15 Minute Music Marketing

Releasing an album is a massive milestone for any independent musician and you want to get it right otherwise you’ll have spent a lot of time and money for nothing. 

In today’s 15MMM Sheldon and Greg look at the three biggest mistakes a DIY musician can make and how to avoid them.  Essential listening. 

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

So, you’ve got a song or a piece of content that is POPPING on the socials…what’s great but now what?  In today’s episode of 15MMM Sheldon and Greg talk you through the five things you need to do in order to best capitalise on your success.  

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

The world seems to focus on new music and streaming services want you to create and release a lot of new music.  On today’s episode, we’ll examine whether you REALLY need to be constantly releasing new music, and if you don’t,  what should musicians be focusing their marketing efforts on instead.

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We recently had a tweet go viral at 15MMM reaching over 1 million people! Part of that success was due to the fact that a ‘creed’ was employed as part of the overall social media strategy.  

In today’s 15MMM, Sheldon and Greg explain what a creed is, how you can go about creating one and how you can put it into practice for your marketing. Essential viewing for independent musicians who want to build and grow an online community of shared values.

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In the second of our short series we dip back into the topic of making and selling merch if you’re a musician who has never sold merch before.

In this episode you’ll get our advice on what to sell if you’re starting out, how much to sell it for and other great start up tips from a musician that’s been successfully selling merch for more than 15 years.

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As an indie musician if you’ve built yourself even a modest engaged audience and you’re not making any merch then you’re leaving money on the table.

In this first of two merch themed 15MMM episodes we’ll tell you why DIY musicians should have a merch strategy, what ‘level’ you should be at before you start selling merch plus some logistics you need to think about before you start thinking about making ANY merch.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

Download this episode as an audio podcast from Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts 

A lot of music fans are financially challenged at the moment and they might not be in a position to come to your current shows or buy your latest item of merch.

On today’s 15MMM we’re going to give you seven suggestions where your audience can still help your music career and they won’t need to spend any money in the process!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

Download this episode as an audio podcast from anchor.fm/30minutemusicmarketing Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

We’re back after a break and with a new mission: All you need to know about marketing your music, now in just 15 minutes!

Want more Spotify streams?  Music marketing experts will probably suggest you need to run social media ads to your Spotify page.  In this episode we’ll give you two big reasons why that’s a BAD idea and suggest what you might want to do instead for a better long term marketing strategy.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

Download this episode as an audio podcast from anchor.fm/15minutemusicmarketing Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

After being a reluctant TikTok user, we finally embraced the platform and as a result we have tens of thousands of followers and videos with millions of views.  On today’s 30MMM, Sheldon and Greg share their experiences on TikTokto give you a blueprint in all the ways that musicians can get the best out of the platform.

As DIY musicians we’re expected to do it all ourselves: writing, often the recording of our music, artwork and every single aspect of our marketing.  There are times where it can be all too much, especially if you have things going on IRL. On today’s 30MMM, Sheldon and Greg share five tips  to help you avoid music marketing burnout.   

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Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

As a DIY musician, you’re always creating content to push on your socials but have you noticed how your music content ften operforms worse than the rest of your content.  Why is that?  On today’s 30MMM Sheldon and Greg look at the reasons why that is and offer some solutions to help you try and create the music content which will perform better on your socials.  

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Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Are you a musician who has avoided TikTok?  Isn’t it just videos of people dancing?  Can it really help your music career?  In the latest episode, Sheldon and Greg look at TikTok from the perspective of the reluctant musician who really DOESN’T want to use it. We’ll tell you how it works, how to grow on the platform and how Sheldon went viral with a video with 1.5 million views. We may be able to change your mind!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

It’s the start of a new year and there’s no better time to try new strategies to get your music out there. On today’s show Greg and Sheldon discuss five marketing ideas and strategies that you might want to try too to bring your music and shows to new people in 2022.  What are YOU doing that’s new in 2022?

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Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

It goes without saying that you probably have a Facebook page for your music but have you thought about creating a Facebook group? In this episode of 30MMM Sheldon and Greg examine the ways that a Facebook group might benefit your music career, how to get people to join, what to post and how you can use it to make money too!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Pandemics aside, gigging and playing live shows is where a musician is supposed to earn a large amount of their income.  So why do some ‘mid tier’ artists with record deals and modest fanbases claim that they lose money from touring?  In this episode of 30MMM Sheldon and Greg look at the reasons why larger artists often fare worse than smaller DIY artists and give you tips to make sure you can tour and play gigs at a profit.

Running paid traffic ads on social media is a great way to tempt people to listen to your music on streaming services but you can make a lot of mistakes in the process.  In today’s episode Sheldon and Greg look at the three most common mistakes they see on Instagram when musicians advertise their music and offer some handy hints and tips when running ads of your own.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Getting countless people to share your content without you asking so you reach a bigger audience is the dream of every DIY musician. On today’s 30MMM Sheldon and Greg look at the science of sharing and what makes people share content online.  They’ll also examine if it’s possible to reverse-engineer your content to ‘bake in’ that virability.  

Sheldon and Greg also discuss The KLF’s manual which can be read here

https://freshonthenet.co.uk/the-manual-by-the-klf/

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

After something of a hiatus...we're back! You need every little help to market your music right?  What if I told you you could use the world around you to help your music reach a bigger audience.  Welcome to the world of trendjacking.  In today’s show we’ll tell you what it is and give you examples on how you can use it to get people more interested in what you do.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

There are many paid services out there that offer to boost the number of your Spotify plays.  You might think it’s an easy way to boost your profile and standing on the platform but Sheldon and Greg are here to give your four very good reasons why paying for Spotify plays is a BAD idea for your music career!  

