In the music industry, the common belief is that older songs should not be promoted once new music is out. Artists often prefer not to dwell on past work, as promoting fresh, current music is more thrilling as they grow and evolve.
Many artists, particularly those who were established before the rise of social media and algorithms, are reluctant to promote older songs. They worry that it might not look good and assume fans are only interested in new material.
When you're actively promoting a new release, it's important to focus on that. However, during slower periods, there might be a great chance to explore this idea.
In this blog, I will discuss 8 reasons to reconsider this traditional mindset and offer suggestions on how to effectively promote older music to attract new fans.
When I mention promoting older songs, I mean creating content like short-form performance videos aimed at reaching new audiences. This can also involve sharing song backstories and behind-the-scenes videos to engage current fans.
1. We live in a totally different content climate.
We are no longer in the 20th century, a time when communication, media, and entertainment operated quite differently. Traditional media (TV, radio, film, print) had corporate gatekeepers controlling their content channels. With limited methods to share art and communicate, content was scarce due to the high cost of production. Additionally, distributing content to a broader audience was not easily accessible to the average person.
In the music industry, gatekeepers determined who was promoted and what was marketable to the public. The focus was on promoting the latest trends to encourage people to buy records and show tickets. This cyclical process continues today. Since music distribution was controlled and commercial music was relatively rare, it was less logical to promote older songs.
However, the internet, digital downloads, smartphones, and social media platforms revolutionized everything over the following two decades. Communication and access to information became more accessible to everyone. People gained the ability to act as their own media companies and start businesses. This shift diminished the influence of mainstream (traditional media channels) and led to a diverse online environment filled with varied interests, hobbies, and passions.
In this new environment, where most music no longer closely aligns with mainstream culture as it did before the Internet, there's no reason not to promote your older songs. After all, there will always be individuals who haven't yet discovered your music, which connects to the next point. Given all these changes, it is reasonable to question and challenge many established norms and taboos regarding how musicians should conduct themselves.
2. Your music is always to new someone.
The online world has become divided into numerous niches, communities, and interest groups that often go unnoticed by the mainstream. There are now highly popular musicians in certain music segments that many people have never heard of.
This means there's always someone who hasn't encountered your music yet, making any of your old songs new to them.
Typically, your existing fans introduce these individuals to your music through word of mouth. Alternatively, they might come across it through playlists or algorithms that suggest your music.
Rather than relying on these passive methods, it's more effective to proactively create targeted content to promote your older tracks.
3. Not all fans were there with you from the beginning.
Many artists assume that their fans are familiar with all their music and are only interested in new releases. However, with numerous online platforms and discovery opportunities, fans actually join at different stages of an artist's career. This has always been the case, but it's even more prevalent now.
Even though your entire discography is easily accessible through streaming services, not everyone will explore every project, particularly if you have an extensive collection of music.
Newer fans might have missed some of your projects, even the well-known ones. While the primary goal of promoting older songs is to reach those who haven't heard them yet, some existing fans might appreciate it. Additionally, your long-time fans might enjoy the nostalgia.
4. Marketing needs to focus on bringing in new fans.
It isn't always logical to rely heavily on new, untested songs to attract new fans. If you have well-known songs in your older collection, it would be wise to utilize those tracks instead. Allocate a budget for social content or even paid advertisements using your proven hits to regularly attract new potential fans.
Every successful business must concentrate on acquiring new customers while also retaining existing ones. In my view, new music is typically aimed at engaging your current customers/fans. Conversely, your older proven hits, and even lesser-known tracks, are intended to draw new customers/fans into your ecosystem.
In marketing terms, your well-known songs are perfect for the top of the funnel, the awareness stage, to attract new potential fans. Your latest music is meant to engage your existing fans and spark interest that might lead them to take action, such as purchasing tickets for the upcoming tour.
Otherwise, it becomes much more challenging to maintain a business if you depend only on your current fans to spread your name and regularly buy tickets and merchandise. Consistent growth is essential for sustainability. I am witnessing this challenge firsthand with the independent artists I collaborate with now.
5. Producing songs/albums is expensive so maximize your investments.
From an artistic viewpoint, albums are significant and influential works that often shape your career and legacy. However, from a business perspective, we should reconsider how we market them. Many fans don’t realize the expenses involved in producing albums, including costs for producers, other musicians, studio engineers, graphic designers, and mixing and mastering engineers. This is why singles are more profitable, as they allow for focused attention on each song.
