Your release will flop unless you do these 10 things before you release.

In this video Maddy discusses how to promote your music before the release and set yourself up for your track to be a hit.

How to submit to Spotify’s Editors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USVTTllGEPc

How to get radio play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvK5bhtyHdQ

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Twitter: @BurstimoMusic
Facebook: @Burstimo

Read detailed music promotion tips:
https://burstimo.com/unsigned-advice/

Listen to our podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2myDi0WfuaoHcV537niOcV?si=Q1uFO_4RQbOPD0f0Berdkw

Do you want your next single to be your biggest release to date?

Well I'm going to teach you 10 things that you need to do pre-release if you want your song to blow up.

Have you found that you've released a song and you think it's your best release to date only to find that on release day nothing happens?

That's probably because you're not doing a few things before release day.

So in today's video, I'm going to teach you 10 simple things that every single artist needs to be doing before they release their next single.

And some are very, very easy to do, Whereas others are a little bit more complex, and I'll go into more detail on those ones.

But when you do them, you do get the results.

You find that on release day, you're immediately getting attention.

So if you're doing these 10 things, you'll find your next release is going to be your biggest 1 to date.

Make sure you're watching to the end, because every single tip is essential.

So if you're skipping to the end, or you're only focusing on tip number 1 to 5, you'll find that you're actually not getting the results.

So use every single tip, and you will find your next release being the big 1.

That's the 1 that everyone wants to be on.

It's also the 1 that has the biggest audience.

So we would suggest choosing a distributor that Spotify works closely with.

They recently released their preferred distributors list, which has 3 distributors on.

These 3 distributors are DistroKid, CD Baby, and The Orchard.

Now you've got your distributor, let's move on to tip number 2, which is get a pre-save link.

In the past, people used to mention getting a pre-save link for things such as iTunes, and it wasn't really that big a deal.

But the reason it's so important now is because if you get a pre-save link for Spotify, it means that people are immediately saving your song on release day and streaming it.

And the reason that this is important is because Spotify's algorithm will see that your track is getting traction immediately.

So they'll see that people like your song from release day and then they'll start pushing it out more naturally.

And if it's still getting attention, then they'll put it on 1 of their editorial playlists.

This leads us nicely into tip number 3, which is submit to Spotify via Spotify for Artists.

If you haven't actually released a song yet, if you choose 1 of Spotify's preferred distributors and you upload your track through them, they'll immediately give you access to your Spotify for Artists.

Most people suggest doing it 2 weeks prior to release, but we found so much more success doing it a lot earlier.

So try doing it as early as you possibly can, because then you're getting it in front of Spotify and giving them time to listen.

You're basically going to click on the right-hand corner and you're going to submit.

So we've done a full video on how to use the submission form which I'll link below and you can follow it step by step and submit your music to Spotify's editors.

Submitting by the form doesn't just mean getting it in front of Spotify's editors.

It also means that anybody that follows you on Spotify will immediately get your track on their release radar playlist.

So again it means you can take advantage of that Spotify algorithm.

Now tip number 4, we're moving on to the social media side of things.

You need to make sure you've updated your social media.

This can be simple things, such as your Twitter and Facebook banner can say the date the track's going to be released, or you can even put the pre-save link in your Instagram bio.

You need to make sure that it's up to date so the people that are following you can see that it's gonna be released soon, Which leads us nicely into tip number 5, which is announce on your social media that you're actually releasing a song.

You need to either be creating an image or a video that you can put on your social media which shows your fans that you're releasing a song.

People are often bombarded with content because you can scroll through Instagram and there's constantly a mix between ads, their friends, bands they follow, so you need to create some content that's actually going to engage them.

So what you could do is either create an image which looks really exciting and shows what the single's going to be about, or you could sit and talk to the camera about what the song is about, or you could even edit your music video that's going to be coming out on release day and make it into a short promo video.

Give them something that's a little bit more than just the artwork.

Once you've announced it, if you have a budget for your marketing, you can actually put some money behind that announcement post.

So it's not just going out to your immediate fan base, it can go out to potential fans as well.

This 1 a lot of people aren't too sure on because they don't actually know if it helps, but it definitely does because we often see a lot of artists releasing a song and just kind of fingers crossed it will do okay.

If you set a goal, you're immediately going to be working towards it.

This goal could be a set amount of streams.

It could be a set amount of followers you want to gain after the release, or it could be a set amount of YouTube views.

Whatever your goal is, make sure you know how you're going to measure it.

Obviously this is pretty simple with things such as streams because it's just figures, but if your goal is just to make this single your most successful 1, be a bit more specific so you can actually measure the success of it.

And this leads nicely into tip number 7, which is set a timeline in place.

Now you've got this goal, you need to set a timeline which outlines when you want to achieve this goal.

So we would suggest doing a 2 month timeline and then the track releases after the first month.

