Releasing a New Song with No Followers or Fans
Putting music out there and into the world as a brand new artist can be intimidating especially if you have no known fans and no followers. Spotify apparently receives 60,000 new song uploads daily and some sources even say that Spotify received over 100,000 a day in 2024. Though these daily uploads aren’t competition as there is room for everyone and everyone’s style and sound varies, this is still just a big number to get lost in.
Though I may not be trying to become the “next big thing”, I am trying to reach the listeners that may actually connect with my music. My biggest concern is that my music will be out there but my potential listeners will never know it exists. I simply want my music to be available and accessible enough so that the people who might connect or relate to it can actually find it.
So, how does one find their potential listeners? I’d say, the first logical step is to determine who your potential listeners are or your “audience.” Then, you can narrow down your marketing strategy to focus on your target audience rather than “everyone.”
How do you know who your potential listeners or “audience” are? Start with your genre. What kind of music are you making? Where does this genre get played? Where are the fans of this type of music finding new music?
Spotify is great in that it suggests similar music to listeners. However, getting Spotify to suggest your music isn’t necessarily easy. If you have no fans, no followers, and aren’t on a Spotify playlist, you will likely be lost and buried in the 60,000 to 100,000 other new song uploads. While still worth utilizing to the fullest extent, it might be beneficial to think outside the box and find other places people in your genre are exposing their new music.
What other places do people find new music other than Spotify?
Here is a list of websites for discovering new music other than Spotify. This list is in no particular order.
- https://www.allmusic.com/
- https://everynoise.com/
- https://www.trackhack.pro/
- https://app.radiooooo.com/
- https://bleep.com/
- https://www.discogs.com/
- https://www.indieshuffle.com/
- https://www.last.fm/
- https://hypem.com/latest/all
- https://bandcamp.com/
Which websites can I submit my new song release to other than Spotify?
From the previous list of new music discovery websites, the following accept product submissions;
The other websites pull their data from other sources like Spotify or Youtube rather than accepting submissions themselves. So, in order to be more accessible to additional new music discovery websites, it may be best to also be on Spotify and Youtube. HypeMachine (https://hypem.com/latest/all) pulls from over 400 different websites. So, as long as you are on one of these websites, you should be added to HypeMachine. In their FAQs section, they also provide good advice on how to get added to these websites and is worth checking out here.
Where else can I submit my new music release to?
After a new song release is submitted to Spotify and as many other music discovery websites as possible, getting some sort of press release or article on a music blog would be helpful. Some websites, blogs, and writers accept submissions themselves while others use another source like SubmitHub. Submitting your music to SubmitHub or a similar site allows you to get your music in front of many more playlist curators and bloggers than you likely would by submitting to one at a time on your own.
Someone wants to discover your new song
All of this is to say that if you’re going to make music, there is someone out there who wants to hear it. They just need to be able to find it. Though Spotify was my first go-to choice for getting my music out there with my first release Gray Days, there are other websites to check out as well for submitting a new song release, especially for those with no followers or fans. Spotify playlists are great but it may take time to get on these. In the meantime, utilize other new music discovery websites and try to get on a music blog post or article.
Lastly, of course social media is another option for posting new song releases, but that is a whole other topic and not super beneficial for those starting off with zero followers or fans.
~GLITA
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