Releasing music as a new artist in 2025 can seem daunting. After all, there are seemingly infinitely many new musicians competing for listeners’ attention. However, all is not lost. Let’s take a look at a couple of simple ways in which new artists can attract new fans.
Provide New Fans With Exclusive Offers
Perhaps one of the most challenging things about promoting new music as an artist fresh to the scene is that you might not already have an established following. While other artists can tap into listener loyalty, it can be a harder task to attract people who are entirely unfamiliar with your music. With this in mind, one potentially powerful tactic can be to entice listeners to your music with exclusive offers.
This technique has been tried and tested in other sectors of entertainment. For example, many online casino platforms provide new players with the option of casino offers such as 50 free spins with the first deposit of £10. After that, players can opt into other promotions such as a free daily shot at the jackpot and daily cash drops.
Elsewhere in the entertainment sector, many streaming platforms for TV, films, and music offer free trials for their services. Again, this allows people to try out the different types of entertainment before committing to some form of subscription or purchase. Taking elements from these examples, new musicians can attract new fans by offering things like a free snippet of the track to allow listeners to see if it’s their cup of tea before purchasing.
And, since not all artists have the privilege to be able to publish on popular platforms like Spotify right out of the gate, you might even put your track completely for free on SoundCloud or on Bandcamp under a “Name Your Price” scheme, as making audiences manually type out the amount they wish to pay can, in a roundabout way, tempt them to actually be more generous with their donation.
Consider Collaborations
Another way to work around not already having a well-defined fan base is to leverage the fanbases of other established musicians. This could mean reaching out to labels, other local musicians, DJs, and others to see if anyone would be willing to work with you. If you know of any famous musicians from your local area, this can be a great shout, as, after all, they will have been in your position before!
For example, look at Ina Wroldsen. Outside of Norway, the singer-songwriter was relatively unheard of. However, Wroldsen was actually the brains behind many hit songs in the UK. Whilst pitching one of her songs to Calvin Harris, the DJ, who has a longstanding history of boosting up-and-coming artists, decided that he wanted to keep Wroldsen’s voice on the track. And that track was the hit single “How Deep Is Your Love”.
If the track has already been written and released, another option is to consider encouraging remixes of the song. After all, some remixes like Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)” and Sam Smith’s “Money On My Mind (MK Remix)” are considered by some to be better than the original. In addition, multiple remixes can allow your song to appeal to different listeners across genres, broadening its appeal.
And there you have it – just a few simple ways that new artists can attract fans and promote new music despite not having a loyal, established fanbase. Don’t give up! Good Luck!
