As a freelance musician you probably already know this, if not then you better get down to business. Marketing and promoting your music online is the way to go today. Even major signed artists are going down this path, some major players even going to the extreme of releasing a new album only in digital download format.

In a rather detailed phone conversation with a good friend and associate who is the president of a fairly large independent record label, he reports that digital music sales or digital music downloads have now reached 50% of all music sold. That means that very soon it may not even be necessary to have a physical product. Needless to say, it will surely increase the budget so that independent artists do not have to spend on CD printing and manufacturing. Not to mention how much easier it will make your music distribution initiatives.

So, long story short, where am I going with this? What I’m saying is that you should spend most of your time, effort and money promoting your music and project online. You should look for music advertising on the Internet at a higher rate than traditional print advertising. After all, look at all the print newspapers and magazines that are shutting down today or moving all their publications to a strictly online version. Yes, we should face it; If you’re not already on the internet bandwagon to promote and market your music, you better get there fast. Staying in touch with your fans in every possible way is the way to go today. Don’t make them come to you, get close to them.

To briefly recap, here are some of the methods you should employ as an independent artist to promote your music and music career, and stay in touch with your fans in today’s digital age.

For online social relationships

You should establish a presence for yourself or your band on as many social networking websites as you can. You probably have a myspace website, which we all know is important, but today, that’s not enough. You need to constantly keep your fans and potential fans informed by using social websites like Twitter, Facebook, iLike, Squidoo, iMeens, Reverbnation and many more. Socializing on music forums specific to your music genre is another thing you should be doing a lot. Setting up meet and greets through these internet portals is also fast becoming a new way to stay interactive with your fans.

Blog and official website of the band or artist

The official website of your band or artist is also important. It should have as professional a design as possible and be consistent with your image as an artist. This is your home on the web and it needs to be constantly updated and kept up to date. You should have a news page, a press page, and an audio page that should be kept up to date with new news, press clips, and music. You should also have some interactive functionality on your home page so that fans can participate, post comments, and interact with you. A blog is another great way to keep fans informed, as long as you also keep it up to date. With a blog, fans can subscribe via RSS Feed, and anything you post will be instantly delivered to your desktop. Very powerful.

Online press and advertising kit

An online press kit, also known as an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) is a promotional tool that every artist or band should have, even if they have a print or digital press kit. The online EPK allows you to quickly send your band information and music samples to venues, record labels, agents and even fans for the purpose of promoting the music.

Widgets: a big one

As I write this article, widgets are a relatively new form of online music promotion, but if used correctly, they are an extremely powerful method of viral internet marketing. Essentially, a widget is a digital screenshot of your profile and can contain streaming or downloadable music, bio, advertisement, etc. It also allows you to collect the email addresses of fans. The widget code should be placed on each and every website, from the official one to as many social sites as possible, including your myspace site. The beauty of widgets is that they allow fans to take the widget from their website and place the code on their own website, therefore spreading the word to thousands of new fans. You can get your widgets for free simply by signing up for an account at a place like reverbnation.com. Are you beginning to understand the meaning of viral music marketing?

digital mailing list

I shouldn’t have to mention it, but unfortunately most new artists in the early stages of development that I take on still don’t get it. That is, the vital importance of a digital email registration module on all websites. Gathering the email address of your fans and potential fans and storing it in a database for distribution is crucial. What you can do with that mailing list is amazing. Announce all the details of the show; therefore attracting more fans, sending out a new news or advertisement, broadcasting a contest and announcing new CD releases; hence more record sales. A digital mailing list is something no artist, whether independent or mainstream, should be without.

Advertising on gender-specific web portals

Another good online idea, if it fits your budget, is to consider banner advertising on music portals that fall within your music genre. It can announce a new release, a tour, or a new deal of some kind. Some music portals get thousands of visitors a month and this can definitely increase your exposure. However, make sure the banner is professionally designed and animated if possible. Some of the genre-specific music portals I’m talking about will only charge twenty to thirty dollars a month to advertise their brand. As I mentioned, if you have money available in your budget, it sure can’t hurt.

 

Search engine marketing, drive traffic to all your websites

It goes without saying that you can have the most professionally designed, impressive and functional websites online, but if no one visits them, they’re not very good, right? So you want to take some time and effort to explore search engine optimization. Find out all the techniques search engine experts use to rank high on all search engines and especially in music related results. Search engine optimization, done right, isn’t easy if you don’t know much about it. Again, if you have a few extra bucks in your budget, you may want to consider hiring a search engine optimization expert. Getting your band found on search engines can be a huge boost to your recognition.

Digital Distribution

Distributing your music online is key. As I mentioned in the first paragraph or two of this article, digital downloads now account for 50% of all music sales worldwide. Pretty soon it will outsell physical CDs entirely, never to turn around again. You must make your music available for digital download on all available digital distribution portals. Some of these include iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and there are many more. When you make your product available online for digital download, be sure to list a profile on each portal. Also find out how they report their sales statistics. You want to make sure you get proper credit for sales in industries like sound scanning and sound sharing for your downloadable sales.

These are just 8 tips and advice for marketing your music online. There are a host of other methods as well. The way to gain exposure for your music on the Internet is full of new strategies every day. Be sure to keep up with this and use every possible technique at your disposal to give yourself a higher chance of musical success. Good luck!