The best way to promote your music in 2023!

A great web site when it comes to promoting music on the web, is Burstimo. They describe themselves in this way:

"Get the most advanced Music Marketing tips to promote your music weekly.

Burstimo is a music marketing company who specialises in music promotion in the digital era.

Our channel covers everything needed to succeed in the modern music industry, with weekly tips and advice to help get your music out there."

They recently made a helpful video titled "The 3 best ways to promote your music in 2023"

Watch the video here!

Promoting your music on Spotify

Did you know that Spotify has a collection of very helpful guides for music artists who want to promote their music in order to reach more listeners on Spotify? This is what they write:

With over 300 million passionate music fans around the world, Spotify is a great place to grow your audience. Here are some tips.

Join Spotify for Artists

Spotify for Artists lets you promote your music, see your audience stats, and manage your artist profile.

You can use Spotify for Artists on the web, or download the mobile app on Android and iOS.

Learn more about getting access

Pitch music to our playlist editors

Got a new release coming up? Pitch a song to us before it drops.

We’ll include it in a list our editorial team picks from for their playlists. We’ll also add it to your followers’ Release Radar playlist.

Learn more about pitching music

Build your followers

Share your music and encourage fans to follow you on Spotify.

We notify your followers when you release new music, when you tour in their area, and you get featured in their personalized sections of the app.

Learn more about sharing music

Use Spotify marketing tools

We offer different marketing tools to help develop your fanbase.

Ad Studio

Spotify Ad Studio is an easy way to create audio and video ads for free listeners, with options for different sized budgets.

Go to Spotify Ad Studio

Note: Spotify Ad Studio is only available in some countries. If it isn’t available where you are, you can still get advertising help at ads.spotify.com.

Marquee

Marquee is a full-screen sponsored recommendation for new releases.

Campaigns created in Spotify for Artists target Premium and free listeners in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Peru, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Marquee is available in beta to US-based teams in Spotify for Artists. Check out Getting access to Marquee for more info.

Read the original article here: https://artists.spotify.com/en/help/article/promoting-music-on-spotify

The best way to release a Single

When trying to reach out to as many music listeners as possible, it's better to release a Single than a full Album. Damian Keyes is an experienced YouTube blogger who is sharing a lot of helpful tips for music artists! This is how he think you should release your Single on the web:

Click here to watch the video!

The three best ways to promote your music!

One of the clever minds on YouTube, Burstimo, is sharing her top three ways to promote your music in 2021. She has long experience and is worth listening to!

Click here to watch the video! 

How to Get More Viewers when Live Streaming Your Music

This article is from the DI++O Music's website where you will find advice on how to release and promote your music.

When an in-person gig isn’t an option (which is true pretty much everywhere right now), live streamed performances are an awesome way to connect and engage with your fans.

But there’s nothing worse than spending ages rehearsing your set, setting up all your gear and going live on Insta, YouTube or Facebook - only for no one to show up!

We have another article on setting up a live stream for musicians, but here we’ll be discussing the best ways to promote your online gig to make sure your fans log into your live shows everytime.

How to promote a live stream for musicians

Create teasers & promo content

If you don’t build hype around your live streams, create content and share it with your fans, how will they know when to tune in?

Simply going live in the moment isn’t enough for most artists who are just starting out. Sure if you’ve 100k followers, spur of the moment live streams might attract an audience anyway. But why risk?

Think about creating posts, teasers, videos and graphics to share with your existing fans in the days leading up to your live stream.

And make sure to give your followers and subscribers a definitive time and place to join your stream.

Promote on ALL your channels

Share your teasers and promo posts across every single one of your social and marketing channels.

If you’re going to be streaming live on Instagram, you should still be sharing that info across other social platforms like Twitter, Facebook and even TikTok.

If you have a fan mailing list, fire an email out to your subscribers. Email marketing your music offers direct access to your audience's inbox, rather than potentially being choked by social media algorithms. So it’s always worth including in your promo strategy.

Link Songkick listings to Spotify

Did you know that you can promote your live streams and “virtual events” directly on your Spotify artist profile?

