Most musicians transfer on too quickly.
They put all their inventive give attention to 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 massive 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 motive? Good music is good music. Whereas YOU is likely to be targeted in your latest stuff, your older releases will nonetheless be model new to many 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 total catalog.
The best way to carry contemporary curiosity to older music
1. Have fun album anniversaries
Anytime one in every of your albums turns 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25…
… it’s an apparent likelihood to have fun that music another time. You don’t all the time want remastering or bonus editions to commemorate an album’s birthday.
You may retell the story of the album. Ship an electronic mail. Make social posts.
It doesn’t should be a year-long celebration, however at the very least give the anniversary a month of content material and reminiscences. And — that is essential — keep in mind to inform your followers precisely the place to go to hear once more!
2. Drop unreleased tracks
Not all the pieces you share needs to be a refined diamond. In truth, not all the pieces you share even must be completed.
In the event you deserted a monitor throughout a specific session, share it and inform us why it by no means made it onto an album. You may launch demos. Alternate takes. Something that helps construct a much bigger story round a earlier interval of labor.
And if it doesn’t really feel worthy of strangers’ consideration, you don’t should distribute the music to platforms like Spotify. Simply share it instantly along with your followers and electronic mail subscribers.
3. Do a collaborator shoutout!
Generally self-promotion looks like tooting your personal horn. In the event you battle 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 finished by yourself? Sing their praises. It’s a good way to indicate gratitude whereas additionally bringing consideration to your personal 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 admire from them all through your catalog.
4. Playlists, playlists, playlists
Playlists offer you nearly infinite methods to contextualize your music.
You may group your tracks by:
- collaborator
- temper or style
- matter 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 forth.
- success metrics (“Biggest Hits” or “Largest Misses”)
5. An artist’s-choice content material sequence
Create a couple of completely different, brief, themed, content material sequence you can run on social and electronic mail, comparable to:
- The songs I’m proudest of
- My 3 greatest lyrical strains
- 5 belongings you didn’t find out about me
- My prime 10 movies
- 3 individuals who formed my music
- My favourite guitar solo
I feel 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.
In the event 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 just lately subscribed to your record. And naturally, ship these to EVERYONE in your record when the sequence is first created.
6. “Free (plus transport & handing!)”
Have you ever ever heard or a Free + Transport & Dealing with music provide?
It’s an attention-grabbing advertising and marketing campaign-type the place you provide to ship somebody one thing at no cost, so long as they pay for transport.
As soon as they’ve entered their fee data, you then current a second (and even third) provide for extra merch gadgets — often with a limited-time low cost.
Not everybody will elect to buy further gadgets, after all, but when sufficient folks do, you possibly can revenue AND construct your electronic mail record concurrently, all whereas freely giving your music.
7. Dwell listening events!
Host an occasion the place you inform folks attention-grabbing information in regards to the songs earlier than or whereas the music performs.
This may be finished digitally on Discord, X, or Twitch. Or it could possibly happen IRL at somebody’s dwelling, venue, or artwork area.
8. One-off efficiency movies
Nobody mentioned you want a particular motive to carry out your personal tunes!
Shoot a dwell efficiency video for Reels and TikTok. Who cares if the tune is 2 or twenty years previous? Then discover the perfect 15-second clip. Publish it.
If one in every of these dwell movies will get traction, you possibly can observe 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 finished this for Darkish Facet of the Moon. U2 did it for The Joshua Tree. You may do it too…
… for ANY of your earlier albums.
In truth, I as soon as did a 7-day residency at a venue the place I performed a unique album of mine every evening, so you possibly can work your total catalog into sure occasions.
And you’ve got choices past venue reveals and festivals. You are able to do one thing comparable everytime you need by way of livestreaming!
10. Promote!
The most effective issues about digital advertising and marketing is that it provides you comparatively low-cost entry to large international audiences. You may also check a number 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 succeed in strangers at a decrease value.
So long as that advert content material stays a cheap approach to drive engagement, promote merch, and construct your viewers, depart the adverts operating.
Once more, who cares if it’s an older tune that performs greatest in your adverts? It’s working!
Conclusion
I don’t anticipate artists to prioritize older music ABOVE their newest launch.
Nor ought to they.
That wouldn’t appear real looking. Each by way of efficient promotion and your personal pleasure as a creator.
However I hope you at the very least see the significance of selling your again catalog. A minimum of sufficient to schedule in a couple of of those promo campaigns all year long.
Such a effort goes to be more and more essential if you would 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, enhance your income, and construct your viewers.
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