Traditionally, performing live onstage was considered the best way to engage with fans and expose your music to the world. But today, due to Covid-19, pulling off a live performance is often not an option.
However, there are still many opportunities for musicians to gain exposure and grow their fanbase—on Spotify, through social media, and other community-building platforms.
In fact, having a strong online presence can be even more valuable for emerging artists than live performances. In this article we will explain why.
How a strong online presence can help you get more fans, faster
With live shows mostly off the table, online engagement is the best way to reach more listeners, connect with fans, and share your music with the world.
By focusing on developing a strong profile on Spotify and other music streaming platforms, you can establish and nurture long-term connections with your listeners and build a community.
Some known artists emerged from streaming platforms, relying on their online presence only. They even topped charts and took many awards.
Take Lorde for example. Her song “Royals” was released independently, but got onto the popular playlist “Hipster International,” a move that started a snowball effect. Through viral Spotify playlist and thousands of listeners who shared the song, Lorde came from anonymity to topping charts, and even to #1 on Billboard Top 100. Even though being an unknown singer some days ago, she found herself launching a worldwide music career.
Or Paul Johnson, aka Canyon City, who maintained a small music career while working part-time at various jobs. One day in 2016, His song was added to a Spotify playlist, he got enormous exposure and now he is a full-time musician, making $200K every year.
Other artists like Glass Animals, James TW, Kiiara and more were also discovered via Spotify, other streaming platforms and online presence, and today each of them maintains a big music career.
4 advantages of focusing on your online presence over live performances
1. Online platforms have an infinite capacity
Live performances, even dozens of them, will only expose you to a limited number of people. This is especially true for emerging artists, who are still working on getting their name out there. However, online content like adding your tracks to Spotify and creating other forms of engagement can get you connected to millions of people, potentially overnight. By putting your efforts into online actions, like playlisting, you can reach a huge amount of listeners simultaneously.
2. Live shows don’t introduce your music to new ears
If you were to perform live, the audience in your show would already know you. They would have heard your music and liked it, that’s why they came to your show. To reach new people and grow your fanbase, you must use online methods that will spread your music to people who have never heard of you before. Playlisting, community engagement, and other online actions will get you more followers on Spotify and expose your music to new listeners.
3. Your music is easier to reach through streaming
The reason online exposure is so impactful is because of its accessibility. If someone finds you online, your music is a few clicks away and he can listen to it right away. Also, unlike live performances, it costs next to nothing to hear your music on Spotify and takes much less effort. Of course, Spotify won’t give you the experience of a live show. But it does give you huge, easy-to-get exposure and the potential to reach millions of listeners.
4. Online streaming gets you to new places faster
Booking a tour to new places is complicated, and requires money and preparations. It takes a long time and effort to get to new stages in new cities, states, or countries and perform live there. With online streaming platforms, however, your music can reach every corner of the world in no time.
At the exact moment you upload a new song or share a post, an unlimited number of fans in any location can listen to your music or interact with the content. And getting more followers on platforms like Spotify increases your music’s exposure and influence.
How to get more followers on Spotify
Playlisting is one of the best ways to get new followers on Spotify and grow your fanbase online. Getting your music on playlists exposes you to new listeners, which means more streams and even more exposure through the recommendation algorithm. But playlisting is very difficult to do manually–this is where PlaylistMap comes in.
PlaylistMap makes getting onto popular Spotify playlists simple. You start by searching for the genre, subgenre, or mood that fits your song. Or, you can search for a well-known artist with a similar sound to find playlists they’re featured on. Then you can filter down the search results to identify a list of the most relevant ones. After you select a playlist, you can unlock the curator’s contact info with no need for long searches across the web. PlaylistMap even provides professionally crafted email templates, so you can pitch your song to playlists curators with ease and achieve better results!
Start your journey now
A global pandemic might put live performances on hold for a while, but you can still release your music and build up your fanbase online.
With the tools and strategy to reach new fans online, you can start increasing your streams and fan engagement right away. By using advanced methods and professional platforms like Playlistmap, you can achieve greater success from your efforts.
