Streaming platforms have changed the way most people listen to music—and they’ve changed the way artists promote their tracks. Today, having a plan for promoting an upcoming release or existing catalogs of music on streaming platforms is critical for every artist, big or small. That’s partly because revenue from streaming platforms is one-way artists can monetize their music with song streams, merch sales and concert tickets.

But these platforms are also hubs that fans flock towards to find new music—whether it’s through playlists, music journalism or algorithm recommendations.


To get your music on streaming services, you must distribute your music through a music distribution service.

In a visual age, where social media and online presence is more important than ever, you need to think about how you’ll present yourself and your music to the world. To put it simply, you want your audience to immediately recognize you when they see your content. When your posts show up in a fan’s feed, or when your story is reposted by a collaborator, a consistent aesthetic will make your music more memorable. Of course, developing a brand identity takes time and a lot of consideration since it will touch everything about you as an artist.

A few key components of your brand aesthetic are your artist name and logo, typefaces, your style of writing on social media, the look of your visuals and the kinds of collaborators and artists you choose to associate with. Think about how artists that inspire you present themselves on social media. hat fonts do they use? What goes into their visuals? Who are they connecting with online?

Keep your brand in mind at all times and centralize your music promotion efforts around a unified sound, message, look and feel.

TikTok has been a game-changer when it comes to music and social media. It’s no longer just an app for posting short video content, it’s evolved into a major platform that artists use to get their songs heard. Music with strong themes, exciting energy or a nostalgic sound often go viral on the platform when creators use them to soundtrack their video content. Songs like Cordelia’s “I Think I Like This Little Life”, Drake’s “Nonstop” and Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” all trended like crazy once they became viral hits among content creators on TikTok and beyond.

Similar to streaming services, anyone can make their songs available for content creators to use on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms with the help of digital distribution services.

If you work with a distribution service, you can even ensure that you’re paid any time your music is used or streamed on these platforms with the help or music and content ID’ing systems.

Getting your music on streaming services is only the first step.

You need to come up with a plan to promote your music on each streaming platform if you want these platforms to push your music to the wide audiences that listen to its playlists. So, once you’ve distributed your music to streaming platforms, go claim your Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists profiles (you can also claim your profiles for Tidal, Amazon and YouTube if you wish). In general, claiming your profile on these platforms gives you the ability to customize your artist page with your own bio and artist pictures. On Spotify, claiming your profile will also open access to pitching any new releases to its editorial playlists. You’ll also be able to add a custom playlist, upcoming shows and more to your profile page. Getting music on a major editorial Spotify playlist is a huge moment for any artist, so definitely claim your profile and pitch your music!

Spotify for Artists is always adding new music promotion tools to their platform, claiming your profile will also give you the ability to:

• Add Spotify Canvas videos to your tracks

• Add lyrics to your tracks

• Use Spotify’s paid promotion tools

• See Spotify’s analytics tools

• Run pre-save campaigns ahead of your releases

• Track streaming royalty payments

We’ve written a lot about promoting your music on Spotify, if you’re curious about using everything the streaming platform has to offer.

Building relationships with other artists, influencers, bloggers and producers in your niche is a powerful way to get your music in front of more fans who are interested in music from your genre. So, put yourself out there and connect with anyone in your local community who’s making music that inspires you. Tell your fans about their music, comment on their posts and interact with them as much as possible.

Becoming known to any artist or influencer with a following—whether that’s online or in your local area—could help you land interesting creative collaborations or give you opportunities to perform together live.

Becoming known to any artist or influencer with a following—whether that’s online or in your local area—could help you land interesting creative collaborations or give you opportunities to perform together live.

Think about legendary crews like the A$AP crew in New York or Yung Lean’s Drain Gang crew out of Stockholm—these groups of like-minded collaborators helped lift each other into successful music careers by working together, collaborating and pushing each other’s music to their own audiences.

Music videos have been a huge part of releasing an album ever since MTV took off in the 90s.

Today, creating music videos for your singles is an essential part of any good music promotion plan. Of course, making one or two music videos is really the bare minimum. Artists are uploading more and more types of video content that go beyond the traditional music video format.

