How to Promote Your Music on YouTube

If you’re a musician, you are no doubt familiar with YouTube. In fact, as of 2023, the platform boasts roughly 2.6 billion users — not far behind the world's most popular social media platform, Facebook.

 

However, simply being aware of this mega platform, doesn’t mean musicians are taking advantage of its full potential. Which they should. You should. 

Promoting Your Music on YouTube

YouTube is a great way to expand your audience and increase sales. Many successful artists use it along with their other social media efforts and in combination with their work with influencers.


YouTube is great for promotion because it allows users to upload a wide variety of videos including music videos. Users can create their own YouTube channels to showcase their videos and build a subscriber base. They can also interact with other users by commenting on videos, liking or disliking videos, and sharing content through various social media platforms. Artists and influencers alike use the platform to promote their work. 


An additional resource that helps musicians reach more fans through the platform is YouTube for Artists. The goal of this feature is to provide guidance and tools to help artists connect with their fans, promote their music, and navigate the YouTube ecosystem. It includes tips for optimizing music videos, strategies for engaging with the audience, analytics insights, and case studies of successful artists on YouTube. It also provides information on YouTube's monetization options, such as advertising revenue, channel memberships, and merchandise shelf.

13 Tips for Promoting Music on YouTube

There are many ways musicians promote themselves online. We’ve written about Spotify, TikTok, and Instagram, on the Spaceloud blog in the past. Now, we’d like to share some of the ways you can use Youtube to increase your audience and sales.

1. Improve Your Profile

With such a valuable resource at your disposal, you’ll want to take full advantage. That means optimizing your profile to its fullest potential. Make the first impression a good one by choosing a well-designed banner image and using your best photo and logo. Well-organized content will give you a big advantage. Don’t forget to include any additional social media links and links to your website or music streaming profiles. Having a great 'About' section with relevant hashtags is critical as well. Another important consideration is thumbnails. Use thumbnails that are visually appealing, relevant to the content, and designed to grab viewers' attention.

2. Maximize Your Reach

When building an audience on YouTube, it's essential that you not neglect your social media strategy. Instead, leverage online groups and communities to engage with diverse people, topics, and interests.


Popular community groups for musicians can be found on platforms like SoundCloud and Reddit. On Reddit, you can join genre-specific subreddits or more general ones like 'r/listentothis.' Find ways to add value to these communities. If your video relates to relevant topics or themes, share it and encourage people to check it out, accompanied by an eye-catching thumbnail.


Additionally, make sure you're present on all major social media platforms to expand your reach, create excitement around upcoming projects, share your music videos, and provide other engaging content. Using an influencer to help spread the word helps bolster your YouTube audience too.

3. Be Social on Social Media

One effective way to boost engagement on your YouTube channel is by actively engaging with other channels that share similarities with yours. If you focus only on self-promotion your audience may start to tune out so it's crucial to collaborate and add value to other channels in your niche.


Target similar channels that cater to your desired audience. If they are posting similar music and gaining subscribers, it means you have found your target audience. Start building connections with other musicians on YouTube by searching for channels that showcase your style of music and treat their content seriously. Engage with these channels by liking and commenting on videos of similar artists. Craft thoughtful comments that will grab the attention of other artists and YouTube users. If your comment gains traction, it might even get pinned to the top of that video, offering prime visibility for your channel.

4. Schedule Your Videos

To promote consistency and keep your fans and subscribers engaged, it's essential to establish a regular upload schedule for your videos.


Rather than posting sporadically, it's better to exceed expectations than to fall short. Avoid setting yourself up for failure by committing to a frequency you can't maintain. For example, if you plan to post three videos a week but end up missing two due to tour commitments, it can disappoint and alienate your fans.


The specific frequency of your uploads is up to you, but it's generally a good practice to post at least once a month. This ensures that your fans remain connected and don't lose interest or question the activity level of your channel.


Timing your video posts to reach the maximum number of viewers is crucial, especially if your audience spans several different time zones. Avoid posting videos in the middle of the night or during times when your audience might be occupied, like on a Friday night.


