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SWOT analysis

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These below websites I have found are designed to help me effectively distribute my music  through finding an effective distributor, then finding an effective promotion service once the single has been uploaded to streaming services.

I am going to distribute the track in conjunction with Distrokid as they are a reliable service that I have used to release music under the alias of Far Planets previously.
They are a reliable distributor who get your content up on streaming services on time unlike other services I have used in the past. Distrokid will also be linked below:

https://distrokid.com/

https://financesonline.com/best-music-distribution-services-companies/

https://twostorymelody.com/10-best-indie-music-promotion-services/

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The way people consume music has changed, and streaming services are now an essential part of any artists marketing approach.

Aside from the obvious fact that you need to be on these platforms when your audience tries to look for you, they also help to increase your exposure to new people through a couple of different ways.

Similar music / recommendations - a lot of streaming platform users rely on the service to provide them with recommendations based on the type of music they listen to. These services use algorithms to help understand what music may be of interest to listeners. When your music is listened to and liked by existing fans, the platforms will suggest your music to listeners with similar taste.

Playlists - Users of these services curate playlists which they share with friends and other users. If your track isn't available you're going to miss out on a potentially large amount of exposure.

So how do you get your music on these services?

The most common way to do this is to use a service which gets you placed on each of these sites. Three of the major players are CD Baby, Tunecore and DistroKid, but we have also seen RouteNote mentioned as a free alternative.

There's countless number of sites and listings across the web offering music promotion services. No doubt you've come across these and been tempted by some of the promises they make.

While we're not completely against the principle of paying for plays we do recommend you be considered in your approach. 1,000 plays for $5 seems like a great deal, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Our concerns revolve around two areas - audience and quality.

Audience - Who exactly will the audience be for these 1,000 plays. Are they going to be engaged listeners who are likely to turn into fans? Probably not many, if any.

We would take a look at past submissions and gauge the level of feedback and the sort of people interacting.

Quality - As soon as you get into the realm of guaranteeing plays it raises a red flag on quality. If anyone who has a fiver can get a track listed, the level of quality is going to be questionable. Ask anyone who runs a successful channel and they will tell you that high quality control is essential when it comes to growing and maintaining an engaged following.

Far too often these services sound great on the surface, but offer no real benefit to growing your audience. More often than not these plays are going to be from at best an unengaged audience, and at worst, fake profiles generating fake plays.

But what about the vanity side of things? Does it look good to have some initial plays on your track?
Ultimately if you want to break the terms of service - that's your call
We can completely understand the desire to have some activity on these accounts and it may suit you to try out a couple of these services to get some view to start with

As it's a grey area, we're not going to list any services in particular. But if you want to do a bit of searching around you'll easily come across these offers.

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is where you pay to promote your music on the different social media channels - the main platforms here being Youtube, Soundcloud and Facebook.

Spotify also have an advertising platform, but this is focused on larger brands at the moment. They are currently working on making it affordable for all levels.

To get started advertising on these channels you're going to need to have some budget to invest, and this often puts this approach a little bit out of reach for artists just starting out.

Because of the way advertising campaigns work on these platforms it can often take some time to gather data and refine your approach.

This is why we don't recommend artists go down this route with a one off investment or a small amount to put in at first.

It can take time to understand the systems, and advertising in this way often gets more effective the more data you gather.

For example you can start to see which adverts gather more subscribers, what type of demographic results in the most new fans etc, and tailor your adverts as time goes on.

We would recommend you get other services running effectively before venturing into the realm of paid advertising, but for those of you who do want to give it a go, here are some links to the advertising section for each platform.

PR / Promotion Agencies

The right promotion agency can bring dramatic results in terms of exposure and audience growth.

These guys have spent time building relationships and connection within the industry that helps them get your music in front of the right people.

However all this expertise comes at a cost - a cost which is often out of reach for most artists.

If you're in a position to work with an agency you want to make sure you pick the right team to work with.

You want to find an agency that has a track record of working with your genre and also understands the changing landscape of the music industry.

The way music is shared and promoted today is constantly changing and evolving. A promotion agency that still uses the same approaches they used 5 years ago isn't going to cut it.

They need to be constantly adapting - building new contacts, and promoting via emerging channels.

A few good things to check if you decide to go down this route:

Examples of promotional activity within your genre

Contacts they have across different medium - e.g. dj's, youtube channels, radio stations

What sort of results do they feel they can achieve for you

How are they going to report on performance - you need to understand your ROI

There's a wealth of companies online offering promotional services.

A few major players are listed below:

Radio

There's a lot of debate over the role that radio plays in this increasingly fragmented marketplace. While some reports discuss the decline of radio amongst the youth, others show its resilience as technology progresses.

Whichever side you're on, radio is definitely an area where the traditional promotional approaches still apply.

Getting played on the radio isn't easy and still very much works on relationships. It can be a tough and unrewarding route for an independent artist to go down.

There are lots of radio plugging services out there which offer radio plugging services, but it's an area where results are often not guaranteed.

Our advice to new artists is to not place too much focus on radio plays. If you focus on building your audience in other areas you'll increase the chances that your music finds its way to the gatekeepers of radio.

Website
https://websitesetup.org/ http://www.wpbeginner.com/guides/

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The Best Music Promotion Services and Platforms - Audiohype

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The way people consume music has changed, and streaming services are now an essential part of any artists marketing approach. Aside from the obvious fact that you need to be on these platforms when your audience tries to look for you, they also help to increase your exposure to new people through a couple of different ways.

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The vision for the track open fields / celestial dance machine  was to introduce ambience into my sound palate, partially focusing on space that a sound exists in, taking inspiration from artists like Brian Eno's music for Airports.  I love Airports because of the calming nature of its ambience.  I understand that bass frequencies reward pleasure centres in the brain so I used these sparingly during the track's introduction. I have a Thunderbird Bass from Epiphone and this bass has a rich low end which I am grateful for. When the bass-line hook kicks starts in conjunction with the drum pattern (including kick drum) it is rewarding in my opinion. This section also marks a shift away from ambience and towards groove, taking inspiration from loops, as well as addition as subtraction of these loops in the arrangement which can be seen on Daft Punk's Homework and Discovery.

I have already discussed the overall structure of the track and how it came about, but yet to be discussed was the inception of of the melodic ideas of the track. These ideas came from chord progressions on acoustic guitar. Starting in the first section the acoustic guitar alternates between two chords with back-masked guitar entering attempting to produce an alien landscape. As I previously noted however, the chord progressions are what I wrote the song around.

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I went through multiple iterations of the song Open Fields / celestial dance machine which shall be linked below. The song is actually two musical ideas that I had linked together. I figured out a bridge to link the sections together after the fact using manipulation of the guitars from the first section to link into the next (using back-masking). During the back-masking section also features the section with the most addition and and subtraction of loops. Like drums and bass popping in and out.
The development of the track will be linked below with the last link being the fully mastered track which is scheduled for release on all major streaming services :

https://soundcloud.com/alex-matthews-416652625/again-and-again

https://soundcloud.com/alex-matthews-416652625/cr78

https://soundcloud.com/alex-matthews-416652625/open-fields-celestial-dance-machine-this-is-the-one-boys-its-done

https://soundcloud.com/alex-matthews-416652625/open-fields-celestial-dance-machine-master

below I have also linked the artwork used as the cover of the single which was created on commission by a local artist and friend of mine Tijani Faysak.