Sadly, most musicians don’t have the luxury of committing themselves to their craft full time. It’s harder than ever to make a profit from music and musos typically end up juggling their career with a day job, as well as school, family, and anything else life tends to throw at you.
Of course, there’s also plenty of musos who are quite content to stick to their day job and aren’t interested in committing too much time or effort to music. They like it as a fun hobby and want the whole distribution and marketing thing to take as little time as possible.
Whatever your commitment and whatever your schedule, there are ways to manage your music career without taking up too much of that precious time that you simply never have enough of. Believe it or not, there are ways to promote yourself without interrupting your daily routine, just ask Hypebot.
In order to help the busy or lazy musician better manage their careers and the rest of their lives, we’ve decided to get together some time, money, and energy-saving tips that will ensure you never feel like your passion is a chore.
Facebook Can Be Your Friend, Too
Those of you who’ve been keeping up to date with the hubbub surrounding Facebook’s recent changes to their all-important algorithm will know that the social media giant basically killed organic reach earlier this year.
Small businesses and independent musicians were arguably the most profoundly affected by the changes, seeing as they so rarely have a crack social media marketing team at their disposal.
However, not all is lost. While the pressure is certainly on to come up with more unique and engaging content in order to keep up your reach (or risk getting lost in the ether of Facebook), the busy or lazy musician can use some of Facebook’s own tools to ensure you don’t have to monitor Facebook like NORAD.
Arguably the most useful is scheduling, which allows you to write up a good wealth of posts when you actually have the time to make them and then queue them up so that they’re spread throughout the day, week, month, or even year.
There’s An App For That
[include_post id=”425680″]Apps have gone from a couple of entertaining games on your phone to a full-fledged industry. There’s apps for just about anything you could want. Want to know the weather outside? There’s an app for that. What’s on TV? There’s an app for that. Wanna write up a to-do list? There’s an app for that.
They’re not just for your phone, either. You can get in-browser apps and apps for your PC and they’re great for the busy or lazy musician, whether you want to edit a photo on the go (Snapseed) or share an article to your social media platforms without leaving the page (Share This).
Do yourself a favour and venture out into the world of apps and do a little bit of exploring. An hour of research could save you hours down the road. Rule of thumb: whatever you’re looking to do, there’s probably an app that can do it faster.
Bandcamp Is Even More Awesome Than You Know
Bandcamp has become an indispensable resource for many independent musicians around the world. A sort of DIY iTunes, Bandcamp allows musicians to manage their own web store, uploading their now music, setting their own prices, and providing them with an invaluable connection to their paying fans.
Part of Bandcamp’s service actually allows you to personally communicate with the fans who buy your music, which is something we couldn’t recommend highly enough that you do. A simple thank-you email could make a casual listener a fan for life.
However, if you’ve got a lot of buyers, it can be hard to communicate personally with each one. Thankfully, Bandcamp allows you to send out updates to all the people who bought your music informing them of any upcoming releases.
Think of it like an instant newsletter, but one that only goes out to people who’ve already spent money on your music and might just do it again if they know you’ve got more tunes coming out soon.
Digital Music Distribution Services Are A Lifesaver
Getting your music featured on digital platforms like iTunes and Google Play’s music store is absolutely essential in this day and age. You can’t expect to get as wide of a reach as possible if you’re not on the one place where everybody gets their music these days – the web.
[include_post id=”441602″] However, selling yourself to each individual web store can be difficult and time consuming. Going from iTunes, to Amazon, and then all of the stores in between to get your music featured is a frustrating enterprise and few busy musicians would have the time.
This is where a digital music distribution service can be a lifesaver. Services like Ditto, CD Baby, Tunecore, DistroKid, and Loudr distribute your music to the world’s leading digital platforms, effectively helping you set up your own label.
There’s lots of them out there and they all have individual attributes that make them great. Digital Music News did a great wrap-up of the best ones that you can check out here. Just make sure they’re partnered with all of the big players – iTunes, Google, Amazon, Beatport, and Spotify.