To further tailor your release schedule to your audience, utilize the 'Analytics' tab on your channel. This section provides valuable insights into when your videos receive the most views. Use this information to determine the optimal days and times to schedule your video releases. It's a helpful tool for maximizing engagement with your content.

5. Create Great Content

Creating engaging content for your YouTube channel is vital. Your channel should be more than just a storage for your music tracks. It should serve as a platform that provides additional value to your fans, enriching their viewing experience with diverse content that fosters deeper connections with you.


In this regard, it's important to plan and organize your channel meticulously. Brainstorm ideas that align with your style and audience. For example, Q&A sessions, live video streams, curated playlists, and behind-the-scenes clips can be instrumental in building a rapport with your audience.


A crucial aspect of your content strategy should be leveraging YouTube Shorts. This feature, allowing users to create and share 15-second videos, is rapidly gaining traction. Utilizing YouTube Shorts can greatly boost your reach as a musician. These bite-sized clips offer a powerful way to share teasers of your new music, offer behind-the-scenes glimpses, or even snippets of your personal life. They can help capture the fast-paced and short attention span of the digital age audience, potentially enabling you to connect with a broader, diverse group of fans.


Don't forget to look for inspiration from successful YouTubers and artists who continuously innovate and experiment with their content. Learn from their strategies and adapt them to suit your own style and brand. With a blend of creativity, strategic planning, and smart use of features like YouTube Shorts, you can create a YouTube channel that not only showcases your music but also delivers a compelling and immersive experience for your fans. 

6. Find Your Niche

When you're starting out, it's unlikely that you'll have a substantial subscriber or fan base to gain the exposure you desire. Therefore, you need to build one. To find your niche, think about the online and offline spaces where people who appreciate and listen to your kind of music gather. This can include social media platforms, online communities, and offline music venues. Using an influencer can also fast-track this process because they already have a built-in audience.


There's nothing wrong with tapping into an existing audience that already enjoys popular music. In fact, it's a common strategy for artists to gain traction. One effective approach is creating cover videos of well-known songs by artists who already have a large subscriber base.


The truth is, people often overlook artists they haven't encountered before. Sometimes, it takes an artist playing a song by their all-time favorite artist to capture their attention and make them take notice. It may seem harsh, but it's a reality in the music industry.

7. Leverage SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on YouTube involves using relevant phrases and keywords that people commonly search for to increase views and attract more fans to your videos.


A few tricks to leverage this SEO feature include incorporating keywords and search phrases into the video title to make it more discoverable. Also, include keywords and search phrases in the video description to provide context and improve search visibility and use descriptive tags that accurately represent the content of your video


When selecting keywords to target, consider that highly searched keywords may also have a high level of competition. It's often beneficial to focus on keywords that are less competitive to increase the chances of your video being seen.


A helpful tip is to apply SEO principles when choosing your song titles. Generic titles like "Love Song" or "Heartbreak Song" are heavily used and face stiff competition. Aim for more original and distinctive titles to stand out in search results.


If you have already chosen a song title but want to optimize it for YouTube, consider changing the video's name when uploading, even if you keep the song's original lyrics (this is legal to do).

8. Follow the Trends

To leverage current trends that align with your music style and values you need to follow those trends. When something interesting happens that relates to your music, make a music video about it. Tap into the creative opportunities presented by trends while maintaining your artistic vision.


Research tools like Google Trends or YouTube Trends to identify popular topics and subjects that are gaining traction online. This information can guide you in creating content that resonates with a broader audience. Instead of directly referencing a trend, find ways to explore its underlying meanings or emotions. Incorporate short-lived dance fads into your music videos, as they can capture immediate attention and have a lasting impact.

9. Track Analytics 

Regularly monitor your YouTube analytics to gain insights into your viewership demographics, watch times, audience retention rates, traffic sources, and more. This information can help you understand which videos are in high demand and guide your content creation decisions.

10. Use the Right Call to Action

Incorporate a Call to Action or CTA in your videos to direct viewers to take specific actions such as subscribing to your channel, watching related videos, or visiting your official website. These CTAs can be implemented through pop-ups during the video, links in the description bar, or at the end of the video.