Because this gives you 4 weeks beforehand to focus on getting pre-saves, to getting blog features, just building the hype, and then you've also got a month afterwards to be getting those streams up, engaging more people, and then achieving that goal.

So set a timeline in place and make sure you know what date you want to reassess your goals.

Tip number 8 is make sure you have updated images and your artwork sorted.

Make sure you have something that represents your style and your image, and then you need to have high-res images of you as an artist.

This also needs to be representative of your sound, whether that's the things you're wearing, where you're actually taking the pictures.

It needs to sum you up, and it also will be the thing that makes pitching to blogs and radio a lot easier, because if they open an email and see an image of a band that they know is gonna fit their radio station or their blog, they're a lot more likely to listen to your track.

So we would actually suggest hiring a photographer for this 1.

We're always saying, oh, you can do everything yourself, but images are actually 1 that you probably should outsource.

These images are gonna come in handy for tip number 9 and tip number 10.

So tip number 9 is getting blog features.

This 1 you do need to do pre-release because these really established blogs get so many submissions, so they need to be able to go through them and assess whether they actually want to cover it.

So if you're doing this a couple of weeks before, They can assess whether they want to do this a few weeks before release, announcing that the track's gonna be out, whether they want to premiere it, which basically means they want it exclusively on their blog just the day before release day, or they want to do it after release, sharing the live link.

So you need to be writing a full press release and pitching to these blogs.

If you struggle with pitching to blogs because you don't have the contacts or you just don't have the time, you can use something called SubmitHub, which basically allows you to upload your SoundCloud link and then filter through blogs by genre.

So just click the genre that you are and choose the blogs that you want to pitch to.

And then on release day, you send them the live link.

Tip number 10, the final tip, is get radio play.

A lot of emerging artists are quite funny about this.

They think that no 1 should hear the track until after release day.

This is obviously understandable for massive artists where people are really, really excited for the release, But as an emerging artist, you need to use every single platform you can to get your track out there.

And getting radio play means reaching a larger audience, building the buzz before release day, so that by the time the track is actually out, there is already an audience there.

So for radio, you're gonna do the exact same thing that you did for blogs, which is writing a press release and pitching, but you're going to include a download link in your pitch.

I've actually done a full video on how to do this, so I'll make sure to link it below.

There are 10 things that you need to do before your next release.

But if you do every single 1 of them, the impact will be huge.

And you'll find that the next release will be the 1 to get the most engagement, the most streams, because each 1 of those tips impacts those things massively.

If you found this video useful, hit that subscribe button, hit that like button, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Let us know which of these tips you found most useful, and if you want us to cover any of these tips in a full video.

Thanks for watching, and I'll see you soon.


Speaker 0: Do you want your next single to be your biggest release to date? Well I'm going to teach you 10 things that you need to do pre-release if you want your song to blow up. Have you found that you've released a song and you think it's your best release to date only to find that on release day nothing happens? That's probably because you're not doing a few things before release day. So in today's video, I'm going to teach you 10 simple things that every single artist needs to be doing before they release their next single.

And some are very, very easy to do, Whereas others are a little bit more complex, and I'll go into more detail on those ones. But when you do them, you do get the results. You find that on release day, you're immediately getting attention. So if you're doing these 10 things, you'll find your next release is going to be your biggest 1 to date. Make sure you're watching to the end, because every single tip is essential.

They all work together. So if you're skipping to the end, or you're only focusing on tip number 1 to 5, you'll find that you're actually not getting the results. So use every single tip, and you will find your next release being the big 1. So, let's start with tip number 1. Get yourself a distributor.

The big 1 at the moment is Spotify. That's the 1 that everyone wants to be on. It's also the 1 that has the biggest audience. So we would suggest choosing a distributor that Spotify works closely with. They recently released their preferred distributors list, which has 3 distributors on.

These 3 distributors are DistroKid, CD Baby, and The Orchard. Now you've got your distributor, let's move on to tip number 2, which is get a pre-save link. In the past, people used to mention getting a pre-save link for things such as iTunes, and it wasn't really that big a deal. But the reason it's so important now is because if you get a pre-save link for Spotify, it means that people are immediately saving your song on release day and streaming it. And the reason that this is important is because Spotify's algorithm will see that your track is getting traction immediately.

So they'll see that people like your song from release day and then they'll start pushing it out more naturally. And if it's still getting attention, then they'll put it on 1 of their editorial playlists. This leads us nicely into tip number 3, which is submit to Spotify via Spotify for Artists. If you haven't actually released a song yet, if you choose 1 of Spotify's preferred distributors and you upload your track through them, they'll immediately give you access to your Spotify for Artists. Most people suggest doing it 2 weeks prior to release, but we found so much more success doing it a lot earlier.

So try doing it as early as you possibly can, because then you're getting it in front of Spotify and giving them time to listen. You're basically going to click on the right-hand corner and you're going to submit. So we've done a full video on how to use the submission form which I'll link below and you can follow it step by step and submit your music to Spotify's editors. Submitting by the form doesn't just mean getting it in front of Spotify's editors. It also means that anybody that follows you on Spotify will immediately get your track on their release radar playlist.