All you need to do is create a Songkick account, list your upcoming live streams and link them to your Spotify Artist Pick. You’ll find this option in your Spotify for Artists account.

You can include any online events hosted across YouTube, Instagram, Twitch and more on your profile. Once you've linked your profiles, your upcoming live streams will appear in the 'Concerts' tab of your Spotify artist page.

Spotify may also send out direct emails to your followers letting them know about your upcoming show.

Make it more than just a gig

A good way to attract more people to your show is to make it more interesting than just your live set.

You could incorporate a Q&A with fans, give a sneak peek of a new track or even play live from a unique location.

Anything you can do to make your stream more engaging and exciting is worth a try. Attempt different things and see what has the biggest impact on your audience numbers.

Start streaming early

Chances are your audience won’t always be on time. So it’s worth going live around 10-15 minutes before your stream is supposed to start and get into the best bits of your set a little while after your scheduled start time.

This gives your followers a chance to see you’re live and tune in, or if they’re a little late, they won’t miss a thing.

You could incorporate some kind of countdown timer to help viewers understand when your set will really get going. This way if they tune in early and see nothing happening, they won’t just log off straight away. They’ll be much more likely to hang around.

A quick Google search for live stream countdown timers will throw up plenty of options.

Share your link ahead of time

On certain platforms like YouTube, you can actually share the link to your live stream up to 48 hours before you’ve actually gone live. You can find out more here.

Share this link across all your channels with a definitive time and date for your live stream. Encourage your fans to save or bookmark the link at check back when it’s showtime!

Going live and streaming your shows can bring your live set directly into people’s homes. So it’s always worth doing some planning and promotion beforehand. Just remember, if you only get a couple of viewers at first, don’t be discouraged.

Keep it up, make great music, put on a killer show and fans will find you!

Read the original, full article here: Ditto Unsigned Advice

Musicians: 6 Tips to Rapidly Grow Your Instagram Following

This article is from the Sonicbids Blog, and it was written by Lauren Gill. Lauren Gill is the founder and chief power specialist at Power Publicity, a marketing, branding, and public relations firm that empowers entertainment, nonprofit, and lifestyle brands. She has executed several successful marketing and PR campaigns for major and indie recording artists. You can follow her on Twitter @IamLaurenGill and @_powerpublicity.

With 500 million active users, Instagram is a great visual social media platform to build your online community. Instagram allows you to give your fans a peek into your world through your photos and videos. While funny memes, quotes, and viral videos may get attention, building a community of fans for you and your music requires the right strategies. Here are six tips to grow your fanbase on Instagram.

1. Tell your story
Think of your Instagram feed as your personal online magazine. Use your photos and videos to visually tell your story. Pick main content themes that show who you are as an artist, and build a consistent feed. Some example of content themes are performing, recording, your musical interests, fashion/style, and religion/spirituality.

2. Decide on the overall look of your photos
When someone visits your profile, your first nine photos should have a consistent look. Decide if you want your Instagram feed to feature photos with an array of bold, eye-catching colors or if you want your photos to have a more minimalist, monochromatic look. You also need decide to whether you want your photos to have cool undertones or warm undertones.

Use a photo-editing app like VSCOCam to edit your photos to match your theme.

3. Post consistently
Along with having a consistent theme, you also need to be consistent in your posting. Consistency is key in building your followers over time. Sporadic posting could actually cause you to lose followers.

Post to your page one to three times a day to build your following. Create some of your posts and schedule them ahead of time with apps such as Hootsuite and Later to stay on top of your social game.

4. Use the right hashtags
Think of hashtags that both represent your brand and what your fans are searching for on Instagram. Use an analytics tool such as Iconosquare to see which hashtags are popular among your fans. Switch out your hashtags every few months to keep them fresh and correlate with your fans’ interests.


5. Spark engagement
You have to give in order to receive likes and comments on your Instagram content. Ask your followers questions, and post call-to-action photos to engage them. Like other peeple’s photos, and leave genuine comments on their content. Commit to engaging with a specific number of people per week to grow your following.

6. Post at the right times
In order to receive the most engagement, you must post your content at the right times. Post your content morning, afternoon, and evening to reach your fans in different time zones. Use Iconosquare to analyze when your followers are online. Study your followers’ behavior for at least a month and make adjustments to your posting times based on your findings.

