What I’ve learned from promoting my music (9 savage truths) 

Written By Astrella Odyssey

I recently self-released an album. But I’m not here to promote the album, I’m here to tell you about the arduous journey I’ve taken to get it out into the world.  

And oh my, has it been an interesting and exhausting journey, testing my character, my resilience, and even my faith in my music. 

Here are 9 savage truths I’ve learned the hard way, so hopefully you don’t have to…  

1..Give yourself a cold hard reality check and set achievable goals. 

So, you’ve made some music. It’s your baby, you love it dearly, and so you see no reason why the rest of the world won’t love it too. But let’s be real, you’re probably not the next Beyonce, and the world ain’t gonna unanimously welcome your music with open arms.  

You may have, like me, fawned over other people’s Spotify Unwrapped figures and you dream of bragging about your very own “100,000 streams”.  

But it’s a long slog to get there. There are good reasons why you may wish to set your sights a bit lower. If you were to compare your goal with someone who wants to lose weight or get rich, it would be futile for them to aim at losing half their body weight, or to get to a six-figure salary overnight. Because the bigger picture is too big – it's not relatable or achievable, and it feels daunting.  

Instead, you may wish to set smaller goals. For example, I’m hustling hard until I reach 1,000 streams and 1,000 Instagram followers, and then I’m taking my foot off the gas. Because in my mind, that is good enough for me, for now.  

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to wake up with a viral hit. But it’s so unlikely, so you may as well take a Stoic approach to avoid having your dreams crushed by the reality of life.  

2. No matter how excited you are to release your music, make sure you have everything set up and ready to go. 

So, you’ve hit the studio and you’ve got your masters. But do you have decent photos? Have you created an electronic press kit (EPK)? Have you set up your social media?  

First impressions matter. You are doing your music a disservice if you got to market with a bunch of selfies and unbranded social media filled with food/dog/baby/holiday pictures.  

It looks amateur, and no one in high places will take you seriously. You cannot simply expect to be recognised as a ‘diamond in the rough’. You have to show that you are willing to do the leg work and spend some dollar. 

Look at your wardrobe – do you dress like the superstar you dream of becoming? If you wouldn’t rock up to a job interview in jeans, then don’t post reels wearing your pyjamas (unless that is, of course, your intentional brand.) 

And as someone who has DIY created their own music videos, upon reflection I now realise that it would have been wise to fork out a few hundred quid on a small-time filmmaker to help me out.  

Humans are visual creatures, and you will be judged. Sorry about it.  

3. Strengthen yourself ready for setbacks, criticisms, and a whole load of No’s.  

This is the part that puts most people off from EVER sharing their creations with the world. When someone doesn’t understand your unique form of expression, it hurts deeply.  

But you have 2 choices: hide away forever and be crushed under the weight of deathbed regrets. Or face the fear and bloody do it anyway. You never know, you might learn something about yourself.  

My new favourite phrase: If you’re gonna miss the bus, miss it running.  

So, what happens when you do share your music and you’re faced with a wall of nasty trolls and cold shoulders? It will sting. Your wounded inner child will desperately want to sob and rage at the injustice.  

But the solution is evidence. Evidence, accumulated through experience, that you are good enough. For example, I remind myself that I have music training, and I have received high praise from singing teachers, talent scouts, and fellow musicians – people who know talent when they see it and have no incentive to lie.  

No matter how small the example, make note of it. We could be talking something as simple as getting a round of applause at an open mic night. Celebrate your small wins. 

And you must remember that you live in your own little universe and so does everyone else. If someone says no, it’s not necessarily because they think you’re shit, it’s probably just because they’re just a busy, lazy, lousy human (just like you) who doesn’t have the bandwidth right now.  

If you are unfortunate to attract troll comments, swifty delete, block, and get them off your radar. They have one mission only – to make soft creative people doubt themselves. Don’t play their game. Again, the antidote to their poison is evidence.   

4. Understand that the music industry, let alone the digital content industry, is a juggernaut which requires money and contacts to infiltrate.  

One does not simply release music and expect people to listen. The digital landscape is literally infinite. There are so many platforms and so many choices, not to mention a mysterious algorithm that is ever-changing and highly secretive.  

You have to be prepared to have a multi-pronged approach. The music industry is brimming with competitions for festival slots, label mentorship schemes, demo drops, songwriting retreats, and auditions for industry showcases.  

And people with the time will fill up their days applying for these things, left, right and centre. Do yourself a favour and sign up to the ‘Unsigned Guide’ newsletter and you’ll see what I mean.  

There are endless opportunities, but with that comes endless competition. You have to be ready to cease the day, every day. And you have to have the goods ready to deliver.  

5. Don’t pay for PR or seek label representation until you are genuinely ready.  

Once you start sharing your music, you may be lucky enough to be approached by PR companies, vying for your business. And as exciting as that may seem, ask yourself whether you are ready. 

Watch a few episodes of Dragon’s Den and you’ll see many bushy tailed entrepreneurs at the beginning of their journey who may have an amazing product, but they walk away empty handed.  

This is because they haven’t yet tested the waters. They haven’t exposed themselves to the marketplace yet. They haven’t run beta tests.  

Be real with yourself. If you’re a small-time performer or bedroom producer, would you really be ready and capable of giving interviews, doing podcasts, video shoots, or performing at showcases?  

This tragic lack of preparedness can be seen in the slew of TikTokers who hit the road with their shambles of a live act and fail, very fast, very publicly.  

