50 Ways to Promote a Single

Here are the first 50 ways to promote a single that came to mind (in no direct order and definitely not in order of importance) –

1. Lyric Video
2. Create recognizable artwork
3. Debut the song at a show before it’s released
4. Lock in the right premiere partner
5. Give the song to your super fans early via text
6. Moving visualizer with the artwork (never static)
7. Get YouTube promoter channels to post it
8. Shoot a music video
9. Create a trailer and or behind the scenes content from the music video
10. Send out a modern press release to friends and press contacts
11. Design a t-shirt or other merch for the single
12. Utilize social banners to direct traffic to the song
13. Capture live footage at a show and repurpose it with the single in the background
14. Utilize a press partner to do a social takeover at the shoot
15. If it’s an acoustic song, create a remix. If it’s a produced song, create an acoustic version.
16. Regardless of the above point, commission remixes
17. Redeliver the single with a new feature
18. Shoot a video of how the song came to be (can also capture this in real time i.e. Songs from Scratch)
19. Create a studio shoot (i.e. In the Room)
20. Instastory that swipes up
21. Get influencers to post the song or a video with the song in the background and tag the artist
22. Get the single synced in TV, movies, advertising, etc.
23. Annotate the lyrics on Genius
24. Send the fans an e-mail newsletter
25. Write a catchy headline and seed it with the press… Something that will grab attention. Here’s one that got me a year ago.
26. Do a pop-up show to perform the song in a public or private location
27. Send the song to DJ promo lists to get it played in the club
28. If you’re not on a label, find a radio promotion partner
29. Take out a billboard that makes onlookers double take
30. Make an artist playlist and put the song at the top
31. Submit your song to playlist forms and relevant curators
32. Send a message to fans via PandoraAMP and set as focus track
33. Set as Spotify’s Artist Pick
34. Utilize SubmitHub to reach more blogs and get feedback on the single
35. Exchange soundcloud reposts with other artists
36. Shazam the song from the artist’s profile with a message
37. Run digital ads against similar artists
38. Go live on instagram when the song premieres
39. Do a contest to reward sharing
40. Create memes utilizing pop culture moments
41. Shoot collaborative content with influencers specifically geared around the message of the single
42. Hire a publicist
43. Write a list of the 50 most important people in your network (could be friends and family at first) who need to hear the song and will support the movement over time. Share it with them.
44. Find creative ways to express gratitude to those that support the single
45. Do a listening party
46. Encourage fans to create UGC around the single with specific calls to action
47. Identify priority international markets and a strategy to reach fans there
48. Incorporate it into the tour name
49. Pick a release date that markets itself, like Smino’s album release date being his hometown’s area code.
50. Make sure the story of the song has THE SAUCE… Not just a headline, but an actual shareable story directly tied to the brand identity and the career the artist aspires to have. If it makes people curious, it can build an artist brand – Here’s a great example.

The bottomline is checking all these boxes and securing each and every opportunity will only be as meaningful as the talent of the artist, the quality of the song, and the X FACTOR behind why people should care. You must hook them.

So what did I miss?

Our company has a release template we follow for each single / ep / album release. I didn’t refer to it to write this post, but I am interested in what’s missing from above – What’s been your best or favorite single release tactic? Looking forward to hearing from you!