Here we are, we made it through the Holidaze once again and into a new year.
It’s been a strange and bumpy journey for many of us as 2022 carried ups and downs across the board. As you are well aware, things in the music industry are changing at a rapid pace and there no sign that it’s slowing down anytime soon.
I asked my team to weigh in on what we should know for 2023…
Here’s what we think.
Music Marketing Predictions for 2023
Marketing Prediction #1: Get Micro
Ariel Hyatt
CEO, Founder
If you strengthen the relationship you currently have with the right 25 fans this year your artist life could experience a profound shift.
What does this look like? It could start with a text to a few fans or friends who have been really supportive
I know this may sound trite but here’s the thing – you can’t do anything well if you feel like you are forcing yourself – just because you SHOULD be posting 5678656787678 times a week on TikTok to catch the magical algorithm that will make you famous do you really want to? If you do and you LOVE it and it gives you JOY do it – if not focus your attention where you really do get pleasure. Of course, you will have to put some effort in somewhere when it comes to connecting your music to people with ears who will listen
Great things mostly happen with people you KNOW.
Marketing Prediction #2: Digital and Social Media Platforms are the New Norm
Melissa Nastasi
PR Team
Over the course of the past three years, Independent musicians have been getting more creative in their tactics to reach greater audiences not only on digital platforms, but on social platforms as well. I feel like this will continue as the new normal. This also makes artists push their own boundaries beyond creating music and submitting onto platforms. They will continue to be more engaged. Artists will continue to use platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to keep fans interested, especially younger audiences which will help them thrive even more so. I sense in the earlier part of 2023 we will see a steady number still in live streams and live stream platforms as an alternate way for people to experience music.
Marketing Prediction #3: Ads Are the New Fad
Abbey Olson
PR Team
In 2022 alone, there were upwards of 100K new tracks being uploaded to Spotify each day, not to mention the uncertainty of Twitter and decline of Meta due to TikTok’s superiority. I think paid ads via Spotify and Meta will both become the primary place for fan engagement and growth. Spotify ads and social media ads, (specifically with Instagram and Facebook because of uncertainty with TikTok), will become the best possible way to organically grow fanbases because of the rise of short form video content and podcasts. Ads will become the best way to lead through the heart and not the mind.
Marketing Prediction #4: Community is Key
Annie Stokes
TTU Team
Marketing Prediction #5: Vulnerability, Mental Health, and Self Love/Growth
Jenn Aden
TTU Team
I think the vulnerability of people on social media will be on the rise as more and more people open up about mental health. The self love aspect will continue to grow as well as long as celebrities like Lizzo promote being yourself no matter what! The authentic content will be in the forefront as people take “home made” content versus professional photo shoots to seem more down to earth and relatable to their followers
Marketing Prediction #6: Personal Branding to Make Money
MeccaGodZilla
TTU Team
- Focus more on not only making the music they love but also making tailored or remix versions of their songs for the chance to pitch them to TV/Film music supervisors.
- Take advantage of selling direct to fan products like NFTs (with special limited edition tangible items shipped to the customer), digital downloads, CDs, and vinyl.
- Set higher but affordable price points for singles, EPs, and albums that fans can purchase as a way to establish a musician’s true value (for example, the album that is normally $9.99 is now priced at $30 on the artist’s website which sells directly to fans). Artists will earn more with 50 die hard fans than 10,000 – 20,000 people that stream.
- Wait longer to release music to DSPs to take advantage of the direct to fan sales. The wait to release on DSPs should be 2-3 months (an artist that does this really well is Hip-Hop’s Roc Marciano).
- Collaborate more with international artists to take advantage of sharing global fanbases.
- Pivot into using email newsletters more to avoid social media burn out while trying to keep up with social media trends.
- Push fans to listen and subscribe to their albums on YouTube to take advantage of the ad dollars. The earning potential here can be really great depending on an artist getting their first 1000 followers and creating a volume of content to upload.
Marketing Prediction #7: Outside the Box Growth
Lorne Behrman
Our most trusted bio writer, master wordsmith and the only man who collaborates with our team
- Visualettes taking the place of videos, as they’re more affordable and easy to make, and they’re just as effective as regular videos.
- Artists seeking labels and music biz opportunities outside of the U.S.—there is literally a whole world out there. Nothing wrong with being big in Japan!
- As we come to an election year, artists will be aligning releases with causes and platforms they feel passionate about to galvanize their audiences.
