Most musicians transfer on too quickly.
They put all their inventive deal with the subsequent launch. Or they solely promote their newest work, neglecting all of the songs that got here earlier than.
However taking your consideration off your older tracks is a mistake. As a result of there are three huge causes why you need to proceed to market ALL the music in your again catalog.
Why your outdated music deserves new consideration:
- The primary and easiest purpose? Good music is good music. Whereas YOU could be centered in your current stuff, your older releases will nonetheless be model new to a lot of the world.
- Subsequent, your again catalog is a income. Your current followers already like your older music. So discover causes to maintain ’em coming again to stream tracks and purchase associated merch.
For these causes and extra, you’ll be able to’t neglect your again catalog.
On this article, I’ll provide you with an inventory of how to encourage current followers to replay music they already love, and to entice new followers who’ll dive into your whole catalog.
deliver recent curiosity to older music
1. Have fun album anniversaries
Anytime one in every of your albums turns 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25…
… it’s an apparent probability to rejoice that music once more. You don’t at all times want remastering or bonus editions to commemorate an album’s birthday.
You may retell the story of the album. Ship an e-mail. Make social posts.
It doesn’t should be a year-long celebration, however at the very least give the anniversary a month of content material and recollections. And — that is essential — keep in mind to inform your followers precisely the place to go to pay attention once more!
2. Drop unreleased tracks
Not every thing you share needs to be a refined diamond. The truth is, not every thing you share even must be completed.
When you deserted a monitor throughout a selected session, share it and inform us why it by no means made it onto an album. You may launch demos. Alternate takes. Something that helps construct an even bigger story round a earlier interval of labor.
And if it doesn’t really feel worthy of strangers’ consideration, you don’t should distribute the music to platforms like Spotify. Simply share it straight together with your followers and e-mail subscribers.
3. Do a collaborator shoutout!
Typically self-promotion looks like tooting your personal horn. When you wrestle with that, overlook about your self for a minute and brag about your collaborators.
Did a participant, bandmate, featured visitor, producer, or co-writer contribute one thing superb? One thing you can’ve by no means accomplished by yourself? Sing their praises. It’s an effective way to point out gratitude whereas additionally bringing consideration to your personal music.
You probably have a daily collaborator, you’ll have much more choices as a result of you’ll be able to spotlight a number of moments you respect from them all through your catalog.
4. Playlists, playlists, playlists
Playlists provide you with nearly limitless methods to contextualize your music.
You may group your tracks by:
- collaborator
- temper or style
- matter or theme
- interval of your profession
- a selected city you lived in whereas creating the music
- influences
- instrumentation
- different musical parts like key, tempo, and so forth.
- success metrics (“Biggest Hits” or “Greatest Misses”)
5. An artist’s-choice content material sequence
Create a couple of totally different, quick, themed, content material sequence that you could run on social and e-mail, comparable to:
- The songs I’m proudest of
- My 3 finest lyrical strains
- 5 stuff you didn’t learn about me
- My prime 10 movies
- 3 individuals who formed my music
- My favourite guitar solo
I feel you get the purpose. You provide you with an idea that requires a number of emails or posts, and use the theme to generate deeper and sustained curiosity in your older music.
When you set these up as automated e-mail sequences, you’ll be able to even schedule them to be delivered all year long to anybody who has just lately subscribed to your record. And naturally, ship these to EVERYONE in your record when the sequence is first created.
6. “Free (plus transport & handing!)”
Have you ever ever heard or a Free + Delivery & Dealing with music provide?
It’s an fascinating advertising campaign-type the place you provide to ship somebody one thing totally free, so long as they pay for transport.
As soon as they’ve entered their fee data, you then current a second (and even third) provide for added merch objects — often with a limited-time low cost.
Not everybody will elect to buy extra objects, after all, but when sufficient folks do, you’ll be able to revenue AND construct your e-mail record concurrently, all whereas giving freely your music.
7. Stay listening events!
Host an occasion the place you inform folks fascinating information concerning the songs earlier than or whereas the music performs.
This may be accomplished digitally on Discord, X, or Twitch. Or it could possibly happen IRL at somebody’s house, venue, or artwork house.
8. One-off efficiency movies
Nobody mentioned you want a particular purpose to carry out your personal tunes!
Shoot a reside efficiency video for Reels and TikTok. Who cares if the music is 2 or twenty years outdated? Then discover one of the best 15-second clip. Submit it.
If one in every of these reside movies will get traction, you’ll be able to observe up with extra supporting content material.
9. Carry out a selected album
We’ve all seen artists stage a themed tour round a selected album.
Roger Waters has accomplished this for Darkish Aspect of the Moon. U2 did it for The Joshua Tree. You may do it too…
… for ANY of your earlier albums.
The truth is, I as soon as did a 7-day residency at a venue the place I performed a unique album of mine every night time, so you’ll be able to work your whole catalog into sure occasions.
And you’ve got choices past venue exhibits and festivals. You are able to do one thing comparable everytime you need by way of livestreaming!
10. Promote!
Probably the greatest issues about digital advertising is that it provides you comparatively low cost entry to huge international audiences. You can even take a look at numerous totally different content material to seek out what works finest.
And since your oldest music will likely be model new to most individuals on-line, you’ll be able to use your highest performing social content material to succeed in strangers at a decrease price.
So long as that advert content material stays a cheap method to drive engagement, promote merch, and construct your viewers, go away the adverts working.
Once more, who cares if it’s an older music that performs finest in your adverts? It’s working!
Conclusion
I don’t count on artists to prioritize older music ABOVE their newest launch.
Nor ought to they.
That wouldn’t appear sensible. Each by way of efficient promotion and your personal pleasure as a creator.
However I hope you at the very least see the significance of selling your again catalog. No less than sufficient to schedule in a couple of of those promo campaigns all year long.
This sort of effort goes to be more and more essential if you need your music to stay algorithmically related and discoverable on streaming platforms.
And given {that a} deeper catalog is an unbelievable assortment of music, moods, and connection factors, you’ll be able to leverage ALL of your work all through the years to develop your engagement, enhance your income, and construct your viewers.
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