6 Tips For a Successful Album Release

This article was first published at Reverberation by Janelle Rogers. She began her over 20 year music industry career working for SXSW Music and Media Conference. She then went on to work for BMG Distribution for 10 years in the alternative music department where she championed bands including Kings of Leon, The Strokes, and The White Stripes. In 2002 she launched Green Light Go Music PR as a haven of honesty, integrity and passion for underrepresented artists and labels.

You’ve put in the work, slogged through all the rewrites, did all your mastering, and now it’s album release time. You have a show booked within the next month, so logic states you should make it the record release show and your official release date. Not so fast. If you’re looking for more exposure on your music beyond the traditional friends and family who come to every show, you need to be strategic. Your band is your business, and like any successful business you need to create a plan for your album launch. If you’ve invested your time and money into the recording, don’t you want to make sure it’s heard by as many people as possible?

Below are considerations we make for every album launch to insure the greatest likelihood of success, and they form a blueprint any artist can follow.

Set Your Release Date a Minimum of Three Months in the Future.
You should begin by announcing your release date 3-6 months in advance to meet media deadlines, create awareness, and begin building a buzz. This is the #1 mistake we see bands make. You’ve spent months, if not years, on your album and you just want people to hear it. I get it. However, as counterintuitive as it may seem, you greatly reduce the amount of people hearing your music by releasing it right away. Think about every band you’ve deemed successful and chances are they had a plan in place to build up to the release date. Since my company, Green Light Go Publicity, is a music PR firm, we often look at everything from the perspective of a music blogger, radio station or traditional print outlet. These outlets receive dozens, if not hundreds of emails per day, all asking for music to be heard. It’s literally impossible to listen to every band who submits in a given day. This means they often need weeks, if not months, before your music is heard, especially if the familiarity isn’t already there. It also means it often takes repeated attempts contacting a media outlet before that first listen happens.

Set Your Release Date on Friday.
In 2015, official release dates in the U.S. were changed from Tuesday to a global Friday release to help combat piracy. Even if piracy isn’t your top concern, this release date should be. It shows you take your band seriously and understand the standard business practice of the music industry. By adopting a Friday release date you’re also giving validity to your release.

Even if your record release show doesn’t fall on Friday, you should set a Friday release date. The show should be in support of the album first and foremost. If you are someone who has set your release date based on an upcoming show, this is the time to change that. Instead set your release date and then book a show at a credible venue in support of it.

Target the Right Music Bloggers.
You should be sending your music to bloggers and magazines to increase your fanbase. And that begins with targeting the right media contacts. Research the best publications for your type of music and then send it to the person who seems most likely to cover it. If you want a review, send it to the music editor or reviews editor. If it’s a specific writer, drop them a line telling them why they’ll like it based on what they’ve written about. Don’t send your rock album to a writer who only covers hip hop or electronic. No matter how good your record is, he won’t be into it and most likely the only coverage you’ll get is on his wall of shame. You should also look at the level of artists being covered at the outlet. If the outlet only covers established and celebrity acts and you’re unsigned band is hovering right around 1k followers on Facebook, the chance of that outlet covering you is slim to none.

Make Your ReverbNation Profile and Website Press Friendly.
There are certain things media outlets and music industry professionals look for when discovering a new band. You should make it easy for them if your aim is increased exposure. This should include hi-res publicity photos (at least 300dpi), bio, mp3s or streamed audio they can hear. The bio should have a strong story angle that is definitively you and hasn’t already been said before. It should not include things like, “sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before” or “we’re completely DIY.” If you need ideas for a great publicity photo, look at some of your favorite blogs to see what types of photos they post. It should tell a story about your band, look professional and catch attention. You want people to hear your music, right?  So, include a single or music that is most representative of your current sound. You should NOT include your entire album or EP on your website before the release date. Instead only include the mp3 you’ve already released and then password protect the album. If you’ve received press, include press quotes with the highest profile or the best quotes at the top of your page.

