How to Establish Your Online Presence As An Indie Musician

Look, let’s keep it real, if you are a musician and you don’t have an online presence, you pretty much don’t exist. You need to put yourself out there if you want to make a living in the music industry. How else will people discover your work?

Official website

You need to have an official website where people interested in your music can learn more about you.

Here’s what you need to have on your website:

• About page. Provide a short press bio paragraph that journalists and promoters can use and then a detailed bio so that your fans could get to know you better.
• Music page. Make your music and videos available for streaming.
• Store page. Make your music and your merch available for purchase.
• Email opt-in form. Ask your fans for their email addresses so that you could send them updates on your work (you can offer a free song or exclusive content as a “bribe”).
• Contact page. Give people an easy way to contact you.

Don’t worry, setting all of this up is pretty easy even if you don’t know much about tech, you can figure it out by yourself if you are willing to put in the time.  

Alternatively, you can hire people on UpWork to do it for you (you can take a look at this market survey to see how much services like design, development, and marketing cost).

Youtube account

According to Music Consumer Insight  Report 2018, 47% of people who stream music online do so on Youtube. What does that mean? It means that you need to get on Youtube asap!

• Create an official account. You need a separate account that is dedicated solely to your music and to you as a musician.
• Create a content schedule. You can’t expect people to stick around if you only upload once in a blue moon. Make sure that you post regularly. Offer a mix of music, behind the scenes content, and personal videos.
• Start uploading your work!

Also, take a look at Brian Dean’s 17 Ways to Get More Youtube Subscribers (2018) guide, knowing and applying these things will put you ahead of your competition.

Twitter account

Twitter is a great place to connect with people.

• Create an official Twitter account. Make sure you have a link to your website in your bio.
• Follow musicians, producers, and journalists in your niche, as well as anyone who might be interested in your music.
• Tweet 10-15 times a day (mix up updates with behind the scenes details and personal observations).
• Get involved in the conversations that are happening in your niche.
• Reach out to people in your niche via direct messages to expand your network.

You can use Buffer to schedule tweets in advance so that you wouldn’t spend too much time on Twitter.

You are building a brand

You need to change the way you think about yourself if you want to establish an online presence that helps your career.

The days when you could post useless updates, get into dumb arguments, and call people names are over.

Now you are building a brand. That means that you have to be deliberate about what you are putting out there for the world to see. Remember, Internet is forever, so keep it classy.

You will thank me for this advice if you ever hit it big.

Keep at it!

You won’t become an Internet sensation overnight.

However, if you keep growing your email list, your Youtube channel, and your Twitter following, eventually your career will begin to accelerate.

Really, all you need to win is consistency, so create an email, Youtube, and Twitter schedule, and stick to it no matter what.

Five years later you’ll be glad you did.