11. Collaborate with YouTubers and Influencers

Connect with YouTubers and influencers who have a significant presence in the creative video industry. Collaborate with them by sharing your content, getting reviews, or having them host your videos. This collaboration can provide valuable exposure to their audience and expand your reach.

12. Consider Paid YouTube Ads

While organic growth strategies are valuable, don't overlook the power of paid YouTube advertising. Utilize YouTube's targeting options to optimize your ad budget. Start with a lower budget, analyze the results, and develop an ad strategy that best promotes your music.

13. Partner with an Influencer

A social media influencer is an individual who has established credibility and a large following on social media platforms. They are recognized for their expertise, knowledge, or influence in a particular niche or industry. These influencers have the ability to affect the opinions, behaviors, and purchasing decisions of their followers.


Social media influencers often create and share content related to their niche, such as product reviews, tutorials, lifestyle tips, fashion inspiration, travel experiences, or any other area of interest. They typically have a significant number of followers and high engagement rates, meaning their audience actively interacts with their content through likes, comments, and shares.


Influencers can be found on various social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and more. Their influence comes from their expertise, authenticity, and the strong connections they build with their followers. Brands often collaborate with influencers to promote their products or services, leveraging the influencer's reach and credibility to reach a targeted audience.


It's important to note that there are different types of influencers, ranging from macro-influencers with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers to micro-influencers with a smaller but highly engaged audience. The effectiveness of influencer marketing lies in the influencer's ability to connect with their followers and maintain a level of trust and authenticity.

Finding the Right Influencer

Discovering influencer marketing opportunities for music promotion may seem challenging, especially if you attempt to navigate it independently. However, partnering with a dedicated company that specializes in connecting musicians with influencers can make this task significantly easier.


That's where SpaceLoud comes in. Our company's primary mission is to facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between talent and influencers. By collaborating with SpaceLoud, you gain access to a network of influencers who can amplify your music and increase your reach. The best part is that you retain control throughout the process. You have the freedom to select the influencers you want to work with and determine the value of the partnership.


With SpaceLoud as your partner, you can tap into the power of influencer marketing without the hassle of navigating it alone. Our platform streamlines the process, making it convenient and effective for both musicians and influencers to connect and collaborate.


Amplify Your Social Media Message with SpaceLoud

Musicians and influencers form partnerships to promote singles, albums, and tours, benefiting both parties in a symbiotic relationship. Getting started with influencer marketing for your music campaign is straightforward through SpaceLoud. Follow these steps to begin:


1. Sign up and create a SpaceLoud account, which takes just a minute and incurs no cost.


2. Find an influencer using two methods. Browse profile pages to identify individuals who would be effective in promoting your music based on their social media channels, following and previous collaborations. Alternatively, create a campaign outlining your music and targeted social media channels. Influencers interested in working with you will submit proposals for your review, allowing you to choose whom to collaborate with.


3. Set a start date for influencers to begin promoting your music. This coordination is particularly useful for aligning with the release of a new single or album or the launch of a tour. 


4. Once you have accepted a proposal, the influencer initiates their promotional efforts. They will share your music with their followers on the agreed-upon platforms. The influencer captures screenshots of post statistics, including clicks, views, likes, shares, and more. The influencer must provide this information before receiving payment, which is held in escrow by SpaceLoud after you create the campaign.


By utilizing SpaceLoud's platform, you can seamlessly connect with influencers, launch effective marketing campaigns, and amplify your music to a wider audience, all while maintaining transparency and control over the partnership process.

Start Your Music Marketing Now

We hope the information provided in this article inspires you to take control of your career. We want to help you use all of the tools at your disposal to unlock your full potential. With your incredible talent and unwavering dedication, it's time to seek assistance in optimizing your music's reach through influencer marketing. 


Let SpaceLoud take the reins and connect you with influencers who will amplify your music to a global audience. With our tools, we guarantee connections that align with your goals. Seize the opportunity now, sign up today, and watch your music soar to new heights.


2 Comments

Salomon NDA3737

6:12 pm Thursday 12th October 2023

😂😂❤❤❤

Lunchi

7:45 am Thursday 17th August 2023

I need more views

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