How to Plan Your Online Music Promotion

1. Introduction: Hi there. Welcome to this less. I'm Nickel Stella. I'm a singer and songwriter from Italy And this classes for anyone who would like to find out more about online music promotion, especially if you are a musician who will release an album and a P single. And who would like to find out more about how to promote that upcoming release online These classes for absolute beginners so you don't need any specific knowledge to follow this class? It is for any aspiring indie musicians. It is also for more expert musicians who never dealt with like music promotion before. And it can also be for other creatives such as designers, filmmakers, writers and Salon, who would like to use the Internet to promote their work in this class will cover a few topics. Uh, first of all, we'll talk about targeting and how to define the right audience for your music, choosing the right media to reach the right audience, a convenient time line to start your online music promotion, and we will be also talking about the skills you need to implement your plan 2. The Plan: Hello. Welcome to the first lesson of this class. So in this lesson, we will talk about the importance of having a plan. So why is it so important to have a plan for online music promotion? To successfully promote your release, you will need to carry out many different tasks at once. So you will need to really have a sort off guide, a blueprint you can rely on. So where should you start when you want Teoh plan the promotion of your upcoming release. The third step is always defining the right target for your music. So according to the general, you do the message. You want to leave her with your music at anything specific concerning your project, you will have a specific audience to reach. There are plenty of media you can use to promote your music both online and offline. And not everyone is using one specific media different kind of people different kinds. Off audiences are using different media. Your plan should also include a timeline. Self promotion requires time effort, so you have to plan ahead. Also, there is a specific timeline you should follow when you send out your material. For example, two radios, blog's and saw. The last part of your plan should also consider the skills you will need to gain in order to implement your plan, because, after all, we are musicians. We are artists were not marketing marketing executives, so we don't know everything about digital music promotion. So we'll need to dig into some topics. Some subjects and I will help you define what topics you'll need to investigate more. So that's a for the first lesson I hope you find is interesting and stimulating. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. 3. Define your target: Hi there. Welcome to the third lesson off this class. So today we're going to talk about a very specific part of your plan, which is the definition of the right targets. Definition of the right audience for the kind of music you do to define your target, you have to ask yourself for questions. The first question you should ask yourself is very straightforward. And of course it is. What is my music? Jenner. You have to define your music Shanor in a very specific way. I know sometimes it's easy to try to look cool by saying, Oh, well, you know, I do not do just one music. Jenner. I like to experiment and song, but actually it is really important to have an identity. And, um, it's okay to experiment, but you always have to think about a clear identity for yourself, and that's the best way to find the right audience. And, of course, it's a good thing Teoh being able to reach different audiences and to have the musical ability to experiment through different genders. But just for a start, it's better to find your gender and your identity quite clearly. The second question you should ask yourself is What is the message I want to deliver with my music? So we're talking about, um, an idea which stands behind your music. We're talking about a story. I don't know. Maybe if you are going to release a concept Al Boom. There is a story that's told through your songs, and that was my case with my latest release. Maybe you have a political message you want to deliver. Or maybe you want to talk about, I don't know, maybe relationships, maybe love or anything. Really, You should find that quite clearly, because that will help the fine your audience. The third question you have to ask yourself is what sort of person would appreciate my Jenner and the message I want to deliver? So there are two components here. Of course, not everyone will be interested in, I don't know, maybe political songs. Or maybe not. Everyone will be interested in a story told in a concept album, but some people will, and some people with quiet, clear characteristics will appreciate that thing. So you really have to sort of build a profile off this person. You have to try and imagine what sort of person would like would appreciate that message on that Jenner. And of course, there are other four questions you have to ask yourself when trying to be a liquefied the age. What is their age? What is their gender? Maybe both genders? Okay, maybe not. I don't know what is their nationality and what are their interests. So one word about nationality. Why did they put that for two reasons? Thursday's the language barrier. I always write songs in English, but for my lettuce project, I actually wrote them in Italian. So probably not everyone in the world will be interested in listening to songs in Italian because they might not understand the lyrics and the second reason ease their position in the world because, you know, after roll, yes, we're talking about online promotion, but sooner or later you go and perform life. So it is quite important to know, uh, in which countries your music is going good and in which countries your music is not doing so great. So when you set up a tour when you try to organize a tour, you know where it will be more convenient to to go and perform life one word about the interests. So the fourth I think you should consider when building a profile. Of