Hey, you! Yeah, you! Are you a new musician trying to get your music out to more people, but don’t know how? Mixtape contributor Celina Ip sat down with two dudes just like you and asked about the ins and out of self-promotion—whether you’re an original songwriter or a YouTube cover artist.
Halifax-born singer-songwriter Gareth Bush moved to London, Ont. as a kid, where he’s now working on a Masters of Arts in Journalism at the University of Western Ontario. Though he’s busy, he manages to find time to play local music spots, and maintain a popular YouTube Channel.
Trevor Murphy’s main gig is lyricist, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie-rock quintet Quiet Parade. From Yarmouth, N.S., Murphy has loved music since first hearing Fleetwood Mac records spin on his parents’ turntable when he was a kid. Now living in Halifax, Murphy keeps busy with Quiet Parade, working a public relations job, hosting his indie radio show, Halifax is Burning, and performing with his ‘80s cover band, Hungry Eyes.
Mixtape Magazine: What would be your starting point as an unknown artist trying to become, well known and popular?
Trevor Murphy: Having music that resonates with most people—I think of my band Quiet Parade as a lyrics-first band because our goal is to write songs with lyrics that are honest, genuine and believable. Then using social media to promote the music and create and solidify that connection with the fans.
Gareth Bush: Even though I do have my own original stuff, people don’t look for you if they have never heard of you, so I’m trying to put out tons of covers of popular artists to increase my fan base and then only afterwards I will start putting out my own original material.
So how would you suggest an original, non-cover artist promote their material?
GB: If you’re just putting out original music, then you have work with certain companies or hire a public relations team that will go out of their way to find places to use your music.
Have friends and others such as bloggers, radio shows, YouTube channels helped in promoting your music?
TM: I try not to play my own stuff on (Halifax is Burning), but sometimes my friends will play my music on their radio shows or when my band has an upcoming show, they’ll advertise it on the station.
GB: YouTube is huge for makeup and fashion bloggers so I messaged big fashion and beauty bloggers and told them they could use my music in their videos for free as long as they put my name in the contact information—because everyone wants to use music in their videos but they can’t or else they’ll get flagged for using third party content. So only a few of them got back to me but the ones that did had hundreds of thousands of subscribers and they used my original song called “The Mango Tree” and then all of a sudden all these girls started going to my videos and using my lyrics over Twitter because they had heard it in those fashion blogs. It was kind of hilarious, really.
And how do ensure that people will find and listen to your covers if they’ve never heard of you?
GB: I always try to do a really great cover of whatever is the biggest hit at the time. So I look at iTunes top 10 charts to see what’s out there and there is a direct correlation between what’s on there and what people are clicking on and looking up on YouTube. My most popular covers were released when the original song was fresh—the more relevant the song is, the more likely people will look it up on YouTube. The sooner you post your video the more likely you will be at the top of a search result.
Do you use social media analytics and try put out a minimum number of tweets or other social media posts per day to increase your following?
TM: Growth on social media should be organic and people have to want to be informed. So with Quiet Parade, I try to post something on Facebook once a day—even just pieces of lyrics or sometimes we’ll post some of our old videos.
GB: The key is quality over quantity—I used to put out a lot of web-cam music videos but now I’m putting out ones that are of professional quality. But also, be consistent, so you can’t just put out one great thing and then never again until a few months—you should be putting out new content all the time. Popular YouTube artists like Boyce Avenue, Kina Grannis and Tyler Ward put out a new video every Monday. The same with social media, be consistent and make sure it is quality over quantity.
Besides social media, what other tools can new musicians use to market themselves?
TM: Aside from social media, just meet people! Go to other peoples’ shows, play with other bands, talk to people and get the word out. I think the best promotion is subtle promotion, where people don’t even realize you are promoting yourself. It’s like going on a date—you don’t want to always be talking about yourself; you listen to what the other person says first and take turns talking, and then meet up again down the road.
GB: Collaborating with other artists helps a lot in increasing your fan base and just in getting your name out there—especially working with people who are talented and those who have a bigger following than yourself.
If yes, how do you go about strengthening your relationship with your fan base?
TM: With Instagram, we take photos of us on the road and at shows to give people little insights into ourselves as regular people. Because if fans connect with you on a personal level through social media, then the hope is that they’ll connect with you when you put out a record and then they’ll connect with you when you play a show—so again, that bridge that you build between the artist and the fan.
GB: Be super humble and be really interactive with your fan base. When someone makes a comment on your video don’t just say thanks but say something nice and take your time with it and then people will be more inclined to support you down the road
Photo: Supplied/Chelle Wooten-Bowes
Words: Celina Ip