Set a Single Release Date.
Here’s the good news about having to wait to release your album. It doesn’t mean you have to wait to release any music. In fact, I highly recommend releasing an mp3 within three weeks to start getting the music out there and also test how people react. If you want coverage on blogs, offer at least one downloadable mp3 through Soundcloud for their readers. This is a great way to build press early to increase both fan and media interest, which increases your chance of a successful release.

Don’t Forget About Social Media.
Look at ways you can keep your fans engaged while supporting those who have supported you. Start teasing out the single and album release on your social networks and create a banner for the page. If you don’t have access to a designer or aren’t inclined yourself, Canva provides great free templates for professional looking banners. Retweet when a fan or blog says something great about your music. Involve your fans in the process by giving sneak peeks of cover art, publicity photo shoots, videos or anything else they want to know about. Pay attention to where you receive the most engagement and make sure you plan out more of the same. Ask your fans to retweet and share your Facebook posts with their friends.

A lot more goes into releasing an album than just setting an arbitrary release date or sending it out the minute you receive the masters back. If you truly want your music to be heard, take a little extra time planning a release that will benefit from the time and energy you put into the process.

How to get your music on Spotify playlists

This article was first published on the Ditto Blog on July 2016.

Millions of music lovers all over the world use Spotify to discover new artists, so as an up-and-coming musician, it’s vital to get your music on Spotify playlists and in front of legions of potential fans. But how do new artists get featured?

Getting the biggest Spotify playlists to feature your tracks by reaching out to curators is not an easy task, but well worth it for the exposure you’ll receive if you’re successful. These tips will show you how to get your music featured on Spotify playlists.

Get your music on Spotify Playlists by pitching to curators 

When it comes to pitching your music, first of all you’ll need to find out who curates the Spotify playlist you’re interested in. They could be media figures, industry bods, or just an average Spotify user. You can either find them through Spotify or alternatively carry out some research online and email them. Some playlists may be curated by the platform itself. In this case, you’ll need to find the contact info for Spotify’s Artist Liaison.

Once you’ve found the right contact details, make sure to keep your email brief with prominent links to your music. Make it as easy as possible for them to quickly find out who you are and listen to your music.

Submit your tracks to the Ditto Music Spotify playlists

Ditto Music is now accepting submissions for our New Music Spotify Playlists, which all feature the hottest new and independent tracks. We’ve curated a number of playlists across a wide range of genres, including indie, dance, R&B and more.

We also pick out the hottest tracks to push to our own network of Spotify playlist curators, who control massive playlists like New Music Fridays and Viral Top 50. Click here to follow our playlists and submit your music for consideration.

Get your Spotify profile verified

Most Spotify playlist curators will be much more inclined to include you in their playlists if your artist profile is verified. To do this, you’ll need to have at least 250 followers. Once you’ve reached 250, you can complete a Spotify Verification Request form to get your profile verified. You’ll find this form here.

Get as many followers as possible

While 250 followers is the bare minimum you’ll need to get your artist profile verified, the more you have, the more likely it is that Spotify playlist curators will take you seriously. Make sure all of your friends, family and fans are following you on Spotify, share your tracks across social media and promote your Spotify account wherever and whenever possible to build up your followers.

Maintain a professional online presence

When you’re trying to get your music onto a Spotify playlist, it’s likely the playlist curator will look into your background a little more with a quick Google search. To make a good first impression, it’s important to make sure your online presence looks as professional as possible. That includes updating your website, social media accounts and any artist bios across the web.

Share any playlists you’re featured on

If your music ends up being included on any Spotify playlist, no matter how small, share it as much as possible to start racking up more and more streams. It’s always a good idea to tag the playlist curator in your posts too, to show them you’re invested in their playlist and build your relationship with them.

Don’t be afraid to follow up

Spotify’s playlist curators are always looking for the best new music and won’t want to let a great track pass them by. If you don’t have any success from pitching your tracks at first, your message may have simply been missed, so don’t be afraid to send a polite follow-up email.

Read the original article here.

Your guide to digital music marketing and crushing SoundCloud!