Build Your Website In Minutes
While many bands have decided to ditch the website in favour of sticking to social media, your own personal webspace can be an outstanding resource where you’re the one who’s in control. There’s no algorithm to wrestle with and you can share as much or as little content as you like.
It’s also a great way of building a following around yourself. Ask some die-hard fans and they’ll tell you that what made them so obsessive was communicating with other fans on a band’s website forum where they were able to feel like they were part of a global community.
Of course, building a website, especially one that’s engaging, bug-free, and easy to use, can be difficult if you don’t happen to have an expert knowledge of web programming and some serious design skills, and you don’t happen to know anyone who does.
This is where resources like Squarespace can be a huge help. Squarespace is a popular content management system (CMS) that offers you a range of pre-made websites that you can customise to your liking. It takes the hard work out of making a great, unique website.
There are other options, as well. Setting up a blog with Tumblr, Blogger, or WordPress takes just a matter of minutes and there’s lots of great themes for your blog available online. Just a little bit of copy and pasting, and you have yourself a website.
Fork Out
Yes, we know, in order to pay somebody you need to be making money and that’s getting harder and harder in today’s music industry. Let’s call this one a last resort or an option for the unusually cashed-up hobby musician.
If you’re too busy or lack the will to market your music, you can always pay someone else to do it. The music world exists in a deluge of freelancers and places like Elance, oDesk, and Outsource can help you can in touch with one that’s affordable and reliable.
Whether you need someone to design a logo, write up a press release, or build you a website, there are plenty of writers, designers, publicists, and marketing experts who will be willing to help you out for a price.
If your budget is lower than shoestring, sites like Fiverr will help you stay within your budget whilst getting results that don’t look like they were made on a budget. After all, the way you market yourself can be everything.
Learn To Ask
Everybody hates to be that guy or girl, but it never hurts to ask someone you know for a favour. The worst someone can do is say no and if they say yes, then you may just have found someone willing to design your band logo for free.
[include_post id=”439248″] The key here is to use the people around you. Got a friend or family member that knows their way around Photoshop? Know someone that can write an engaging press release in their sleep? Got a coworker who’s always wanted to design a website and looks like they know their stuff?
Now, remember, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Using this route doesn’t mean you should expect to make use of someone’s skills for free. Instead, find creative ways to pay your friends, family, or coworkers back.
You could put them on the door for your next gig or even offer to clean up around their house. Since they’re your friends and family, they may be more willing to accept “non-traditional” payment for their services.
Get Your Own Squad
If you don’t have the money to spend on an experienced freelancer and you can’t be bothered mowing your neighbour’s lawn for a website, you can always turn to your fans. This is where the concept of the ‘street team’ comes in.
This is a marketing concept that uses everyday people, who hit the streets to promote your product, in this case, it could be a gig, album, or just your name. They’re everywhere in the entertainment industry, and even big corporations and charities use them.
It’ll take a little work on your part, but far less than actually papering a city block with flyers yourself. Jump on social media, let your fans know that your new album is coming out next week, and ask them to print out a pre-made flyer and post them around their local area.
They’re now members of your street team. In return, you can offer them free music, a free performance, the chance to win a prize pack, or anything else you can think of. Get creative, your fans are doing a huge service.
Mark Your Calendar
If you’re simply too busy to build an online community around yourself or you can’t be bothered, a good option is to use communities that other people have already built and see if they’d be interested in including you.
If you don’t have the time or will to write up a press release, gather a media list, or set up a fan newsletter, there’s bound to be a few community calendars in your area that would be happy to list your event.
These are calendars that basically list all of the entertainment that’s going on in your town in the coming weeks or months. You can find them online, in your local street press, in magazines, newspapers, or as a flyer taped to the window of a nearby laundromat.
These are a great resource for music fans just as much as musicians, so make sure you get in touch with some local publishers and see if they’d be willing to feature your gig or event in an upcoming issue.
