As an up and coming artist it’s hard to break out and get recognized in the music industry, let alone reach big enough audiences to earn a good living but when push comes to shove, if you have no marketing budget, you have to find another way.

Today, mainstream artists are backed by labels with budgets to invest in their development prior to the release of their first album. These marketing dollars are spent on brand and community building and host of activities that establish a narrative for the music with listeners. Artists will get heavily involved in this process from participating in photo-shoots through to doing radio interviews, musical performances and so on.

In order for up and coming artists to get the leverage, the music has to come first, and it needs to reach the right audience that is going to share and talk about it to a bigger circle. One of the barriers to entry is the fact that most artists starting out don’t know how to do this or execute a strategy that will enable them to achieve this. They are very good at producing the music, performing at local bars and clubs, but don’t know how to build community and engagement around it so that it ultimately drives sales for albums and other performances.

To gain credibility in the industry, artists need to use a host of social tools to get their content out there to a wide net, but they also need to start building relationships with potential supporters, from label executives through to private investors and brands. This work involves not just the promotion of music online, but the offline effort of attending events, getting to know the system and how the industry works.

Understanding the marketing engine of the music industry can bring enormous value to artists that are trying to make it. When starting from zero, reaching out to mentors with experience is a valuable part of the climb and can have a significant, positive impact on career development.

Yes, we all know how to set up an Instagram, Facebook or Twitter account, but there needs to be more focus on the end objective and part of that requires outside help to strategize the community building effort. Even without money artists can reach out to people and start to get a sense of direction, and later on leverage that knowledge to apply it to their own marketing.

With a focus on audience, and a solid marketing plan for new music, up and coming artists can gain credibility and ultimately powerful supporters that will help them succeed.Save & Close

If you’d like to get your music listened to check out our new app which launches October 6th. You can sign up as a listener or an artist to start building your community and engage with the people that are going to help you make the climb. Best of luck and don’t hesitate to contact us about your music and what you’d like to achieve. We’re constantly learning, building and growing as a company and your feedback will help us make this even more valuable. Good luck!

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Mike Rubini is a social media manager for DarwinBeats, the premier music sharing service for up-and-coming artists.