Did you know that SoundCloud let you download a 400 pages PDF ebook named "The SoundCloud Bible"? They say it's your guide to digital music marketing and crushing SoundCloud. It has some very practical and helpful advice, like:

• Get more plays and followers.
• Optimize your social media presence.
• Influencer marketing: get blogs, YouTube and SoundCloud support.
• Monetize your music on SoundCloud, YouTube and other stores.
• Learn about your rights and how to negotiate deals.

You can download the Advanced Package ebook for USD 49 or the Complete Package for USD 99 here: The SoundCloud Bible.

Building a Spotify playlist that shows in search

Spotify is one of the best places to promote your music.  Chris Robleywrote this article for DIY Musician, the great blog that the people at CDBaby are responsible for.

You want to land a song on a big Spotify playlist? It (probably) won’t happen overnight.

First you have to build your playlist resume. Once your songs start seeing lots of lower-level playlist activity, Spotify’s algorithm will take notice — and THAT’s when you’re more likely to get the attention of prominent playlist curators.

The more you build a presence for your songs on smaller playlists, the more chance you’ll have of getting a big playlist placement.

Step #1: Create your own playlists

This is an obvious place to start building a playlist presence, since you have complete control over the song selection.

Creating your own playlists gives you a great way to:

• connect with fans between album cycles
• re-purpose your catalog in countless ways by putting old songs into fresh contexts
• highlight the music of your influences, local music scene, new discoveries, etc.
and much more
But before you put too much effort into playlisting, you’ll first want to become a verified artist on Spotify so you can display and promote your playlists right from your artist page.

Go HERE to find out how to get verified.

How to create a Spotify playlist

1. Within the Spotify app, click “(+) New Playlist.”
2. Give your playlist a name and description. Be sure to use rich keywords that mention the style of music, specific artists within the playlist, or other organizing principles for the songs contained within.
3. Upload a custom image for your playlist.
4. Add a URL to the “insert link” field linking to a pre-order page or music store. (Be considerate and don’t link to a competing streaming service.)
5. Click “Create.”
6. Add songs! You can do this by searching for the song on Spotify and dragging it into your playlist in the left-hand sidebar, or by clicking the ellipses next to any track and selecting “Add to Playlist.”

Playlist best-practices for Spotify

There are millions of playlists on Spotify. Every user has the ability to create multiple playlists. So understandably, Spotify doesn’t want EVERY single playlist on their platform to be publicly searchable. In order for YOUR playlist to grow as much as possible, you’re going to want to show up in a search on Spotify. That way your reach extends beyond your existing fanbase.

There are some recognizable attributes shared by many playlists that Spotify serves up in their search. Might as well emulate what’s working, right? Here’s how to make an effective — and search-friendly —  playlist.

Build playlists around your interests

If you’re enthusiastic about your playlist, you’ll make it awesome! If not, you’ll lose steam and neglect it. Which brings us to…

Update your playlists on a regular schedule

To make a playlist that’s worth following, it should be dynamic and change over time. Otherwise a user can just listen once and be done with it. Choose a day to make updates each week and keep it consistent to build expectation among followers.

Only ONE song per artist

Unless a playlist’s sole purpose is to highlight the music of one artist, it’s best to make the song list diverse. Spotify’s algorithm can downgrade a playlist (in search and relevance) that is too heavily weighted towards one artist.

Seed your own songs!

Nestle your song perfectly among a bunch of great tunes by other artists. But remember: just one song per playlist, unless it’s a playlist organized around your music alone.

Playlists should have between 20-60 songs

Spotify’s algorithm favors playlists with more than 20 songs and less than 60. Aim for 25-30 when you first create the list, and then add more songs on a regular basis. Once you’re approaching 60 songs, shuffle the oldest tracks off the list. (You can even create an archive playlist to house all the songs that have been moved off the primary playlist).

Cover artwork

It’s not make-or-break, but seeing one of those default playlist covers with the four smaller images is a little disappointing. You’re curating a musical experience; why not also provide a custom visual that helps listeners enter your world?

Use smart keywords in your description

You should describe your playlist using words, phrases, genre descriptions, and artist names that listeners will be searching for. Spotify gives you plenty of text space to do it. Optimize!

Your playlist name is SUPER IMPORTANT!

