In 2020, the industry, artists and fans alike were forced to adjust as Instagram lives became the new concert pit. It wasn’t all bad--many artists ditched their traditional rollouts for TikTok challenges, digital meet and greets and gave their fans what they’d been craving in a pandemic world--music and connection. If the pandemic showed us anything, it’s that there is no one “right” or “ideal” way to release music. Check out five of our favorite strategies from artists who had a wildly successful year of releasing music in 2020.

Organizing an effective, creative and eye-catching social plan is just one of the many things you will need to juggle when planning an album, single or video release. It’s understandable that you may not see the value in taking the time to craft individual strategies for every different social platform when each new content release can sometimes feel as involved as launching a mini-business. The bad news first: promoting a release on social media isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it situation. If you don’t take the time to cater your strategy to the best practices, algorithm and general voice of a network - your engagement will suffer and that time you spent building your social media plan will be time wasted. Want the good news? It’s easier than you think. And we’re here to help. 

As a digital marketing agency, a lot of the work we do involves paid media - often social advertising with carefully curated targeting. A recurring request we see from our clients, often before we even get started, is asking that we distribute their digital ad budget so that it only targets the U.S. market. From a logical perspective, it makes complete sense to only target ads towards audiences in markets where you know you want to build a fan base of real people who you can re-engage for show promotion when the time comes. But, from an ad-buying perspective, there’s a little more nuance. Beneath the surface, there’s an advantage to targeting your ads to international audiences with cheaper cost-per-results and even potentially a Spotify algorithm “hack”. This may seem counterintuitive, but by targeting internationally, you can actually build your presence in your own country. Here’s how it works.

Here’s a hard truth: as an artist, there really isn’t much you can control when it comes to the momentum that drives your career. Success in the music industry is unpredictable. It’s important to control what you can and with that - to always be intentional with how you invest your limited time and resources. 

Now more than ever, effective music marketing requires a consistent content release strategy. But as an artist, this is one thing you can control that will drive forward progress in every aspect of your career. It’s worth organizing and investing in your approach.