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Bandcamp has been in the news of late, dropping all artist fees once per month due to the lockdown.  With that in mind, should you give up on streaming services such as Spotify and put all your eggs in the Bandcamp basket?  In this week’s show Sheldon and Greg are here to discuss the reasons music fans use each platform and give you suggestions on how to create a marketing and sales strategy to get the most out of both.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

We’re heavily into lockdown now and it may well be that DIY musicians are starting to think more about ways they can make money whilst in isolation.  Greg and Sheldon are here with six ways musicians can make money during this period though you can use them at any time!

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Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

We’ve been on lockdown for a fair few weeks now and from speaking to other musicians, looking at industry and social media trends we’ve come to a few conclusions that might affect your music releases, your socials and social media content and your merch.  Give the show a listen to make sure you get the most out of this lockdown period.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

We’re all still in lockdown but what have we been up to this past week from the confinement of our homes.  Sheldon has been investigating Zoom and has seen how it has been used to host a ‘virtual’ comedy gig and Greg has been investigating how a plug-in can enable remote mixing sessions as if you were sat in the control room.

The free Zoom e-book for musicians mentioned by Sheldon can be found at  musictechexplained.com

Feel free to let us know what you have been getting up to during lockdown. Stay safe everyone!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

The world is on lockdown due to the current health crisis. Greg and Sheldon get together ‘virtually’ to discuss the implications on this for your music marketing (surprisingly there are more benefits than you might realise!) and Greg looks at ways that you might still be able to collaborate with your fellow musicians without leaving your house.  Stay safe everyone!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

So you’ve released a track and maybe you didn’t have the right (or any) marketing plan in place.  As a result it’s getting there on you Spotify page with ‘

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Successful DIY musicians have a lot of tasks to undertake.  Branding, social media strategies, merchandise as well as trying to be a musician! With that in mind should independent artists ‘cut out the middleman’ and promote their own shows?  In this Deep Dive Sheldon and Greg discuss the benefits as well as the pitfalls for trying to promote your own local shows to see if the benefits outweigh the risks.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Writing a good band or artist biography is a tricky task.  Musicians often get bogged down in unnecessary detail, pointless trivia or needless hyperbole.  In this week’s 30MMM, Sheldon and Greg give you tips on how to craft a better bio looking at storytelling, interesting ways of citing your musical influences and whether or not you need to be 100% accurate with the truth!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

If you’re a DIY musician releasing an album in 2020 it can seem a little daunting.  It’s all about singles and streaming these days isn’t it? In this week’s episode of 30MMM, Sheldon and Greg look at how the landscape for albums has changed over the past few years, we look at the reasons why people will still buy your album as well as the differing marketing strategies you need to take depending which stage you are at within your DIY musician career.  The episode rounds off with seven essential album marketing rules.  You won’t want to miss this one.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

As a DIY musician, how do you track how well you are doing?  You might try and gauge your progress against the performance of other musicians, some of which might be signed to a label. In today’s 30MMM Deep Dive Sheldon and Greg tell you why this isn’t a good idea because if you scratch the surface, all might not be as it seems!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club

Have you played a gig or show recently that seemed to have more people on the stage than in the audience? It’s definitely a common occurrence for DIY musicians. In today’s 30MMM episode Sheldon and Greg look at eight possible reasons why there are so few people at the show and how to go about addressing those issues so you get more people turning up!.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Did you know that if people are hating on your music you’re might not doing anything wrong, more likely you’re probably doing something RIGHT! It’s all to do with branding.

In today’s Deep Dive, Sheldon and Greg discuss how successful branding of your music will have unexpected consequences!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

It’s a simple fact that before you can tell someone how good you music is...you need to attract their attention first. In the last 30 Minute Music Marketing of 2019, Sheldon and Greg look at the basic ways you can do just that.  Once you think about your music marketing as methods of attracting attention...it could just change the way you look at the whole process!

Want us to give our advice about a particular marketing topic? Let us know in the comments below. Don’t forget to subscribe and tell your musician friends about the show too!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Christmas is nearly upon us.  We think Christmas is a great opportunity to connect with people and let the ‘calendar’ help market your music.  With that in mind are there other events within the calendar or other scenarios that could introduce or remind people of your musical offerings.  Of course there are.  Sheldon and Greg  take a deep dive and give you some examples.

Don’t forget to subscribe and tell your musician friends about the show too!

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com

Releasing new music is great for any artist because it engages your old audience and gives you an opportunity to find new fans. It’s exciting and it’s your best opportunity to grow but many musicians musicians fall short because they haven’t given the marketing of that single enough thought.  

In today’s 30MMM episode Sheldon and Greg look at eight things you need to do before you release your next single.  Is this a marketing plan? It doesn’t cover everything but do these eight things you’re well on the way to a successful single release!  Want us to give our advice about a particular marketing topic? Let us know in the comments below. Don’t forget to subscribe and tell your musician friends about the show too!

So you’ve been booked to play a gig.  That’s great but maybe you don’t want to do any marketing for the show because that’s the responsibility of the promoter, right?  In today’s 30MMM Deep Dive Sheldon and Greg look at all the parties that are often involved in promoting a gig (venue, promoter and artist) with a view to finding out whose job it really is to market that show.

At 30MMM we always like to give you the benefit of our real life music industry experience. Sheldon’s bands ticket sales are up and some shows are selling out faster than ever. We think we know the reason why and it’s a strategy that can be replicated by everyone...including YOU!

If you’re struggling as a DIY musician getting little to no attention, no traction, and no audience growth what should you do?  Well, you need to reflect because chances are you might be sabotaging your own career in some way.  In today’s 30 Minute Music Marketing, we look at five possible ways where you could be going wrong and give you strategies as to how to get things back on track.

A production of www.elusivecountry.club
Visit Our Website www.30minutemusicmarketing.com