So again it means you can take advantage of that Spotify algorithm. So that tip is so important. Now tip number 4, we're moving on to the social media side of things. You need to make sure you've updated your social media. This can be simple things, such as your Twitter and Facebook banner can say the date the track's going to be released, or you can even put the pre-save link in your Instagram bio.

You need to make sure that it's up to date so the people that are following you can see that it's gonna be released soon, Which leads us nicely into tip number 5, which is announce on your social media that you're actually releasing a song. You need to either be creating an image or a video that you can put on your social media which shows your fans that you're releasing a song. People are often bombarded with content because you can scroll through Instagram and there's constantly a mix between ads, their friends, bands they follow, so you need to create some content that's actually going to engage them. So what you could do is either create an image which looks really exciting and shows what the single's going to be about, or you could sit and talk to the camera about what the song is about, or you could even edit your music video that's going to be coming out on release day and make it into a short promo video. Give them something that's a little bit more than just the artwork.

Once you've announced it, if you have a budget for your marketing, you can actually put some money behind that announcement post. So it's not just going out to your immediate fan base, it can go out to potential fans as well. Tip number 6 is set yourself a goal. This 1 a lot of people aren't too sure on because they don't actually know if it helps, but it definitely does because we often see a lot of artists releasing a song and just kind of fingers crossed it will do okay. If you set a goal, you're immediately going to be working towards it.

This goal could be a set amount of streams. It could be a set amount of followers you want to gain after the release, or it could be a set amount of YouTube views. Whatever your goal is, make sure you know how you're going to measure it. Obviously this is pretty simple with things such as streams because it's just figures, but if your goal is just to make this single your most successful 1, be a bit more specific so you can actually measure the success of it. And this leads nicely into tip number 7, which is set a timeline in place.

Now you've got this goal, you need to set a timeline which outlines when you want to achieve this goal. So we would suggest doing a 2 month timeline and then the track releases after the first month. Because this gives you 4 weeks beforehand to focus on getting pre-saves, to getting blog features, just building the hype, and then you've also got a month afterwards to be getting those streams up, engaging more people, and then achieving that goal. So set a timeline in place and make sure you know what date you want to reassess your goals. Tip number 8 is make sure you have updated images and your artwork sorted.

The artwork is pretty simple to do. Make sure you have something that represents your style and your image, and then you need to have high-res images of you as an artist. This also needs to be representative of your sound, whether that's the things you're wearing, where you're actually taking the pictures. It needs to sum you up, and it also will be the thing that makes pitching to blogs and radio a lot easier, because if they open an email and see an image of a band that they know is gonna fit their radio station or their blog, they're a lot more likely to listen to your track. So we would actually suggest hiring a photographer for this 1.

We're always saying, oh, you can do everything yourself, but images are actually 1 that you probably should outsource. These images are gonna come in handy for tip number 9 and tip number 10. So tip number 9 is getting blog features. This 1 you do need to do pre-release because these really established blogs get so many submissions, so they need to be able to go through them and assess whether they actually want to cover it. So if you're doing this a couple of weeks before, They can assess whether they want to do this a few weeks before release, announcing that the track's gonna be out, whether they want to premiere it, which basically means they want it exclusively on their blog just the day before release day, or they want to do it after release, sharing the live link.

So you need to be writing a full press release and pitching to these blogs. If you struggle with pitching to blogs because you don't have the contacts or you just don't have the time, you can use something called SubmitHub, which basically allows you to upload your SoundCloud link and then filter through blogs by genre. So just click the genre that you are and choose the blogs that you want to pitch to. And then on release day, you send them the live link. Tip number 10, the final tip, is get radio play.

A lot of emerging artists are quite funny about this. They think that no 1 should hear the track until after release day. This is obviously understandable for massive artists where people are really, really excited for the release, But as an emerging artist, you need to use every single platform you can to get your track out there. And getting radio play means reaching a larger audience, building the buzz before release day, so that by the time the track is actually out, there is already an audience there. So for radio, you're gonna do the exact same thing that you did for blogs, which is writing a press release and pitching, but you're going to include a download link in your pitch.

I've actually done a full video on how to do this, so I'll make sure to link it below. So those are our 10 tips. There are 10 things that you need to do before your next release. Pretty simple, right? But if you do every single 1 of them, the impact will be huge.

And you'll find that the next release will be the 1 to get the most engagement, the most streams, because each 1 of those tips impacts those things massively. If you found this video useful, hit that subscribe button, hit that like button, and let us know your thoughts in the comments. Let us know which of these tips you found most useful, and if you want us to cover any of these tips in a full video. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you soon.

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Don’t Release Your Next Song Until You’ve Done These 10 Things | Music Promotion