Which do you think is more likely to appear in a search: “Prog-Rock Classics from the 1970’s” or “Brand New Crystal Visions of Dancing Planets Outside of Time?” Choose a playlist name that sets clear expectations.

Promote your playlists

Share the playlists you create with your fans on social, email, etc. Ask them to follow your playlists, and ask for their suggestions for songs or artists you can add to your playlists in the future. The more followers your playlist has, the more likely it will be served up in a search on Spotify.

Tag, tag, tag

Whenever you add tracks to the playlist, tag those artists on social (this is the more passive version of notifying the artist directly, which we’ll get to below…)

Ask your fans to save a song from your playlist to their own playlists

Again, Spotify’s algorithm takes special notice whenever a user is motivated to move a song from a playlist they follow to one of their own playlists. This is the MOST IMPORTANT action a fan can take to support you on Spotify. So provide a link to your playlist and ask your fans to do just that!

Notify other artists who’ve been added to your playlists

Reach out via Twitter, Facebook, or email. Let them know you love their music, have added a song to your playlist, and ask them to follow the playlist and promote it to their fans.

Embed your playlist

Spotify also smiles favorably upon playlists that are being shared outside of the their platform. Embed the playlist on your own website, and ask your fans and friends to do the same. The wider your reach online, the better you look in the eyes of that mysterious Spotify algorithm.

To embed a playlist:

Go to the playlist page on Spotify
Click on the ellipses
Scroll down to “Copy embed code”
Paste that code into website

Alright, that’s enough playlist tips for one day. Keep ’em in mind and your playlist will have a good chance of appearing in Spotify’s search. You’ll also be on your way towards building a bigger playlist presence.

Want more Spotify playlisting advice? Check out the following:

• How to get your first 250 followers on Spotify: becoming a verified artist
• The 6 primary types of Spotify playlist that can feature your music
• Twelve playlist ideas that can breathe new life into your back-catalog
• How to get your music on Spotify playlists, Pt. 1


Or download our FREE guide “Getting Your Songs on Spotify Playlists.”

Read the original article: here

What You Need To Know About Your Music On YouTube

This article was written by Chris Robley for CD Baby's great Blog DIY Musician, and it's about what you need to know about sharing your music on YouTube. The article has a special focus on how CD Baby can help you as an artist, but the ideas and points are valid for all music artists.

How, why, and when you can earn money from your music and videos on YouTube

If you’re distributing your music through CD Baby, we can help you earn money from Youtube in several different ways.

For an artist who hasn’t spent a lot of time learning about YouTube, though, the details can be a bit confusing. In this article I’d like to clarify (and simplify) the distinctions.

But first…

Why would I put my music on YouTube if people can steal it from there or hear it for free?

Well first, regarding piracy on YouTube — (and how can I put this delicately?) — get over it!

No one is stealing your music from YouTube, or not nearly as much as you might fear. Why would they? Who wants to actually keep files on their hard drive anymore when they can access the same content on YouTube almost instantly, anywhere they go, via the wonders of data moving invisibly through air?

Second: if you have concerns about subscription or ad-supported streaming, you definitely don’t HAVE to be on YouTube. CD Baby wants to enable you to do whatever it is YOU want to do with your music career. That could mean only selling vinyl albums to fans who attend your private house concerts. For others, that could mean making tracks available on every digital platform. There’s no right strategy. You should follow the approach that works best for you and your fans.

But having said that, it’s worth repeating the common argument: unless you’re Taylor Swift or Adele or Radiohead, you should be cautious about putting up barriers between you and your potential fans. Adele can window her newest album, or keep it off of streaming platforms altogether, and she’s guaranteed to still get sales… because she’s ADELE; her fans will follow her wherever she leads (though notice that her videos are still on YouTube).

Again, unless you’re sure your fans will jump through a few hoops to get your music, I’d give it some serious thought before you decide to hold your music back from the biggest listening engine in the world.

Can you really make money from YouTube?

The short answer: yes.

