10 methods to market your again catalog

Most musicians transfer on too quickly.

They put all their inventive deal with the subsequent launch. Or they solely promote their newest work, neglecting all of the songs that got here earlier than.

However taking your consideration off your older tracks is a mistake. As a result of there are three massive causes why you must proceed to market ALL the music in your again catalog.

Why your previous music deserves new consideration:

• The primary and easiest cause? Good music is good music. Whereas YOU could be targeted in your current stuff, your older releases will nonetheless be model new to a lot of the world.

• Subsequent, your again catalog is a income. Your present followers already like your older music. So discover causes to maintain ’em coming again to stream tracks and purchase associated merch.

For these causes and extra, you possibly can’t neglect your again catalog.

On this article, I’ll offer you an inventory of how to encourage present followers to replay music they already love, and to entice new followers who’ll dive into your whole catalog.

Tips on how to deliver contemporary curiosity to older music

1. Have fun album anniversaries

Anytime certainly one of your albums turns 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25…

… it’s an apparent probability to rejoice that music over again. You don’t at all times want remastering or bonus editions to commemorate an album’s birthday.

You may retell the story of the album. Ship an electronic mail. Make social posts.

It doesn’t need to be a year-long celebration, however a minimum of give the anniversary a month of content material and recollections. And — that is essential — keep in mind to inform your followers precisely the place to go to hear once more!

2. Drop unreleased tracks

Not every part you share must be a cultured diamond. In actual fact, not every part you share even must be completed.

Should you deserted a observe throughout a selected session, share it and inform us why it by no means made it onto an album. You may launch demos. Alternate takes. Something that helps construct a much bigger story round a earlier interval of labor.

And if it doesn’t really feel worthy of strangers’ consideration, you don’t need to distribute the music to platforms like Spotify. Simply share it immediately along with your followers and electronic mail subscribers.

3. Do a collaborator shoutout!

Typically self-promotion appears like tooting your individual horn. Should you battle with that, overlook about your self for a minute and brag about your collaborators.

Did a participant, bandmate, featured visitor, producer, or co-writer contribute one thing wonderful? One thing you could possibly’ve by no means accomplished by yourself? Sing their praises. It’s an effective way to point out gratitude whereas additionally bringing consideration to your individual music.

In case you have an everyday collaborator, you’ll have much more choices as a result of you possibly can spotlight a number of moments you recognize from them all through your catalog.

4. Playlists, playlists, playlists

Playlists offer you nearly infinite methods to contextualize your music.

You may group your tracks by:

• collaborator
• temper or style
• subject or theme
• interval of your profession
• a selected city you lived in whereas creating the music
• influences
• instrumentation
• different musical parts like key, tempo, and so on.
• success metrics (“Best Hits” or “Largest Misses”)

5. An artist’s-choice content material collection

Create a number of totally different, quick, themed, content material collection you could run on social and electronic mail, akin to:

• The songs I’m proudest of
• My 3 greatest lyrical traces
• 5 belongings you didn’t learn about me
• My prime 10 movies
• 3 individuals who formed my music
• My favourite guitar solo

I believe you get the purpose. You provide you with an idea that requires a number of emails or posts, and use the theme to generate deeper and sustained curiosity in your older music.

Should you set these up as automated electronic mail sequences, you possibly can even schedule them to be delivered all year long to anybody who has just lately subscribed to your listing. And naturally, ship these to EVERYONE in your listing when the collection is first created.

6. “Free (plus transport & handing!)”

Have you ever ever heard or a Free + Delivery & Dealing with music provide?

It’s an attention-grabbing advertising and marketing campaign-type the place you provide to ship somebody one thing without spending a dime, so long as they pay for transport.

As soon as they’ve entered their fee data, you then current a second (and even third) provide for added merch gadgets — normally with a limited-time low cost.

Not everybody will elect to buy extra gadgets, in fact, but when sufficient folks do, you possibly can revenue AND construct your electronic mail listing concurrently, all whereas giving freely your music.

7. Dwell listening events!

Host an occasion the place you inform folks attention-grabbing information concerning the songs earlier than or whereas the music performs.

This may be accomplished digitally on Discord, X, or Twitch. Or it could possibly happen IRL at somebody’s house, venue, or artwork house.

8. One-off efficiency movies

Nobody mentioned you want a particular cause to carry out your individual tunes!

Shoot a dwell efficiency video for Reels and TikTok. Who cares if the track is 2 or twenty years previous? Then discover the perfect 15-second clip. Put up it.

If certainly one of these dwell movies will get traction, you possibly can comply with up with extra supporting content material.

9. Carry out a particular album

We’ve all seen artists stage a themed tour round a selected album.

Roger Waters has accomplished this for Darkish Facet of the Moon. U2 did it for The Joshua Tree. You may do it too…

… for ANY of your earlier albums.

In actual fact, I as soon as did a 7-day residency at a venue the place I performed a special album of mine every night time, so you possibly can work your whole catalog into sure occasions.

And you’ve got choices past venue reveals and festivals. You are able to do one thing related everytime you need through livestreaming!

10. Promote!

Probably the greatest issues about digital advertising and marketing is that it offers you comparatively low-cost entry to large world audiences. You can too take a look at plenty of totally different content material to search out what works greatest.

And since your oldest music shall be model new to most individuals on-line, you possibly can use your highest performing social content material to achieve strangers at a decrease value.

So long as that advert content material stays a cheap solution to drive engagement, promote merch, and construct your viewers, go away the advertisements operating.

Once more, who cares if it’s an older track that performs greatest in your advertisements? It’s working!

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Conclusion

I don’t count on artists to prioritize older music ABOVE their newest launch.

Nor ought to they.

That wouldn’t appear real looking. Each by way of efficient promotion and your individual pleasure as a creator.

However I hope you a minimum of see the significance of selling your again catalog. A minimum of sufficient to schedule in a number of of those promo campaigns all year long.

The sort of effort goes to be more and more essential if you would like your music to stay algorithmically related and discoverable on streaming platforms.

And given {that a} deeper catalog is an unimaginable assortment of music, moods, and connection factors, you possibly can leverage ALL of your work all through the years to develop your engagement, enhance your income, and construct your viewers.

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