Dear upcoming artist,
You’ve been doing well in consistently putting your craft together and in promoting and sorting other bills.
However, remember that while you’re promoting and marketing your music, you’re not trying to break any record. You’re not competing with Big Wiz, Odogwu or OBO. You’re literally a first timer who wants more people to listen to what you’ve got.
Put at the back of your mind that no matter the plan you have, you must first, make sure your song/project is available on digital stores like Apple Music, Spotify, Boomplay and the likes and this is because it makes promotion and marketing easy for you. Make sure you do this early enough (4-6 weeks before release) so that you can pitch your song to feature on appropriate editorial playlists (it helps in garnering more streams).
Also, plan to the last detail, every single thing. Like having great cover art, syncing the lyrics, knowing what channels to promote after the release. Note that it doesn’t take a miracle to gain more followers and fans, it takes strategic planning.
Please be sure you’re not building castles in the air and plan according to your budget. Don’t raise your hopes, they will just be dashed like an egg against the rock. There are services you must pay for and you need to prioritize your spending. Let your budget drive your strategy.
Create awareness around your new music if you want to expand your audience reach. Note that ‘New music out tomorrow’ is not a type of awareness that will expand your reach because your mutuals are probably those in your close/distant circle.
Pre-release stage is to create enough buzz and anticipation around your new music and also to plan for what’s going to happen after you release your song.