4 music promotion platforms worth using for every release

Promoting music is one of the most important and difficult stages of a song’s life. So, make it a little easier with these four online resources.

by Caleb J Murphy of Bandzoogle

Music promotion is the most slippery aspect of building a music career. It’s difficult for many indie artists to really master. Plus, it’s a long process that often needs careful thought and planning to get it right. 

So to help you out, I want to share four of the best music promotion sites for bands and artists. I use every one of these and I give them all two thumbs up.

1. Your Website

Your website needs to include anything and everything your fans would want to see or hear. This includes your music, whether you use an embedded player or link to streaming services. Also tour dates and merch. You need an about page where people can get to know you. Good news: you can easily set all this up with Bandzoogle. 

Why it’s good for music promotion

Your official music website is the headquarters for your music career. 

When you announce new concert dates, people will go to your site to confirm when and where you’re playing. When you promote your new merch, you display it on your site. When you drop a new song, yes, most people will look it up on their preferred platform – but the story of what inspired that song can be on your website for fans to experience.

On top of all this, you want to be the top search result on Google. You don’t want the first thing new people see to be interviews you’ve done or the YouTube channel you barely use. People have to easily find your website. 

Create a professional website in minutes with all the music promotional features you need including a blog, mailing list, and smart links. Try Bandzoogle today!

2. TikTok

TikTok is much more than a dancing app. Think of it like a short form version of YouTube. Whatever topic you’re interested in, you can find a community that’s also interested in it. And this is great news for us artists. This app is currently the best music promotion tool available to indie musicians. 

Why it’s good for music promotion

TikTok’s bread and butter is its algorithm. As a user, your feed includes posts primarily from people you’ve never heard of. The algorithm curates videos it thinks you will like based on your previous activity. And it’s creepily accurate. 

For example, if you engage with a video (watch, like, comment) about gardening, the algorithm goes, “Oh you like gardening? I’ll cue up some more gardening-related videos!”

So why is this great for indie musicians? Let’s say you shoot a little video of yourself playing the chorus of your song. The algorithm will show that video to people who enjoy watching artists play their songs. This is the ideal scenario for artists looking to grow their audience. 

When I post on TikTok, people who didn’t know I existed find my music, and they will like, comment, and follow me. And because of this, several people have streamed my music and followed me on streaming platforms. 

3. Soundplate

Soundplate is a record label that offers “music technology.” Most artists use it to submit their music to playlists. Playlisters sign up with Soundplate, making their playlists searchable on the site. From there, artists submit their songs to genre- and vibe-specific playlists, all for free.

Why it’s good for music promotion

Currently, 75% of my streams on Spotify are from user playlists. Not editorial playlists – playlists I’ve submitted music to and fans’ personal playlists. And because of the traction I’ve gotten from those playlists, a growing number of my streams come from Spotify algorithmic playlists, like Release Radar and Spotify Radio.

Many people, including me, discover new artists from playlists. So, assuming your music is great, playlists are an effective way to help new fans find you. And Soundplate is the easiest way to find and submit to several playlists at once. 

4. SubmitHub

SubmitHub is a platform that connects artists with Spotify playlisters, bloggers, YouTuber channels, social media influencers, and indie record labels. And you can choose which type of curator you want to submit your music to. 

I do want to point out – you’ll need to pay a few bucks for Premium Credits to get any attention. Premium Credits move you to the front of the submission line and ensure the curators listen to your full song (however, Premium Credits do not guarantee getting featured). You do get free submission credits, but I (and many other artists) haven’t had much luck with those. 

Why it’s good for music promotion

Many curators only accept submissions through SubmitHub, so this is the only way to get on those playlists. These are curators who are actively looking for new music. 

Through SubmitHub, I’ve gotten on several Spotify playlists where a bunch of people have streamed my music, so I know it works. So if playlisting is a priority for you, it’s worth a try. And even more so if you also want to submit to other types of curators or record labels. 

Music promotion can be a tricky thing for many artists to nail. It might not come naturally to you, but is an important way to reach more fans. These are four of the best music promotion sites for bands and artists to get started with. From here, you can expand your reach and promote your music, and yourself, more successfully.

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Caleb J. Murphy is a songwriter-producer whose music has been on NBC, ABC, and in hundreds of indie film projects. He also sends a weekly email to indie musicians called 5 Things To Help You Keep Going.