How To Get People To Care When Promoting Your New Song
When you write a new song, you pour your heart and soul into it. Putting it out there for the world to hear can be a vulnerable moment, and it’s disappointing when the only reaction you get is radio silence.
We all know how oversaturated the industry is at this point. The sheer amount of music out there is overwhelming. People won’t download your music just because it's free, but they also won’t buy it if they’ve never heard of you before.
If you want people to care about your song, you have to do more than just pitching the song link and pleading with people to check it out. When promoting your music, you have to apply the same sales techniques. But don’t just sell—reveal.
Creativity doesn’t end with the final master. Your content strategy is just the next evolution of your art. It’s not just about how you promote your music, but about using social platforms as the canvas to deepen the audience experience and expand your career as an artist.
Here are five areas to focus on to get people to care when promoting your song.
1) Harness the power of storytelling
What is your song about? Reveal the details behind the lyrics: the who, what, where, why, and how. Let people into your world by sharing the themes and inspirations. People are hardwired to engage with a good story. When they find something relatable and see themselves in a song, it sticks with them. It leads them to take action, whether that’s buying your album or sharing your music with a friend.
2) Connect with underlying emotions
Humans act based on emotions. People also gravitate towards the familiar, so listening to an unknown artist or song is pretty uncommon. You have to motivate newcomers by tapping into some variation of emotional categories like sadness, fear, joy, anger, disgust, or suspense. Songwriting is a powerful tool to get people to feel what you’re feeling.
3) Talk about your personal influences
Talking about your personal influences is a great way to connect with new listeners. Show them that you share the same taste and the same core values as them. Your fans want to know what goes on behind the scenes and where you get your great ideas.
4) Highlight what makes your song unique
Show people the unique elements of your song or album. For example, is there a wild metal riff or six-minute long guitar solo? Then show off that eight-string guitar or one-of-a-kind pedal to the gear community that will swoon all over it.
5) Do a vibe check
What’s the vibe of the track? Tell people what your song will make them feel or do. Maybe it will make them want to dropkick your stereo through a brick wall. Or call up their ex at 2AM and apologize for everything they’ve ever said while bawling their eyes out. This will spark their curiosity, or at least get a laugh—which is better than no reaction at all.
To recap, if you want people to care when promoting your music: show people that you’re a real person, make your song relatable within a broader context, and when people give you their time and attention, value it. For more music promotion and career growth mindset tips, download my FREE ARTIST STRATEGY GUIDE. Looking for one-on-one advice? Schedule a call with me.