course, we're talking about music, so probably thes people will be interested in music. But, uh, what else? Maybe your project eyes connected to another artistic field. Like maybe I don't feel making or literature. You're S o r their people interested in these field that you could reach out to And that could actually be interested in your project, not just because of the music Jenner you are doing, but also for the other messages you are delivering with your music. So these are the four important questions you have just yourself when building a profile. Now we miss one question regarding the targets definition. And these fourth question is, how does this person I have just defined access music. So it is not important just to build the profile off your target audience, but also to ask yourself, How do people access music? And especially, how do the people who are may be interested in my music? Access, music, new music? How do they get to discover new music? There are two main ways state can access music nowadays. Uh, online and offline, of course. Quite straightforward. Um, what about online places? So called places where people can access music? People can access music online through social media. Everyone knows that through blocks through Web radios, online papers and magazines, and streaming or downloading platforms such as Spotify I to use and so on. Just a couple of words on offline ways to access music. You will be experimenting that every day to, after all, so the main way to access music online is still probably the TV and the radio, you know, think about, I don't know, maybe TV advertisement. The second way to access Music offline is through newspapers and magazines again. Newspapers are probably read by quite a lot of people, while music magazines are just for people very passionate about music and the 3rd 1 The third way to access new music offline, in my opinion, is also the most important one. And it's through life performances. Someone might go to, um, I don't know, a bar, a restaurant, a festival and discover some great music through live performances. So that's it for now. In the next lesson, we were talking about choosing the right media to reach your audience. Thank you 4. Choose the right media: Hello. Welcome to this lesson. So today we're going to talk about how to choose the right media to reach the right audience for the kind of music you do and the message you want to deliver with your music. So let's talk about what media are out there. At the end of the previous lessons, we talked about online media and offline media, so let's go back to that just one moment. So online media include social media, of course. Streaming and downloading platforms, online versions off offline papers and magazines, blocks and specific online magazines, which don't have on offline version online TV's Web radios and podcasts. So you can see that there is quite a lot off things to choose from. Let's talk a bit about offline media radios, traditional FM radios, papers and magazines, TV and events, so you have quite a lot off choice. So there are a few things to consider when choosing the media to use, especially because music promotion requires time and effort so you cannot really consume your energies at time. Money, um, with immediately that are not relief, the top choice for the audience you want to reach, So the first thing you should consider is your target. As we said last time, not everyone uses all the media. For example, I do not use Snapchat. I use Facebook. I used you to. I do know to use Pinterest, and that's just limit ourselves to show social media. But the least could be longer. The second thing to consider is your badge. It. Some promotional tools are for free. Think about social media. If you If you just do a post on Facebook, that doesn't cost anything. But if you want to promote it, you have to pay. So you have to consider how much money you want to invest in music promotion. The third thing it should consider is your time. As I said, promotion is time consuming, money consuming. You really have to make clear how much time you want to dedicate to these or that medium in your promotional plan. So you can sympathize these three factors by building a table which will help you choose the right medium. So I have an example of the stable here in the first column on the left hand side. You should include the media you're considering to use in the second column, you shoot, put an answer to the question. Will I find my audience here just to make an example? If your target is made off people in there, I don't know, maybe thirties or forties. Maybe they won't use Snapchat. So snapshot is not the red meeting for you in third color. You should put an answer to the question. Really? Take me time. And if yes, how much time will it take me, for example, Facebook. It's a great tool, but you have to plan ahead. What content you will be putting on Facebook, and we require time to plan and create the content you're going to share in the fourth column. You should put an answer to the question. Well, I need to invest money in it. If we want to talk about Facebook, the answer is both Yes or not. It depends on how I want to use Facebook. Yes, if I want to reach a wider audience, know if I want just an organic reach. And finally, in the fifth come, you should put an answer to the question. That's the investment for my budget. Once you have your table compile, you'll have an idea of what media used to room with your music. So I hope you found is interest. If you have any questions as usual, feel free to ask and I'll see you soon. Bye. 5. The Timeline: Hi there. Welcome to this lesson. So today we're going to talk about the timeline. So how much time will I need? Teoh? Implement my plan. How much time will I need to actually plan my promotion? And when should I start doing what? So let's talk about the definition of your target and the choice of the right media. You should probably do that now. So if you are an aspiring musician who is going to release something like on the monogamy AP or anything or even if you are a musician who has not recorded anything yet but who like to do that in the