Typically, only 2 to 4 lead tracks are highlighted in the promotion of an upcoming album. The rest of the songs rely on listeners exploring the entire project once it’s released.
The attention span for a new album today, even for major artists, is about 1 to 2 weeks. After that, interest shifts to the next big release.
For an independent artist who has invested $20,000 to $30,000 in an album, this is a considerable risk. They must rely on touring and merchandise sales to recoup their investment. So if there are cost-effective ways to promote and draw attention to songs from older albums or those that didn’t receive much focus initially, why not do so years later? With the current content saturation, there’s every reason to try and extend the reach of something you’ve already invested in.
6. You need consistent content for marketing.
Many musicians dislike the term 'content' because it seems to trivialize and undervalue their art, yet it has become an essential aspect of business and marketing. The reality is that content marketing relies on numbers. The more high-quality content you consistently post, the better your performance on social media. In a competitive environment, consistency is crucial for capturing attention in news-feed.
When new music or an album is released, social media activity typically increases. This surge lasts for several months to promote singles and eventually the album. Tour and merchandise posts are used to monetize the new material, aiming to recover the recording costs. Once this cycle concludes, what's next?
To keep your fan base engaged and attract new followers, it's important to maintain a steady flow of content, even when there's nothing new to promote. This strategy is especially important for leveraging organic reach and having the algorithm work in your favor. What better opportunity to post videos and highlight older songs that people already enjoy?
7. You don’t know until you try. What’s the worst that can happen?
Many musicians fear that revisiting older material might attract criticism. Firstly, you won't lose fans by doing so. Secondly, if you do, they aren't the fans you want. There will always be that one snobby, entitled fan who might leave a comment, but who cares.
As with anything in life, you won't know if something will work until you give it a proper try. This might involve rethinking some outdated beliefs.
Much of marketing and promotion in business involves a willingness to experiment or try something new. If most of the music industry remains stuck in the past, why not attempt something not everyone is doing?
Which older songs to use?
Let’s say I have convinced you to give this tactic a shot. How should you go about approaching this? Which older songs should you start with?
Your proven hits. Your best songs are more likely to attract new potential fans. Also, videos using your hits are more likely to motivate your current fans to share that content too. This is particularly great for running ad campaigns to create awareness.
Use data from streaming platforms. Look at your streaming data to see if other songs in your catalog have performed very well that were not singles. It’s possible that you have a deep cut that fans naturally love. On Spotify, the more obvious songs are the ones that have made it into your popular songs list on your profile and you’ve never promoted as a single or made a video for it.
Ask fans. Get your answer directly from fans. Ask them in a social media post. On Instagram Stories, use the question box or poll stickers to get ideas.
Get feedback from fan communities. Whether it’s on Reddit, Discord or Facebook Groups, fans are often talking about you. You may not have time stiff through all the different conversations so maybe have someone do it for you. I came across this thread on a subreddit from one of my favorite artists that would have been a gold mine of ideas for which older songs to promote.
What’s trending? If there’s a certain topic trending or a cultural moment is happening and you have a relevant song, make a short-form video performing that song. Maybe there’s a cover song that’s getting a lot of attention and you have a cover of the same song.
Album/song anniversaries. If it’s the 10th anniversary of a song or album, breathe life back into it by creating some short-form videos. For those worried about criticism, this gives you the perfect excuse to cover all the songs, even the non-singles.
Tie your song to a calendar event. Make videos using songs that have an easy association with a calendar event (i.e. Rebecca Black’s Friday, Valentine’s Day, 4/20 or even Christmas) and post it on those days.
Use Additional Music Promotion to Make a Name
You need to present your music to the world and increase engagement to make your music recognized. If you choose to incorporate paid promotion to boost organic engagement, 94.2 Blazin Marketing and Promotional Support team offers a service to elevate your online music presence.
Achieving visibility is best accomplished by being featuring in articles, getting interviews, and various media platforms. Our promotion campaign packages is designed specifically as your one stop shop, by offering you the most optimal reach by combining multiple platform together.
A combination of paid services and paid promotion is a great power-up for your music. When you optimize your profile, receive verification marks, and add a high-quality promotion, you will blow the whole platform and see your songs in various charts, including daily and weekly playlists!
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AFFORDABLE EXPOSURE FOR YOUR NEW SINGLE
Comments