Maybe do one or two releases entirely on your own, to get a taste of what it really means to be an artist. Do your own marketing, book your own gigs. You may decide that it ain’t for you after all.  

And anyway, a label won’t be interested in the slightest until you have organically built your own following and proven that there’s a public interest in what you are offering. The same applies to podcasts. Save the effort until you have sufficient clout.  

6. Promoting your music is a full-time job that requires endless door-to-door sales pitches and cold-calling.  

So, if you’ve taken my advice and you’re gonna go it alone, you have to be prepared to put in the shifts.  

You firstly need to identify who your audience is and where they discover and consume music. Then you need to cultivate a presence there – they will not come to you because they don’t even know you exist...yet.  

For example, I know that my target demographic are women in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who have interests in holistic wellbeing. They may attend ecstatic dance classes, they may go to alternative weekend retreats. 

And so, I have emailed literally hundreds of ecstatic dance teachers and retreats asking them to add my songs to their playlists. I’ve probably had 10% of them reply, and probably 10% of those who reply will ever do what I have asked.  

The hit rate is LOW. But again, are you running for that bus or not?   

7. Everything is not as it seems, so it is futile to compare your successes to that of others. 

This is an interesting revelation. Did you know that you can BUY Spotify listens and social media followers? Oh yes. And don’t be surprised if your competition ain’t doing just that.  

Fake listens and follows are stupidly cheap, and to be fair, can help to inflate your status. HOWEVER – buying likes will damage your engagement rate in the long term. 

For example, if you ‘apparently’ have 10,000 YouTube subscribers but only a handful of people watch or like your videos, that sends a message to the platform that your content is not of high quality. And so your content will sink to the bottom of your actual fans’ feeds, never to be seen again.  

Once at the bottom, it’s very, very difficult to win back the trust of the platform and regain visibility. Don’t take shortcuts. It really ain’t worth it.  

If you’re jealous of other artists’ successes, maybe do some maths. What are their numbers like across all platforms and what is their engagement rate like? The discrepancies will reveal the truth. 

This widespread practice, as awful and inauthentic as it is, should hopefully restore some hope, that you are not being as left behind as you think you are.  

8. Choose your investments wisely. Don’t piss your money up the wall with naval-gazing cowboy operations.  

Let’s talk about playlists. They’re obviously a very important shop window for your song. You can pitch your songs directly to Spotify, but you can only do one at a time, and at least 7 days before release (who knows why.) And you have extremely slim chances of being picked up if you don’t have a decent audience.  

But never fear  (haha), there is a hungry mob of cowboy websites that will pitch your songs to ‘tastemaker’ people who run blogs and create playlists. Again, the acceptance rate is low. And you have to scroll through endless options and decide which ones are the most relevant. Oh and of course, it costs.  

Even if you get playlisted – I have once – you are only there for a short period of time. And chances of being listened to, are again, slim.  

You can also, get this, pay to have your music reviewed. And for an upgrade, these websites will promise to share your song on their social media and playlists. However, this is a naval-gazing operation. 

You are not reaching your intending audience. You are simply reaching fellow desperate musicians who have also paid for play. The only people who follow these people are people like you. Their business model is literally to feed off of your desperation.  

Trust me, this is pointless. Save your money. 

9. No matter how much money you chuck at it, nothing beats in-person connection. 

This is an obvious and sobering realisation. You can sit behind your screen, post as many TikToks and boost as many posts as you like, but you are not building genuine rapport with people.  

To grow an audience, you absolutely need to get out there and gig. If you’re good, and if you’re nice, people will check you out. And better still, they may even recommend you to a friend.  

So, regardless of your genre, put together a little live act and be prepared to spend your week day evenings in pubs waiting for your 5 minute slot, and doing shitty gigs in empty venues. All the big bands you can name have been there, done that, and got the bloody t-shirt.  

Which is why I always say, the biggest bands in the world are not necessarily the best, they’re just the ones that didn’t give up.  

Conclusion 

The fundamental truth for anyone promoting their own music is this: Regardless of your talent and the quality of your music, those with more money and more connections will get ahead.  

Just look at many of our superstars today. I guarantee you that most of them come from well-to-do families. People who are not enslaved to day jobs and can rely on ‘the bank of mum and dad’ will have an advantage. It’s just the truth. 

If you are not so fortunate, you will have to hustle harder, be more resourceful, and be prepared for many more closed doors. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom. You WILL find some loyal fans and receive beautiful comments about your music. So, my advice is to hold on to that and re-evaluate what truly matters. 

Do you care about touching people with your music or do you care about statistics and status? Are you driven by your ego or your heart?  

Remember why you are called to make music in the first place, and try to avoid slipping into a world of data, competition and comparison. Because your music – your true love and true calling – will suffer as a result. Don’t lose sight of what you are here to do.  

THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN BY FREYA ASTRELLA, AN EXPERT VOCAL COACH IN EAST SUSSEX, UK.

Freya is a bonafide vocal technique expert and is one of the only teachers in the region to have gained Estill Voice certification. Freya holds a First Class BA(hons) in Professional Musicianship, a VocalTech Diploma, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance. Freya has taught all ages and abilities at BIMM, Access To Music, The Academy of Music And Sound, TheatreTrain, Stagecoach, and The Rock Project. Furthermore, Freya was a lead writer for VoiceCouncil.com, which was the biggest online resource for singers. She is currently part of the outreach team for BIMM university.

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