The longer answer: It’s like most things in the music industry. You’re not guaranteed success, and it’s always the case that a few people are earning more, and most people are earning less — but YES: there’s real money to be made, and YouTube ad money can be an important part of your increasingly diversified music revenue streams (ticket sales, CD and vinyl, merch, downloads, streaming, sync licensing, publishing royalties, SoundExchange royalties, etc.)

We (CD Baby) have paid out more than $5 million in YouTube money to independent musicians so far, and that figure is growing fast. Some CD Baby artists are earning tens of thousands every quarter from YouTube alone.

And since CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization and Sync Licensing Programs are included with CD Baby distribution, why not set yourself up to collect what’s yours and be ready for when a song or album catches on?

So, let’s talk about these various avenues for driving revenue from YouTube activity

(I just used lots of V’s in that sentence, didn’t I?)

The three revenue opportunities I’ll be talking about in-depth are: 1) micro-sync licensing — which actually covers a broader realm than just YouTube, including other video platforms such as Vimeo, , 2) Content ID — including U.G.C. (user-generated content), and 3) subscription streaming and ad revenue from YouTube Music.

1. Micro-sync licensing

As the writer and publisher of your own music, you have the right to license your songs for “synchronization,” meaning your music gets synched to moving images (film, TV, commercials, games, etc.). Artists can sometimes earn high dollars from a traditional sync placement, and CD Baby has recently placed some of our artists’ songs in film and TV productions for as much as $44,000.
But with the explosion of online video over the last ten years, there’s a whole new world of sync opportunities: micro-sync licensing.

Micro-sync licensing is where video content creators (many of them non-professionals) license your music for a small fee so they can add it to their own home movies, wedding videos, and crazy cat clips. Then they can upload their video to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. without worrying about any copyright issues concerning the music.

To be clear, micro-sync licensing is not a revenue stream that’s generated through YouTube activity. When your song is licensed for micro-sync usage (long before it ever ends up on YouTube, or Vimeo, or other online platforms), you earn a small upfront fee for that license. That license gives content creators the right to then use your music in the videos they post online. So micro-sync licensing is not tied to YouTube, nor does it depend on YouTube — but if we’re talking about synching music with video, let’s be real: a majority of the people who will license your music in this way will end up putting that video on YouTube. So we can see YouTube as one of the driving forces beyind micro-sync revenue.

Plus, when these creators upload videos to YouTube that contain your legally licensed music, you also earn a share of any YouTube ad revenue associated with those videos in perpetuity, through YouTube’s Content ID system. (More on this second revenue source later).

If you’ve signed up for CD Baby’s Sync Licensing Program, your music will be made available to video content creators for micro-sync licensing, as well as traditional sync licensing opportunities.

[Check out our interview with CD Baby artist Josh Collum to see how he quickly grew his micro-sync revenues from a few hundred dollars a year to tens of thousands every quarter.]

2. Collecting ad revenue through Content ID 

As I outlined above, you generate upfront income through micro-sync whenever a content creator legally licenses your music for use in their video.

But let’s be honest: most people on YouTube are not paying to legally license the music they use in their videos. That’s where Content ID comes in!

Through CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization Program, we’ll make sure YouTube takes an audio fingerprint of your songs using their Content ID system, and properly identifies every instance of your music across all of YouTube — not just official music videos you’ve uploaded to your own channel, but also videos uploaded by other people (known as user-generated content, or “UGC.”)

When they find such instances (in fact, when they find ANY instance of your music on their free platform) YouTube will serve up advertisements on those videos. Any time advertising revenue is generated from an ad placed on a video containing your music, you earn a share.

Why is CD Baby claiming rights to my video?

In short: we’re not.

If you see a “matched third party content” notice on a video you’ve uploaded to your own channel, that means YouTube’s Content ID system is working correctly. They’ve identified that your music is used in the video, and because CD Baby is helping you monetize your music across YouTube, the notice identifies us as the party who administers those rights for you. You still retain 100% ownership of your music.

Again, if advertising revenue is generated — by a viewer clicking an ad or watching some minimum duration of a video ad — you, as the rights holder to the music, are paid a share of that ad revenue. You’ll see the payment in the accounting section of your CD Baby members dashboard.

[If you want to know more about how and when ads are selected for display on your videos, check out our article “How monetization works on YouTube.”]

