5 Ways Social Media Can Boost Streams for Artists & Creators

Highlight

Social media can significantly increase streams for artists, music producers and creators. However, a music producer and an artist must use the best social media marketing strategies if they want to get more streams.

Context

In 2023, approximately 4.9 billion people will be using social media, implying a massive potential audience and exposure for creators and artists. As a result, many artists use social media as their first point of contact to share who they are, the ideas they advocate for, and their work. Artists can meet and communicate with other artists, buyers, writers, curators, and their fans and audience through social media.

Tips / Thought-starters

• Connect with your fan base Through social media platforms, fans can comment, like, and share content, and they may even be able to communicate with their favorite artists. Many platforms provide an outlet for artists to express their thoughts and feelings and post daily events. These are the types of videos that fans enjoy watching. They can gain a more personal insight into the lives of their favorite artists and better identify with them. When fans believe an artist is serving them with content and access, they are more likely to become active members of the music industry.

• Distribute your music Whether you're releasing music on Spotify, Deezer, or even Apple Music, having your songs included on popular playlists can make or break your music business. Putting your music into Spotify playlists can be difficult, but social media gives you a much easier avenue to increase streams on Spotify. Marketing for creators has thus, never been more effortless!

• Connect with an independent artist/influencer/producer Collaboration with the right people and making industry connections are critical if you want to engage more fans or promote your music to your audience. Collabs have never been easier to create; you can do them as duets on TikTok or create your own and post it on Reels.

• Build your brand and tell your story If you're constantly touring or playing shows and don't know how to effectively promote your music on Facebook, shouting out attendees or posting pictures of your performances is a good place to start. Similarly, authenticity is a critical component of digital marketing for musicians. As such, posting content that takes your followers behind the scenes, such as on Instagram, is a low-hanging fruit.

• Sell merch If you are a Black entrepreneur, an Asian creator, a White craft maker, a gospel rapper or any other background - meaning whatever your background is you can generate additional income through your creator business or your music business on your social media channels. Sell t-shirts with your accessories, album cover, or branded stickers that fit your artist's vibe. It raises awareness of your art or music if you are a musician and increases your income streams.

Key Questions/Next Steps

• ROI Which social media platform offers you the best ROI? Platforms like YouTube and TikTok are appealing because of the engaging nature of video content and YouTube offers a proven way to monetize your videos on the platform.

• Traction Which platform will best allow your brand to grow fast? You can choose Twitter because it offers analytics to let you see what is and isn’t working, then use the things your learn through testing on Twitter to focus the types of content you will focus on in other platforms. Ask your fans where they spend most of their time in social media. Test on Twitter to get the insights for which topics, themes, etc perform best for your brand and then start posting consistently where your fans are hanging out online. Test, learn, optimize, and post away.