Artists and producers are often told that growing their TikTok, Instagram, and other social media accounts is the surefire way to break your career as an independent musician. And while that certainly is true, they are by no means the end-all-be-all of music marketing for more minor, undiscovered talent.
Every day, hundreds of producers think outside the box to leverage clever ways to get their music heard. And as social media giants come under more and more scrutiny for shady business practices and pay-to-play business models, there is no better time than now to start getting creative with how you get your music to the masses.
We sat down with Tom Leek, marketing director and co-founder of NYX Agency, a boutique London and Ibiza-based agency who have worked with massive brands and artists such as Amelie Lens and The Martinez Brothers, to get high-level industry advice on what you can do to market your music that has nothing to do with social media.
Guerilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing campaigns are memorable and unconventional by nature and show the ability to leave a lasting impression on consumers. With a successful campaign, buyers are left amazed, impressed, and wanting to learn more about the product and/or service.
Case Study: Product Earth Festival
The UK’s first cannabis festival was looking for ways to engage with fans outside of social media, given the regulations about advertising on the platform. The brand used the 420 celebrations in Hyde Park as a marketing opportunity to reach over 1 million cannabis users.
The festival printed branded rolling papers that featured the festival lineup and a QR code for discounted tickets if used within 48 hours. These rolling papers were distributed by 100 students around the park. Over the day, the rolling papers were passed from smoker to smoker as people enjoyed their 420 celebrations, subconsciously promoting the brand as they gave the rolling paper – flyers around the crowd. Over 5,000 tickets were sold in 48 hours for the event.
Email / SMS marketing
Both email marketing and SMS marketing are direct communication channels between you and your fans. You can tailor messages and cut through the noise of social media. If you build a robust list of engaged fans, it can be a helpful way to deliver critical information.
The key to successful list building is to do it sporadically, not to be annoying, and ensure that each time you communicate with the customer, they receive rewarding information. This will ensure high open rates and better ROI in the long run.
Case Study: Sasha – Xpander Vinyl Repress
Sasha repressed his successful Xpander record from the 90s with a limited run of records. To incentivize fans to join his mailing list, he rewarded a select number of fans with the first opportunity to buy this limited edition piece to members of the mailing list. This generated a 10% increase in the size of the list within 24 hours of posting, giving him a direct channel to communicate in future marketing campaigns.
Community marketing
Community is vital, and community marketing allows you to leverage other people’s networks. People tend to have similar interests to those they associate with, so if you can engage one person, this can amplify yourself to people of similar interests and, ultimately, new fans.
Case Study: The Martinez Brothers
When creating Instagram reels or stories, the Martinez Brothers created a series of Instagram stickers that people could search using the search bar. The stickers consisted of elements of the artwork for their latest single, ‘Just a Feeling’
Fans were encouraged to use the stickers in their story when posting videos from their Hï residency. This acted as a 3rd party marketing tool for the release and leveraged other people’s fan bases. Some fans were rewarded with tickets to upcoming shows in return for using the stickers.
Referral Incentives
Also known as refer-a-friend marketing, it attempts to harness this customer advocacy and put the tools to encourage, reward and track customer recommendations. From previous experience running refer-a-friend marketing programs for leading brands, we have seen how valuable referred customers can be.
They often spend more than customers from other channels and have a higher lifetime value. The key is to track and optimize the scheme to maximize customer acquisition.
Case Study: Parklife Ambassador scheme
Parklife Festival in Manchester utilizes an ambassador scheme in which people are rewarded for referring a customer. Each ticket sold unlocks a new incentive from drinks tokens to the guest list backstage and beyond.
Given the large student market in Manchester and at the festival, this proves a hugely successful way of reaching their fan base.
Network Marketing
In network marketing, the whole point is not to sell a product but to build a network, an army of people representing that same product or service to share with others.”
Ultimately, fans engage built on trust. They trust that what you are telling them will benefit them. There is no one better placed to create that trust than other fans. The best artists, brands, and labels have a network of loyal fans that are invested in them and act as ambassadors and a salesforce. Lookout ways that you can create a community. This could be done through exclusive events or rewards for loyal fans.
Case study: EXHALE Open Decks Ibiza
During Exhale’s five-week residency at DC-10 Ibiza, they hosted weekly open decks for community members. Here fans of the brand could meet up, chat and hang out with other EXHALE fans.
The event focused on techno lovers allowing them to play music and showcase their skills. Over the five weeks, the community grew into a network of island promoters and brand ambassadors that ultimately supported the brand in their island endeavors and promoting the event.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
