Success in the music industry these days doesn't depend solely on producing good music. If you want to gain visibility and reach the top parades, you’ve got to step forward. How can you or your band achieve that? It all comes down to music promotion. Promoting your songs is a step that can’t be ignored, especially when we talk about a specific genre of music such as EDM. In this article, you’ll learn how to promote your EDM music, find the right crowd and tailor your marketing efforts.
First of all: do you know what music promotion stands for? Music promotion is all about raising awareness of your music and expanding your fanbase. Imagine you're a flower seller — if you want people to buy your flowers, you have to spread the word about your business, or they’ll never know you sell them. Music promotion is the same thing, but the product you're trying to sell are songs.
So, for this process, you need to start thinking about your music not just as a hobby, but as a business.
Nowadays, thanks to the internet, promoting music is easier than it was 10 years ago. If you have time and the right tools, you don’t even need a public relations specialists, or PR, to start promotion. Of course, when you start to grow your business a PR will be of great help, but let’s not worry about that right away.
Promoting EDM music
EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music. As it said, EDM tracks are made for dancing. In order to make efficient music marketing, you'll need to find people that are into your song first.
There are multiple ways to find these people. Playing live gigs is probably the most effective one, since EDM fans prefer to listen to this type of music at shows or parties with friends. In order to book those gigs, you’ll need an EPK. Other methods are also valid, such as having a strong social media presence, doing branding and pitching tracks to Spotify editorial playlist.
Let’s take a look at some of them!
If you've ever listened to music on Spotify, you’re probably familiar with their editorial playlists. These playlists have thousands of followers and are usually related to a mood, an occasion or a theme. A team of editors from Spotify are responsible for curating the music.
The great thing is the variety of playlists. In the EDM genre, we can find playlists such as Dance Paradise, EDM Hits and mint, that help new artists to promote their music.
How do I pitch music for Spotify?
Any artist can submit their upcoming tracks to editorial playlists. You'll just need to claim a Spotify For Artists page, and then follow the next steps:
- Login to your Spotify for Artists account;
- Go to the superior corner of Home and choose the option Pitch From Next Release;
- Choose the song you want to pitch and fill the info requested.
- Login to your Spotify for Artists account;
- Go to the tab Upcoming and choose Music;
- Choose the song you want to pitch and fill the info requested.
Make a compelling case for your pitch
To earn a spot on a curated playlist, you'll have to write a good pitch that really sells your music. Remember the analogy of the flower seller? Pitching it’s basically showing your product and how great it is!
It has to be a short text with all important information about your track – this is called an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a way to summarize your idea or product so briefly that could be done in an elevator ride.
Your pitch has to be informative and compelling. Try to enlighten the good features of your song and why it deserves to be in that playlist. It’s great to include quotes from people that reviewed your previous tracks in the media, as it gives credibility to your submission.
Create an EPK
An electronic press kit, or just EPK, is a digital resumé of a band or an artist, which reunites all important information about them. Once ready, the EPK can be sent to music bloggers, influencers and, more important, event promoters.
These essential items have to be on your EPK:
- A brief biography about you or your band (remember to use the elevator pitch method);
- Where to find your songs online;
- Photos and audiovisual materials;
- Links to all your social media pages, such as Tik Tok, Twitter and Instagram;
- Analytics from streaming platforms and social media to show the impact of your music;
- Compilation of articles and reviews about your songs on the internet;
- Your contact information.
Playing live gigs is the way to promote EDM music
Get out there and find some gigs! As we've mentioned before, fans of EDM love to listen to music at shows and nightclubs. To find event bookers, it’s important to have an EPK ready and updated to convince them you’re worth it.
Look for festivals in your city. In big festivals, fans usually go to see a specific artist or group, but end up watching all the shows. It is the perfect opportunity to introduce your work to a new audience.
Another option is opening for a big artist who's on tour. See if some EDM act is coming to your city and send your EPK to them. Not only it'll keep you in contact with a lot of fans of your genre, but your name will be associated with a famous artist.
Maintain a social media presence
We can’t talk about music promotion without mentioning social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube are great platforms to promote EDM music, since they provide great means to do marketing.
To build the hype on social media, you must post frequently and engage a lot with your fans. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok use the algorithms to recommend content their users might like. You can use this in your favor!
The platform also considers the hashtags you put in your posts. Find out what kind of hashtags are trending right now and try to post something that fits it. This way, people looking for a specific kind of content will find you through the trending hashtags.
Find an audience
Believe it or not, having a few faithful fans is much better than thousands of followers. Fans will always engage with your content and they're an ace on your sleeve, since they’ll help you promote your EDM music at no expense.
But how do you find the right crowd? Try to follow other EDM artists and interact with them. Don’t spam, this will only push people away. Do collaborations with others artists already in the music business and contact influencers in hopes of them using your songs. Maybe you can both find a way to promote each other!
If you like numbers, Spotify for Artists offers interesting data about your listeners, such as their age range, gender and other artists they’re into. This way, you can find a little bit more about the people who enjoy your songs and create posts directed to them.
Keep a schedule
Promoting in social media requires a great organization to keep your content updated. The kind of content is up to you. Everything is valid if you’re following your branding. Post snippets of live gigs, lyrics or photos of you in the studio. Backstage pictures are always attractive, because they makes the fans feel close to the artist.
Build the hype
On your social media accounts, remember to showcase links that redirect people to your Spotify page. When releasing something, put it in your bio or pin a post about it, so it'll be the first thing someone entering in your account sees. On Instagram, it’s better to use a LinkTree, since the platform doesn't accept more than one link in bio.
Create your own branding
Do you know the importance of doing branding? Branding consists basically of your image as an artist. It’s very important to have one, because it'll help you do all things mentioned before in a cohesive way. It also defines your values and what your music communicates.
A good brand involves a stage prompt with special costumes and effects – see Marshmello or Daft Punk, they're known for the costumes and effects they use on stage! Also, focus on creating an unforgettable logo and merchandise that will attract your fans, such as t-shirts, water bottles, bottoms and vinyl discs.
The internet has many free platforms that'll help you create your own brand, like Canva and Adobe Express. But if you’re looking for something very original, paying a designer to do that is a better idea.
Conclusion
EDM music is always trending and you’ll definitely find fans out there, so sit down, plan your promotion and start to work. Don’t forget to always use your creativity and maintain your identity. Let’s work!