Consider recording a live performance of your music so fans can connect with your live sound and feel excited to see you perform at your next live show.

Creating a vlog style post or a TikTok-friendly video is also a great way to expand your reach on social media. Another easy option is to include a visualizer with any song or album that you upload to video sharing platforms like YouTube and Instagram—that way fans will have a visual to go along with your tracks.

Making video content, especially music videos, is time-consuming work, but the payoff can be huge. It centralizes your message, defines your aesthetic, and it can create a lasting impression on your audience. So, whether it’s a music video, live performance or even a simple visualizer, think about adding more video content to your music promotion plan.

Your website is a great place to create something that’s uniquely you. It’s completely up to you to come up with the overall look and design of your personal site. So use that as an opportunity to showcase your music, brand and aesthetic.

It’s up to you how you’ll lay your site out, but it’s never a bad idea to feature your music and any music videos front and center with other pages to highlight your press, upcoming shows, announcements or other news.

Your website is also an excellent place to sell merchandise (records, t-shirts, etc.) and digital downloads of your music—it’s kind of like a store front for your own mini-record label.  For website visitors who don’t want to buy anything, suggest that they join a newsletter or mailing list where you can keep in touch with them about upcoming events or new merch drops.

Don’t forget to include a contact section so anyone who’s interested can reach you or your management team too.

The music media is a powerful force in music promotion. Coverage from even a small music press outlet can do a huge amount to bring your music to a wider audience. But, how you contact your industry connections is just as important as who you reach out to.

There’s a lot of do’s and don’ts when it comes to reaching out for coverage, but in general, you’ll benefit from adding an electronic press kit to your website.

Your press kit should provide writers with everything they need to produce a solid article, interview or video about you and your music. So include a media kit with links to your releases, pictures of you and any video you’ve created, whether it's a music video or a live performance.

Take some time to include a bio about your career, goals and vision as an artist, and be sure to mention any notable performances, music reviews or awards.  Think about captivating stories from your life that make you stand out, especially narratives that could get people talking. If a certain event shaped your life and inspired you to make your music or give back to your community, talk about that in your bio!

Who to contact

Music blogs are some of the most influential tastemakers out there. The biggest names like The FADER, Spin, Pitchfork and Stereogum have broken countless artists into the mainstream, but getting your music featured on them often requires help from a music publicist.  The good news is, smaller blogs can have a surprising amount of influence.

Once you’ve assembled a solid press kit, send it out to media publications that you think would be interested in writing about your music. Look for blogs that are posting tracks and artists like yourself, then find out how to contact them. You should also send your press kit to relevant radio stations, especially college radio, since they are more likely to play music that’s not yet established.

There are also festivals that accept applications from up-and-coming artists, so consider sending your press kit to any festival that makes sense for you to perform at.

Be realistic about your press sendouts—music media organizations get a lot of emails from up-and-coming artists, so be discerning about who you reach out to. Try to forge real connections with writers and media by being present on social media and in your local scene. This is much better than just sending cold emails with high expectations of getting press attention.

Don’t underestimate how much being an active member of your local music scene can help you grow your audience and help you create important connections with the music industry. For so many break-out stars, their successes came from a combination of savvy social media production and strong connections in their local music scene.

So think about putting together a live set and find some way to get your name on a show bill. Get to know the show bookers in your town and offer to collaborate with them on organizing a show.

For example, you could make a great case for putting together an event for your album or single release, since artist debuts are an easy way to drum up excitement and allure around a live performance.

During your show, remember to plug your social media handle to the audience and ask them to follow you. Keep business cards on hand and pass them on to any fans you chat with afterward.

Of course, it’ll take hard work, practice and the honing of your talents to put together a compelling live show—but it’ll be worth it many times over if you develop something as a starting point to build on as you keep booking shows.

Your musical journey is an exciting adventure, and promoting your music is a key part of that adventure.

Remember, it’s not just about getting your music out there, but about connecting with fans, building a community, and sharing your unique sound and story.

Whether it’s growing your audience on Spotify, navigating the dynamic world of social media, or striking a chord in the heart of the music community, every step will help you find new listeners and fans.

So go ahead, build up your music promotion plan and let the world hear what you’ve got.