Most musicians transfer on too quickly.
They put all their artistic give attention to 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Why your outdated music deserves new consideration: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 cause? Good music is good music. Whereas YOU could be centered in your current stuff, your older releases will nonetheless be model new to many 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 may’t neglect your again catalog.
On this article, I’ll offer you an inventory of the way to encourage current followers to replay music they already love, and to appeal to new followers who’ll dive into your whole catalog.
Learn how to convey contemporary curiosity to older music
1. Rejoice album anniversaries
Anytime one among your albums turns 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25…
… it’s an apparent probability to rejoice that music once more. You don’t all the time want remastering or bonus editions to commemorate an album’s birthday.
You possibly can retell the story of the album. Ship an electronic mail. Make social posts.
It doesn’t must be a year-long celebration, however at the least give the anniversary a month of content material and reminiscences. And — that is necessary — bear in mind to inform your followers precisely the place to go to hear once more!
2. Drop unreleased tracks
Not every little thing you share must be a sophisticated diamond. In reality, not every little thing you share even must be completed.
When you deserted a monitor throughout a specific session, share it and inform us why it by no means made it onto an album. You possibly can 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 must distribute the music to platforms like Spotify. Simply share it immediately along with your followers and electronic mail subscribers.
3. Do a collaborator shoutout!
Typically self-promotion looks like tooting your individual horn. When you battle 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 wonderful? One thing you may’ve by no means finished by yourself? Sing their praises. It’s a good way to indicate gratitude whereas additionally bringing consideration to your individual music.
When you’ve got a daily collaborator, you’ll have much more choices as a result of you may spotlight a number of moments you admire from them all through your catalog.
4. Playlists, playlists, playlists
Playlists offer you nearly infinite methods to contextualize your music.
You possibly can group your tracks by:
- collaborator
- temper or style
- matter or theme
- interval of your profession
- a specific city you lived in whereas creating the music
- influences
- instrumentation
- different musical parts like key, tempo, and many others.
- success metrics (“Best Hits” or “Largest 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 electronic mail, akin to:
- The songs I’m proudest of
- My 3 finest lyrical traces
- 5 belongings you didn’t find out about me
- My prime 10 movies
- 3 individuals who formed my music
- My favourite guitar solo
I believe 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 electronic mail sequences, you may even schedule them to be delivered all year long to anybody who has not too long ago subscribed to your listing. And naturally, ship these to EVERYONE in your listing when the sequence is first created.
6. “Free (plus delivery & handing!)”
Have you ever ever heard or a Free + Transport & Dealing with music supply?
It’s an fascinating advertising and marketing campaign-type the place you supply to ship somebody one thing without cost, so long as they pay for delivery.
As soon as they’ve entered their cost information, you then current a second (and even third) supply for extra merch objects — normally with a limited-time low cost.
Not everybody will elect to buy further objects, after all, but when sufficient individuals do, you may revenue AND construct your electronic mail listing concurrently, all whereas gifting away your music.
7. Stay listening events!
Host an occasion the place you inform individuals fascinating info in regards to the songs earlier than or whereas the music performs.
This may be finished digitally on Discord, X, or Twitch. Or it could possibly happen IRL at somebody’s dwelling, venue, or artwork house.
8. One-off efficiency movies
Nobody mentioned you want a particular cause to carry out your individual tunes!
Shoot a dwell efficiency video for Reels and TikTok. Who cares if the track is 2 or twenty years outdated? Then discover the most effective 15-second clip. Publish it.
If one among these dwell movies will get traction, you may observe up with extra supporting content material.
9. Carry out a selected album
We’ve all seen artists stage a themed tour round a specific album.
Roger Waters has finished this for Darkish Aspect of the Moon. U2 did it for The Joshua Tree. You possibly can do it too…
… for ANY of your earlier albums.
In reality, I as soon as did a 7-day residency at a venue the place I performed a distinct album of mine every night time, so you may work your whole catalog into sure occasions.
And you’ve got choices past venue reveals and festivals. You are able to do one thing comparable everytime you need through livestreaming!
10. Promote!
Probably the greatest issues about digital advertising and marketing is that it offers you comparatively low cost entry to large world audiences. You may as well take a look at a number of totally different content material to seek out what works finest.
And since your oldest music shall be model new to most individuals on-line, you may use your highest performing social content material to succeed in strangers at a decrease value.
So long as that advert content material stays an economical technique to drive engagement, promote merch, and construct your viewers, depart the adverts operating.
Once more, who cares if it’s an older track 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 lifelike. Each by way of efficient promotion and your individual pleasure as a creator.
However I hope you at the least see the significance of selling your again catalog. Not less than sufficient to schedule in a couple of of those promo campaigns all year long.
This kind of effort goes to be more and more necessary if you’d like your music to stay algorithmically related and discoverable on streaming platforms.
And given {that a} deeper catalog is an unimaginable assortment of music, moods, and connection factors, you may leverage ALL of your work all through the years to develop your engagement, enhance your income, and construct your viewers.
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