future? You should start thinking about your target and the media you will use for music promotion Now. Then you should think about the skills he will need to gain in order to implement your promotional plan. And we talk about that in the next lesson, we will talk about what skills we usually need to implement a promotional plan online. The third thing is planning social media content. So no matter what music Jenner you do, no matter what message you want to deliver, you will probably have to use social media So that's something you have to think about as soon as possible. In another class, we'll talk about how to plan social media content more specifically. Now I can tell you that it requires time efforts to make up a social media plan. You have to use different content in different media in different social media. So my advise is to plan ahead and come up with a sort of former idea specific for I know, maybe Facebook or YouTube or instagram Aziz. You know, each social media has specific characteristics, and you should come up with some ideas accordingly. The fourth thing you should do is research derived contact, so if you are planning on a release, you will want to promote it. Teoh the press do radios to blobs and so on, so you have to research the right contacts. You have to reserve email addresses, names, phone numbers, physical addresses, where to send your CD to maybe so. That is a huge, huge work, so you have to start one or two months ahead of your release date. The fifth thing is, send out your E p K. We'll be talking about E p. K or electronic press keys. Um, in another class, uh, but to summarize what an e p que ese? Basically, it's a folder, for example, a Dropbox folder where you're putting your biography the one sheet of your work which contains all the relevant information about your release, uh, photos, uh, tracks, actually, the songs you're going to promote and so long, and you have to send it to press people to radios, blog's and so on. So your e p. K. Is fundamental, and you have to prepare it in a best. So my suggestion is to work on your PPK. Why you are researching the contacts so one or two months before the release date, and then you should send your PPK 2 to 4 weeks before the release date to allow people who work in, you know, radio stations. And so on the time to schedule the feature about your work. That's it for now. I shall see you soon by 6. Back to school: welcome to this lesson. So today we're going to talk about the skills you will probably need to gain in order to implement your online music promotion. So my assumption here is that you are a musician. You are not a marketing executive. You are not a social media expert. Maybe you are. Maybe you do have a day job, which requires three skills, so maybe you already have them. But if you are just a musician, you probably need Teoh Gain some other skills on top of your musical abilities. Copyrighting number one. What is copyrighting? It's the ability or the art off writing compelling copies It could be your biography could be even a social media post. It could be an ad. Copywriters usually work in the advertisement work. To be a good copywriter, you have to be able to say something compelling. True in a few words, and that is something you will definitely need to work on. It's not so easy, especially in the beginning. The second skill you need to gain a search engine optimization, and that's just simply impossible to pregnancy it, especially if you are Italian. But anyway, it's the science behind how Google being of any search engine works that will help you put your website your webpages right on the top. So when people put your name and Google, they will actually see you right on the top. The third skill is broadly speaking marketing, but marketing is a huge thing, so that's a bit too generic, probably. But my suggestion here is, you know, just read a marketing book, maybe something specific about marketing music and don't think that marketing is a bad thing. I used to think that, but actually a marketing is an accessory if you want to be an independent artist, because, after all, you're just, you know, surviving on your promotional skills. But the fourth thing you need to learn is probably Web design. Unless you want to outsource that completely to someone else. Web design is another huge thing. So will this Cassie to beat in another class. Basically, you don't have to become a Web designer, but you have to be aware of how websites work, and you'll have to be able to use platforms such as WordPress or weeks, uh, and actually build your own websites. If you want Teoh, save some money on that side. And you also need Teoh. No, A bit of statistic statistics is quite important to understand metrics, Social Media Metrix, but also to understand how your sales trends are going. If you are selling enough albums, enough cities, enough tracks, digital tracks and that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening on. Duh. I hope you found is stimulating and interesting in the next video. I'm just going to tell you something about the class project and I shall cease, um 7. The Class Project: Hi there. Just a couple of words about the class project. So for this project, I prepared a document you can use. And Philippines, Um, the question here is, how are you going to promote your upcoming release online? So, in the document I set up for you, you will find some questions concerning what's your target audience, what media you using and so on? You can fill it in, and then you can share it with other learners so you can actually exchange some tips and advise and so on. I hope this glass was useful. Of course, it was designed for total beginners. In the next class, I'm going to talk about how to implement the plan with we built in this class. So it's a kind off, uh, season two in an X Class and then talk about social media, Elektronik, press kits, websites, press releases and so long. So everything you need to know to implement the plan we outlined in this last. So if you have any questions, feel free to ask Andi. Feel free to share your room promotional plan with other learners. Thank you. And season