10 Effective ways to promote yourself as an RnB singer
In this day and age the music industry just simply isn’t the way it use to be. There are some foundational methods that are still in place. Some that many will say will never change. However, a lot of major components of the music business has changed drastically. This can leave a lot of new age artists confused. Especially modern day artists who have been groomed the old-fashioned way. With the way RnB music has particularly shifted, many RnB singers can tend to feel lost. Many are questioning how do I succeed as an RnB artist in the new music business? Many find themselves stuck. As frustrating as this can be there are ways around it. There are also ways you can adapt and learn how to navigate through the new music industry. Here are 10 effective ways to promote your music an an RnB singer and become successful.
1) Social media
Of course we’re all familiar with social media by now. Even those who don’t engage in it as much. You’re still familiar with various sites and how it work. With that being said every aspiring artist knows social media is a must have tool. It’s humanly impossible to promote yourself as an RnB singer or any type of artist without social media pages. Although many know this. You’d be surprised at how many don’t know the proper way to promote on social media. The first thing is to have a professional bio area. Your bio should consist of:
- Your artist name/stage name or whatever name you go by
- What you do/ What type of artists are you (rapper, singer, songwriter, etc)
- Affiliated brands, labels, companies (if any exists; optional)
- Promotional link (website, link to your latest video, etc)
- Hashtag affiliated with you as an artist (optional)
All of this information should be on separate lines. You want your bio are to be clean and legible. If you have to put several things on one line then make sure you separate them with either a straight line (|), a slash (/) or a period (.). This will make your page and presence appear more professional, attractive and mature.
2) Post with strategy
As one of the new RnB artists striving to become success is very important to post with strategy. This means you have to post with a clear, calculated goal and vision. Your posts can’t just be random. Sometimes you may want to post a fun, everyday laid back post. That’s very understandable. However, as you’re building your name as a new RnB singer or music artist most of your posts should be calculated. This includes posting pictures from public events, projects, behind the scene visuals and more. Also be sure to post your big projects on the popular days of the week. According to statistics the best time new RnB singers or music artists should premiere a project via social media are:
- Monday
- Friday
- Saturday
3) Post promos
We all love a beautiful picture or a perfect selfie on social media. However, as an aspiring artist it’s imperative that you post music clips and promos on your page. You have to show people who you are. They have to be able to see you’re a RnB artist, rapper, songwriter, etc. as soon as they land on your page. Posting a promo of your music video, a singing clip or even a clip of you in the recording studio will do just that. Don’t overdo the video clips because then your page starts to look unprofessional and more like a spam page. Post your promo clips and videos in moderation.
4) Post finishes products at their finest
As much as we all would love to post our products as soon as possible for all the world to see. Sometimes the later the better. No matter how long it takes don’t post your finished product until it’s at its best. Even if the project or clip is good enough to post or just good enough to “get by.” That’s not good enough. You want you project to be great. To be perfect. Especially if you’re a vocalist or professional singer. You definitely want your project to be more than good. Don’t worry about how long it takes. It’s better to wait and have a perfect completion than to post something that’s only ok or average. This will make a huge difference in the audience you attract and the positive feedback you receive.
5) Create a hashtag affiliated with yourself
With the new social media age being the primary media for all artists hash-tagging is important. One of the effective ways to promote yourself as a RnB singer is to create an original hashtag affiliated with you or your brand. If your stage name is unique then start using your stage name as a hashtag under your promo posts. If you have an independent record label you’re on use that label name as your hashtag affiliated with yourself. There are plenty of indie RnB and new soul artists that use this method. Once you gain an audience and start making a name for yourself you’ll see why having a hashtag for your brand is important.
6) Create a music page
Just like it’s imperative that you have a social media accounts as an artist. It’s also imperative that you have a SoundCloud and/or some music page to promote yourself on. As with your social media make sure your music pages are professional and have all your contact info listed professionally. Make sure you add your music page links to your social media accounts so people can access them. Of course make sure you only post your absolute best work on all of these music pages no matter how long it may take to develop them. Once you have a solid catalog that’s professionally put together then you’ll want to create a Spotify account and officially post your music on there for streaming. Other music pages/ streaming platforms you can create an account for are:
7) Create a website
Another very important feature you need to promote your music as an artist is a website. Yes you can have music pages and social media accounts as a way for people to access you. But ultimately you’re going to need a website. This is a must-have especially for artists who want to be taken serious. In this day and time everything is about instant gratification and technology. Your audience have to be able to access you multiple ways as fast as possible. A website is the perfect tool for that. Every professional business and brand has a website. This includes you too. You can always link up with an affordable freelance web designer and have them create a site for you at a reasonable price. Or you can watch a few tutorials and learn how to create a site for yourself on a template. Which ever option you go with don’t have your site created until you have enough content to make it look professional. This means until you have enough mixed and mastered songs to put on there. Enough professional photos and similar content to post.
8) Become a grandmaster
Whether you’re an aspiring rapper, singer-songwriter, musician or indie RnB artist you want to master what it is you do. Once again it’s not enough to be good. You have to be great. Being great doesn’t only mean with your physical skills. You have to be so great that you can explain it to others. You have to know the science to it. There are singers who are great vocally. But then there are singers who understand the science of singing. Legendary vocal coach and Philadelphia native singer, Sherry Wilson Butler understand the science of singing. Rapper Jay-Z understand the science of rapping. You want to become so skilled in your talent that you become a grandmaster of it. The way to accomplish this is to study your craft and the greats who came before you. Once you’ve become a grandmaster in your craft showcase how intelligent you are with you. You can do that by posting tips here and there that can help fellow artists. You can also post some of the informative information that enabled you to become a grandmaster.
9) Collaborations
A great way to promote your music successfully as an RnB singer is to collaborate with other artists. No matter what era of music you come from everyone loves a good collaboration. Even as an indie artist you can link up with a female or male RnB singer to create the next big hit. For RnB singers most collaborations do best when they’re a love song or ballad. For indie rappers the best type of collaborations are put together as a hip hop anthem. Once this collaboration is complete and ready to be released make sure the fellow artist and yourself both agreed to posting and promoting the new project. This will really help increase your traffic and momentum as a music artist.
10) Being pleasant
This may not seem like an important tip for music success. But the reality is no one likes negativity. Everyone wants to gravitate towards a positive, pleasant artist. You may think people can’t notice it through your social media presence. However, it will eventually show. Being positive doesn’t mean being “happy go lucky” all the time. But you do want your overall presence to be positive and fun. People want to feel inspired. They can’t do that being a fan of a negative person. One of the best ways to be a positive vibe on social media as an artist is to encourage others and stay out of social media drama. We all have our days and problems. But as the old saying goes “leave your problems at the door.”
Bonus tip – pay homage to the greats
As an aspiring music artist who wants to take it to the next level it’s important that you pay homage to those that came before you. Ever artist has a musical idol he or she admires. Even the greats have someone they looked up to. Just about every artist on the planet looks up to Michael Jackson musically. Well he too had someone he looked up which was James Brown. You don’t have to post and discuss your idol everyday. However, posting him or her from time to time makes you more attractive as an artist and humane. It also makes you as appealing as the mainstream artist many admire and follow because they occasionally post their musical idols. Everyone loves to see someone great paying tribute to the ones that inspired them.
Using these promotional tips to advance your career as a RnB singer or music artist may not seem to work overnight. That’s because they’re not designed to. These tips will give you long-term success because they show you how to build a foundation. The best way to see results are to apply these tips everyday and most importantly stay true to yourself as an artist.