So, you’re putting together your latest release and you’re interested in promoting it. Or, maybe you’re a marketer looking to help a musician get the word out about their new album.

But what does a DIY music marketing campaign look like? What can you expect as you look to share your music with the world?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share five things I’ve learned about executing DIY music marketing campaigns.
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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – DIY music marketing campaigns
01:17 – Music marketing campaigns aren’t always pretty
02:45 – Take advantage of spreadsheets to manage your data
04:03 – Music marketing is a numbers game
05:08 – How to get funding
06:21 – Powerful tools you can use for your music marketing campaign
08:55 – Concluding thoughts

Transcription:
Right now, I’m working on what I would consider to be my third major music marketing campaign.

I’m anticipating that I will be doing more of these in the future, especially since I’ve been working on a solo EP since August.

I haven’t said much about my EP to this point, though I do plan to create more content around it as the release nears. Stay tuned.

But that is beside the point.

What I wanted to talk about today is DIY music marketing campaigns.

Now, I will preface this by saying that the three campaigns I’m referring to were and are being executed on behalf of my clients. But most of what’s mentioned here is just as applicable to independent musicians or marketers looking to start their own campaigns.

And, if I’ve given the impression that the marketing campaigns I’ve been involved in were on par with what a label might do to market their artists, you should know that I’ve always been working with a small team on a shoestring budget.

But as I’ve discovered, you can do a lot with a little, especially if you’re willing to put in a little sweat equity.

You can do a lot with a little, especially if you’re willing to put in a little sweat equity.Share on X

So, the first thing you should know is this:
#1 – It probably won’t be pretty.
Where others are involved, there is always the chance that things will get messy.

You could end up saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, offending people, posting something to social media that’s not in character with yourself or the artist, uncovering opportunities that aren’t right for you, causing scheduling conflicts, miscommunicating your message and so on.

I admit that this was one of my biggest fears when I was first beginning to promote my music. I was worried that I might offend someone, or that they would berate me for contacting them in the first place.

Incidentally, I had to face some of my biggest fears when I was working with a music industry startup a few years ago. I did offend people and some of them did berate me. In retrospect, it’s not the worst thing that could have happened, and I doubt I’ve been blacklisted by the industry.

Either way, I’m not trying to scare you, but I think it’s important to set expectations. If you’re working with a client, then make them aware that mistakes may be made, but that you’ll be doing your best not to cause trouble.

And, if you’re working with clients, don’t be surprised if they call you a lot or send a lot of emails your way. This isn’t to say that these will all be negative interactions, but many will try to understand why you’re doing things the way you’re doing them and will ask for a lot of direction along the way.

You should be aware that you will have a greater responsibility to your clients, especially if you’re requesting access to their website, email marketing software, social media accounts and so on.
#2 – You should make friends with spreadsheets.
Now, you can use whatever system works for you. For my first two campaigns, I ended up using a Word document to store and manage all my data.

But campaigns requiring more outreach will demand...

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