One of the hardest hurdles to cross in the music industry for upcoming artistes is effective music promotion. Even established singers sometimes struggle with promotion issues and their new release instead of garnering the desired attention sinks in the mud. Compare this to an upcoming singer with limited funds, connection and experience – the situation can be twice worse.
You must also know that it is a lot easier to promote a talented singer than a non-talented one. If you have no musical talent, you should step back and find your strength and then pursue it. There are other aspects of music apart from singing that you can make a career out of – if you feel the music industry is really your call.
That said, a major mistake rising singers make often is doing promotion the wrong way. Some easily think that all their new song needs to blow is one push from a famous person with millions of social media followers. Using influencers to promote your music may not be the best strategy because of a number of reasons. First is that influencer promotion is short-lived – unless you have enough funds to pay so many influencers at a go to get your new song trending or to ensure the influencer posts your song every day for the next month, or months. If the influencer is doing the promotion for you for free or at a reduced amount (say for the sake of a personal relationship), then it’s fine – otherwise, you can use the humongous amount they charge in some other ways that will give a better reach.
So what is the right way to promote your music in Nigeria then? The simple and honest answer to this question is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for music promotion in Nigeria. But there have been strategies which have been used by different artistes and over the years proven to be effective.
Tips on how to promote your music in Nigeria:
1. Realize that music promotion is a continuous process
As hinted earlier, as an upcoming artiste, you can’t just release a song and it will instantly go massive in numbers. You have to work harder to get your music out there. Don’t be discouraged by views of less than 5K in a month – celebrate every increase and keep pushing. This first tip should help you prepare your mind for what is to come.
2. Go hard on social media
Social media creates an easy and relatively inexpensive way to get noticed for your art. You don’t have to create social media pages of your music brand yet. Your personal accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are enough. Push content that celebrates your art and talent but in an interesting way. Do covers of popular songs and tag the singers. You can also share personal experiences of your journey in music. Follow and get followed by other artistes.
3. Make friends with people that matter
Making music is like a chain of actions – singing is only one part of so many. As an upcoming singer, a good networking skill will come in handy. Make friends with bloggers, presenters, OAPs, event organizers, DJs, producers, and even just socialites. All these people have a platform that is of interest to you in one way or another.
4. Promote your music through blogs in Nigeria
Use of blogs is a super-effective way to promote your song in Nigeria, only that a lot of people do it wrong. It is not enough to just put a banner of your song on the sidebar of the blog with a direct link to your listening page. Remember you are not just promoting your song, you are also promoting yourself. What we do on this blog is write a short article on the artiste where he talks about anything from his journey, experiences and what the song represents all in an interesting way before adding links for listening and downloading.
Reading first about you will help people to connect better with your song. The article will also have links to your social media accounts – so it’s like using two stones to kill a bird. The promotional banner on the blog will link to this article where users read first about you and the story behind your song before going over to listen and download the song. The article will also put you on online search so that people can easily see you when they Google your name.
Another good tip for promoting your song through blogs in Nigeria is to not just concentrate on music blogs alone. Music blogs mostly favour established singers who people already know and are looking to listen and download their songs. As an upcoming singer, you should focus more on Nigerian blogs with rich entertainment content and high on engagement.
5. Keep socializing
You can’t be a musician if you hate to socialize. Attend shows and events and lobby to get a chance to perform. Nightclubs are also a perfect place to get a chance to perform your songs. Even times you have to perform for free, you can do it as long as the audience is right for you. You should hustle for gigs but in a respectable way. Yes, you can be upcoming and still be respected. Dress cooly and not too gaudy especially when all you are wearing is fake. Unless that represents your brand, then you can go ahead. Check how the guy in the front picture is dressed.
6. Push for collaborations
Another great way to get noticed as an upcoming singer is to collaborate with an already established musician. This may not be easy though especially if you are low on funds because famous singers usually charge huge sums to be featured on songs by emerging artists.
