Music Marketing: 4 Examples of Music Marketing Strategy

Music marketing is the use of strategic messaging and advertising to connect music artists with their fan base while also informing new audiences about the artist’s music career and latest work. Music marketing plans can use many tactics, from traditional methods like distributing mixtapes featuring new recordings (a strategy employed by early hip-hop artists) to modern digital marketing efforts, such as posting video content on social media platforms.

Music marketing can be a DIY effort by independent artists to get their music heard by loyal fans, or a larger strategy planned in conjunction with a record label with a marketing budget and a music publicist.

A few of the responsibilities of a music marketer include:

1. 1. Developing campaigns: The marketing manager outlines the marketing campaign strategy for the artist’s new album or upcoming tour. They work directly with the artist to develop the message of the campaign, as well as the label’s artists and repertoire (A&R) department to coordinate promotional (“promo”) efforts to reach existing and potential fans.
2. 2. Securing collaborations and media opportunities: Music marketers craft partnerships with peers in the music business, from press contacts at media outlets to tastemakers, DJs, and curators. They collaborate with the record label’s press department to set up interviews for their artists with radio programs, print magazines, bloggers, podcasts, and music streaming outlets. They also assist with crafting electronic press kits (EPKs) about the artists for interviewers and writers.
3. 3. Tracking analytics: Whether they work independently or as part of a record label’s marketing department, music marketers track analytics to assess the impact of email marketing campaigns, social media posts, and other methods of reaching music fans.

Music marketing plans often contain a variety of tactics to reach audiences. Some examples of music promotion and marketing efforts include:

1. 1. Ad campaigns: Music marketers work with advertising companies (or a record label’s in-house advertising and art departments) to craft advertising to promote the artist’s music. These may include billboards, social media ads, radio spots, or print ads in magazines.
2. 2. Live gigs and radio promotion: Promotional tour dates and live performances or “gigs” help sell records. Music marketing helps you advertise tour dates and the events are an opportunity to sell your merchandise (or “merch”) like posters, stickers, or T-shirts.
3. 3. Online promotion: The music marketing team manages an artist’s online presence, ensuring the artist’s new music is available via online music streaming services, and new music videos are on the official artist page and the record label’s website. Music marketers team with music streaming platforms, radio stations, and playlist curators to ensure they have the artist’s new music and catalog of previous recordings.
4. 4. Social media marketing: Artists use social media as a marketing tool to share music, video content, interviews, and other content with fans who already follow the artist while also attracting new fans. By maintaining an active social media account, you boost fan engagement, and you can use the platform to establish connections and sustain interactions with superfans and other indie artists. Marketers also get valuable demographic information about an artist’s fan base from social media marketing data, including age range, location, and listening preferences.

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