Granted, payment from a single ad click or ad view won’t be much to shout about, and you won’t earn nearly as much from a single micro-sync placement as you would if your song got used in a Coke commercial; but in the modern music industry, what your fans do (and want to do) with your music has real value. Cumulatively, ad revenue through Content ID and licensing fees for micro-sync placements can add up, especially when you consider that these earnings are possible in perpetuity.

Rather than the one big moment, it’s about volume over time.

How can you generate more advertising revenue on YouTube? Try a few of these techniques to encourage your fans to create video content using your music:

* Make sure your fans know they can use your songs for their wedding videos, family reunion videos, company or school projects, vacation slideshows, etc.

* Host a video contest and ask your fans to create music videos. It doesn’t have to be a big-budget production: It could be footage of a dance party, a stop-motion animation, a bunch of kids lip syncing, or a lyric video.

* Create and upload videos for ALL your songs (even if they’re just simple album art videos).

* Sign up your entire back catalog for CD Baby’s Sync Licensing and YouTube Monetization Program, because you never know which of your songs might be perfect for some content producer’s needs. Even your oldest songs can keep working for you long-term.

3. YouTube Music

Here’s where things can get a little more complicated. YouTube recently launched its YouTube Redsubscription service, which lets subscribers watch videos and listen to music (including full albums in high quality audio) ad-free  — even when offline — for $9.99/month.The music portion of this subscription service is contained within an app called YouTube Music (formerly known as YouTube Music Key).

As a CD Baby artist, if you’re distributing your music to streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify, your albums and singles will be delivered to YouTube Music automatically as part of your distribution package.

Note: this distribution to YouTube is a SEPARATE service from our YouTube Monetization Program, even though both are included in the price of any CD Baby Pro or Standard package.

(Don’t want your music streaming on YouTube? No worries. Just change your distribution preferences within your members account.)

So, if your distribution level is set to include streaming services, we will deliver to YouTube high quality album art videos, or what YouTube is calling “Art Tracks,” which play audio while displaying an image of your album cover.

These Art Track videos are available NOT ONLY to YouTube Red subscribers — for which you’ll be paid a streaming fee based on YouTube Red’s monthly subscription revenue (similar to how Spotify and Apple Music structure per-stream payouts) — but also as ad-supported content accessible to EVERYONE for free on YouTube.com. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re set up to collect ad revenue through Content ID as well, because the same exact Art Track video could be earning you money in two different ways:

* Revenue for a subscriber’s streaming activity on YouTube Music will be paid to you by CD Baby similarly to a stream on Spotify or Apple Music, and you’ll be able to view the details in the accounting section of your member account.

* If the video is viewed by non-subscribers, it might be generating ad revenue. Your share of that revenue would be paid to you through CD Baby’s YouTube Monetization Program.

What if I don’t want my music on YouTube?

That is fine. You can change your distribution settings within your CD Baby member account at any time. We’ll have YouTube remove those Art Track videos.

4. Elbow grease

There are, of course, plenty of other ways to use YouTube to earn money.  These include:

* Harnessing the power of your fan community through a service such as Patreon.

* Using YouTube Cards, calls-to-action, and video descriptions to drive external sales or crowdfunding.

* And the most obvious of them all — crossing your fingers and hoping that exposure/activity/promotion means that if people enjoy your music and videos on YouTube, they’ll be more likely to buy an album, sign up for your mailing list, or attend one of your concerts down the line.

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Hopefully this helps you better understand the process of monetizing your music on YouTube. The good news is, even if the details are still foggy, you really don’t have to worry about it when you sign up with CD Baby. We’ll monetize your music for you, make sure that Content ID is working correctly, and pay you what you’re owed (both ad revenue and subscription streaming revenue.)

Get started monetizing your music on YouTube today!

Looking for more info on getting the most out of YouTube? Check out the following articles:

1. Twenty-five ways to optimize your YouTube channel

2. The importance of watch time and subscribers to your YouTube channel

3. A quick guide to YouTube advertising for musicians

Note: Read the original article here, it has some video's that explain CD Baby's role in detail.