Most musicians transfer on too quickly.
They put all their inventive concentrate on the subsequent launch. Or they solely promote their newest work, neglecting all of the songs that got here earlier than.
However taking your consideration off your older tracks is a mistake. As a result of there are three large causes why you must proceed to market ALL the music in your again catalog.
Why your previous music deserves new consideration:
- The primary and easiest purpose? Good music is good music. Whereas YOU may be centered in your current stuff, your older releases will nonetheless be model new to a lot of the world.
- Subsequent, your again catalog is a income. Your current followers already like your older music. So discover causes to maintain ’em coming again to stream tracks and purchase associated merch.
For these causes and extra, you possibly can’t neglect your again catalog.
On this article, I’ll offer you an inventory of the way to encourage current followers to replay music they already love, and to appeal to new followers who’ll dive into your complete catalog.
Easy methods to deliver recent curiosity to older music
1. Have fun album anniversaries
Anytime one among your albums turns 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25…
… it’s an apparent probability to have a good time that music another time. You don’t all the time want remastering or bonus editions to commemorate an album’s birthday.
You’ll be able to retell the story of the album. Ship an electronic mail. Make social posts.
It doesn’t must be a year-long celebration, however at the very least give the anniversary a month of content material and reminiscences. And — that is vital — bear in mind to inform your followers precisely the place to go to hear once more!
2. Drop unreleased tracks
Not the whole lot you share needs to be a refined diamond. In actual fact, not the whole lot you share even must be completed.
When you deserted a monitor throughout a specific session, share it and inform us why it by no means made it onto an album. You’ll be able to launch demos. Alternate takes. Something that helps construct an even bigger story round a earlier interval of labor.
And if it doesn’t really feel worthy of strangers’ consideration, you don’t must distribute the music to platforms like Spotify. Simply share it instantly together with your followers and electronic mail subscribers.
3. Do a collaborator shoutout!
Typically self-promotion appears like tooting your individual horn. When you wrestle with that, neglect about your self for a minute and brag about your collaborators.
Did a participant, bandmate, featured visitor, producer, or co-writer contribute one thing superb? One thing you possibly can’ve by no means performed by yourself? Sing their praises. It’s a good way to point out gratitude whereas additionally bringing consideration to your individual music.
When you have a daily collaborator, you’ll have much more choices as a result of you possibly can spotlight a number of moments you recognize from them all through your catalog.
4. Playlists, playlists, playlists
Playlists offer you nearly countless methods to contextualize your music.
You’ll be able to group your tracks by:
- collaborator
- temper or style
- subject or theme
- interval of your profession
- a specific city you lived in whereas creating the music
- influences
- instrumentation
- different musical parts like key, tempo, and so on.
- success metrics (“Biggest Hits” or “Greatest Misses”)
5. An artist’s-choice content material collection
Create just a few completely different, quick, themed, content material collection that you may run on social and electronic mail, akin to:
- The songs I’m proudest of
- My 3 greatest lyrical strains
- 5 stuff you didn’t learn about me
- My prime 10 movies
- 3 individuals who formed my music
- My favourite guitar solo
I believe you get the purpose. You provide you with an idea that requires a number of emails or posts, and use the theme to generate deeper and sustained curiosity in your older music.
When you set these up as automated electronic mail sequences, you possibly can even schedule them to be delivered all year long to anybody who has lately subscribed to your listing. And naturally, ship these to EVERYONE in your listing when the collection is first created.
6. “Free (plus delivery & handing!)”
Have you ever ever heard or a Free + Delivery & Dealing with music supply?
It’s an attention-grabbing advertising campaign-type the place you supply to ship somebody one thing totally free, so long as they pay for delivery.
As soon as they’ve entered their cost information, you then current a second (and even third) supply for extra merch gadgets — often with a limited-time low cost.
Not everybody will elect to buy extra gadgets, in fact, but when sufficient individuals do, you possibly can revenue AND construct your electronic mail listing concurrently, all whereas making a gift of your music.
7. Dwell listening events!
Host an occasion the place you inform individuals attention-grabbing info concerning the songs earlier than or whereas the music performs.
This may be performed digitally on Discord, X, or Twitch. Or it could actually happen IRL at somebody’s residence, venue, or artwork house.
8. One-off efficiency movies
Nobody mentioned you want a particular purpose to carry out your individual tunes!
Shoot a stay efficiency video for Reels and TikTok. Who cares if the music is 2 or twenty years previous? Then discover the perfect 15-second clip. Publish it.
If one among these stay movies will get traction, you possibly can comply with up with extra supporting content material.
9. Carry out a selected album
We’ve all seen artists stage a themed tour round a specific album.
Roger Waters has performed this for Darkish Aspect of the Moon. U2 did it for The Joshua Tree. You’ll be able to do it too…
… for ANY of your earlier albums.
In actual fact, I as soon as did a 7-day residency at a venue the place I performed a unique album of mine every night time, so you possibly can work your complete catalog into sure occasions.
And you’ve got choices past venue reveals and festivals. You are able to do one thing related everytime you need by way of livestreaming!
10. Promote!
Among the finest issues about digital advertising is that it provides you comparatively low cost entry to large international audiences. It’s also possible to check a lot of completely different content material to search out what works greatest.
And since your oldest music might be model new to most individuals on-line, you possibly can use your highest performing social content material to achieve strangers at a decrease value.
So long as that advert content material stays a cheap solution to drive engagement, promote merch, and construct your viewers, depart the advertisements working.
Once more, who cares if it’s an older music that performs greatest in your advertisements? It’s working!
Conclusion
I don’t count on artists to prioritize older music ABOVE their newest launch.
Nor ought to they.
That wouldn’t appear practical. Each by way of efficient promotion and your individual pleasure as a creator.
However I hope you at the very least see the significance of selling your again catalog. No less than sufficient to schedule in just a few of those promo campaigns all year long.
The sort of effort goes to be more and more vital if you’d like your music to stay algorithmically related and discoverable on streaming platforms.
And given {that a} deeper catalog is an unbelievable assortment of music, moods, and connection factors, you possibly can leverage ALL of your work all through the years to develop your engagement, increase your income, and construct your viewers.
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