How do I promote my music without social media?

“How do I promote my music without social media?” That’s a question we hear a lot from artists and we’re going to answer it. If you’re not going to focus on your digital presence, building awareness around your brand and your music locally will be key to breaking into the industry and getting your music out there. The benefit of digital marketing is that you can promote yourself from the comfort of your own home. But, you’re not able to meet people face-to-face and it’s harder to build relationships with other artists and brands. If you are going to build momentum with word of mouth, you’re going to have to hustle. Here are three ways to promote your music without using social media.

1. Put up flyers with a QR code

Just because you don’t want to use social media doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of some cool ways technology can integrate with your advertising. By creating a flyer that advertises your new release and a QR code that links to your album on streaming services—or even better, a fanlink, people on the street can scan your code and then immediately listen to your new music. And by adding a UTM code to your URL you can track how many people went there from the QR code. You can create a free QR code that links to any URL through a service like QR Code Generator. Post your flyers up everywhere and wait for the results! 

2. Attend events and network with artists and booking agents

Staying in tune with what’s going on in your genre in your area is important to get your foot into the local scene. Attend every concert by every artist you like in the area near you. When you attend, bring a business card, and instead of focusing on the show, focus on networking. Meet other artists, both performing and not, talk with the people who are at the show and tell them about your music, and track down the booking agent and get their information and talk to them about throwing your own show at the venue. By building up your network and creating personal relationships with like-minded creatives, you’ll be able to grow your buzz from your neighborhood to your city to the entire country.

3. Hand out your CD to people on the street

Nothing gets music in people’s hands quite as well as literally putting it in their hands. Print physicals of a song, EP, or album—make sure you’re getting jewel cases and printed cover art and CD artwork. You can get affordable CDs created via DiscMakers. The extra money it costs to get a better-looking product counts. More people will accept a well-branded CD than a random burned disc in an envelope. You can also get digital download cards created and included with every CD so that people can download the music on their computer or phone. You might think people don’t have CD players anymore, but you’re wrong. Even though many computers and cars have gotten rid of disc trays, there are places to listen to CDs that you might not expect—such as your Xbox or Playstation. 

Just because you follow these tips, it doesn’t mean you can’t still market yourself digitally. We strive to provide artists like you with free resources to accelerate their careers and increase the reach of their music both digitally and in-person. With thousands of songs released every day, a well thought out strategy is necessary to stand out and reach new listeners effectively. Want more tips to navigate the music industry more confidently? Check out all of our free artist resources and articles.