital for the worth of your catalog.

For those on a work-for-hire route, marketing yourself to clients is equally essential. The only partial exception might be for those earning mainly through sync — this requires more sales skills, yet here too, marketing plays a role. Music supervisors often want be part of the discovery ecosystem and look for artists with compelling brands to get behind when they are considering which music to license.

Bottom line: if you're in music, you're in marketing.

Now let's unpack the three-step marketing process from the roadmap. The process itself is continually building and updating all of the most important assets for your marketing and release campaigns. I will drop some resources at the bottom of this post for more of the tactical ways to apply all of the assets.

1) Build a Strong Brand

Start with branding—it's your reputation and how people recognize and remember you. It's what pops into their heads when they think of you. It's the story you tell and the emotions you evoke when someone listens to your music, hears your name, or sees your image. It's what sets you apart in the overly crowded modern marketplace.

Here are the assets you need to build that strong brand:

• Mission Statement (Purpose): This is your "why." It communicates the reason you create music and the impact you wish to have. It's the core from which all other branding decisions should stem.

• Vision Statement (Long-Term Goal): Where do you see your music taking you? This vision guides your career trajectory and helps you set strategic goals.

• Core Values: These principles guide your business practices, your interaction with fans, and your creative output. They ensure brand consistency across all platforms.

• Elevator Pitch (One-liner): In thirty seconds, can you explain what you do and why it's unique? This pitch is crucial for networking and sparking interest.

• Business Plan: Your roadmap for success, detailing your goals, strategies, and how you plan to achieve them. You don’t need a super long, complicated business plan. You can use the roadmap to develop a simple one that clearly explains what path you are taking and the revenue streams you will be most focused on developing.

• Brand Message: The central theme that you communicate through your music and content. It's what you stand for and what you want to be known for.

• Brand Story: The narrative arc of your music career that provides context and depth to your brand. Check out my Music Promotion Story Formula here. 

• Color Palette: Colors have psychology. Choose ones that represent your music's mood and tone, which will be used across all your branding materials. Use coolors.co to build your palette.

• Fonts: The fonts you choose should reflect your music's personality, whether it's edgy, sophisticated, or whimsical. Use fonts.google.com for this and make sure the fonts you choose are easy to read.

• Logo (dark and light): Your visual identifier, instantly recognizable and evocative of your music. Most people need two versions of their logo: one that shows up well against a light background, and one that shows up well against a dark background.

• Favicon Symbol: A small, iconic image that represents your brand on the internet and at the top of web browser tabs.

• Basic Brand Photos (headshots, artist or band photos): Professional photos that put your best foot forward.

• Sizzle Reel or Promo Video: A short video that showcases your music, personality, and brand in a dynamic way.

• One Sheet, EPK or Pitch Deck: A One Sheet, Electronic Press Kit or Pitch Deck is used for presenting your brand to collaborators, industry partners, venues, and media outlets.

• Website: Your digital home base, where fans can learn more about you, hear your music, and connect. Some people don’t think it is necessary for artists to have a website, but it is your branded real estate on the internet. Show me a legitimate business that does not have a website… there are very few.

• Banners and Designs for Social Properties: Consistent visual branding across all your social media profiles is key. Use canva.com to create all of the different graphic sizes for each platform.

2) Prep Your Releases

Most artists underestimate the time and effort needed to properly prepare their music releases for marketing. Dropping a new track isn't just about the upload button; it's about making sure you have enough content and tasks locked and loaded to give your music a shot at taking off.

The following assets are vital:

• Great Song with a Great Mix and Master: It all starts with the music. Spend the time needed to take a song from good to great. Ensure your tracks are professionally mixed and mastered.

• Cover Art: Your music's visual representation, often the first thing listeners will see. There are lots of great AI tools that can help with this like DALL-E and Midjourney.

• Artist Bio and Marketing Narrative: A compelling backstory about you as an artist, which helps create a connection with your audience. Get someone who writes well to help you with this.

• Fresh Social Banners & Photos: Keep your social media visuals up-to-date with each release.

• BTS (behind the scenes) photos & video: Share your process and personify your music with behind-the-scenes content.

• Lyric Video: In my experience, lyric videos can be made quickly and inexpensively which is why you should prioritize them over full length ‘official’ videos.

• Official Video: Music videos are powerful storytelling tools that can extend the reach of your music. An official video is a work of art in itself and can be quite challenging to produce. If you lack the time and money to do this for each release, try to do 1-3 official videos each year.

• TikTok/IG Stories & Reels vertical video with CTA (Call to Action): Engage your followers with short form video and direct them to your music.

• 30-90sec horizontal videos (For Social Feeds): Capture attention in feeds with short, engaging clips.

• 2-5 min horizontal videos (FB Feed): Longer videos for Facebook and YouTube to dive deeper into your music or story.

• Pre-save Links: Allow fans to save upcoming releases to their playlists as soon as they're available. *NOTE* I am not a big believer in the value of pre-saves but it is a very common practice.

• Playlist Features: Getting featured on playlists can significantly boost your visibility. Use submithub.com for this, and be sure to distribute your music at least 4 weeks before your release date if you want to submit for playlists through the Spotify for Artists pitch tool.

• Blog Features: Music blogs can introduce your music to dedicated readers and listeners.

• Influencer Mentions: Leverage the followings of influencers to reach a broader audience.

3) Connect With Your Audience

The final step is about building and maintaining connections with your audience. This is about collecting data to understand them better and make sure your future messages can reach them.

Here are the assets that facilitate this connection:

• Social Properties: Your handles and profiles across social media platforms where your audience hangs out.

• Custom Audiences: Gather information on your fans to create targeted marketing campaigns using custom audiences on the advertising platforms.

• List Opt-In System: An email or text list where fans can sign up to receive updates directly from you.

• Fan/Customer Lists: Your fan data should be stored in a spreadsheet or a CRM that is easy for you to review and take notes in.

• Meta Pixels: Track user behavior on your website and landing pages to better target your ads on FB & IG.

• Google Analytics Tags: Understand how visitors interact with your website to improve your marketing strategies. This is also great for retargeting people on YouTube.

• YouTube SEO: If you are posting on YouTube, be sure to optimize the descriptions and tags so that you attract the right audience to your videos.

• Data and Analytics: Use data to make informed decisions about your marketing strategies.

The roadmap also includes a couple of ‘PRO TIPS’ like using video to retarget people engaged with your content and learning sales techniques to enhance your networking and monetization efforts.

These insights cannot be overstated.

They are the subtle nuances that turn a marketing strategy from good to great, and actually get you to the point where you are making a significant income from your music.

If you want some one-on-one support in marketing and monetizing your music, book a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me.

Within one hour I will help you develop a breakthrough strategy for marketing and monetizing your music. If for some reason you do not walk away with a clear, actionable strategy, I will continue meeting you for FREE until you reach a breakthrough.

Want to grow with a community that supports every step of your journey? Become a HOME Member.

Remember: marketing is the lifeblood of your music career. Whether you're releasing your hundredth track or just getting started, you're always in marketing mode. It's the path to making money from your music.

😃 Happy Marketing Homies!