One of the biggest challenges that faces any musician is how to get their music out there to new audiences. Whereas once bands used to endlessly tour a never-ending series of towns and cities, nowadays the touring budget offered by record labels can very rarely cover such a costly enterprise.
Thankfully, the online environment now offers musicians a much better chance to get their music heard all over the world with very little in the way of cost or effort.
Digital distribution
Due to a huge variety of online streaming sites such as Spotify and Apple Music, music consumers can now access a massive selection of records by artists who would have previously been unable to enjoy such distribution.
In order to get your music heard on one of these sites, there are many online distribution sites such as the State 51 Conspiracy that can provide you with a chance to upload your music to the world for just a small cut of your profits.
The model of providing a huge range of services away from traditional high-street retail outlets mirrors many of the other online innovations. For example, the online casino industry is enjoying huge growth thanks to sites such as Mr Smith Casino that offer a massive selection of games ranging from slots to live table games that can all be enjoyed at the user’s convenience regardless of time or location. And similarly, the Amazon Kindle and other digital book services have helped revolutionised the self-publishing industry thanks to the ease with which people can now publish their own works.
Instant music
Whereas the music industry used to rely upon a model of having the artist release an album once every year or two, you can now enjoy the ability to write, record and release a song all in the same day.
There are many artist-friendly sites such as Bandcamp and Soundcloud that allow musicians to upload, promote and share their music in a quick and easy manner. And it’s also a great way for artists to get to know other similar-minded musicians from across the planet which makes the possibility of online collaborations so exciting.
Many Liverpool acts have benefitted from the use of such services. For example, the psychedelic rock outfit Two Sunsets are able to stream their music across the world thanks to their Tumblr website that allows the easily implementation of media such as YouTube and their Souncloud page.
Online profile
However, with these new technologies comes the requirements on the modern musician to be fairly technologically-savvy when it comes to promoting their music.
The medium of video is massively important in the online era, and with more young people listening to music via YouTube than traditional sources, having a good visual aesthetic is endlessly helpful in helping to promote your music.
And whilst we won’t necessarily want to get into the finer details of web programming, having an up-to-date and accurate website where all of your media can be gathered is now easier than ever with sites like Tumblr offering a free and easy-to-use web service.
© 2015 Ricky Simpson – Pink Dog
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How to make your music available online