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Independent artists no longer need a major label to release their singles, albums and EPs to the biggest online music stores. Thanks to independent distributors, anyone can start collecting royalties by selling and streaming their tracks.

Although it may be simple enough to get music on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and other platforms, it can be tricky to build the momentum needed to get your sales and streams up to a level where your royalties payments make a real impact on your bank balance.

That’s why we’ve compiled some fairly easy ways for unsigned bands and artists to increase their sales and streams, and start earning more money from their music.

Playlisting

The rise of streaming is impossible to ignore. Spotify recently hit 100 million active monthly users, and legions of music fans use Spotify playlists to discover new tracks every day.

Getting your music featured on a popular Spotify playlist can give your track a huge boost. But rather than just sitting back and waiting for your songs to get picked up, you should try pitching to playlist curators.

Playlist curators range from media figures and industry bods, to average Spotify users. You can either find them through Spotify, or carry out some research online and email them. In fact, you can submit tracks to Spotify playlists curated by Ditto Music right now.

Once you’ve found the right contact details, make sure to keep your email brief with prominent links to your music. Make sure it’s as simple as possible for them to quickly listen to your music and find out who you are.

Pre-Release

Making your music available for pre-release is another great sales-boosting technique. With pre-release, you can start selling your music on iTunes up to four weeks before your official release date, and all sales accumulated in that time will count towards your release day total and potential chart position.

You can add iTunes pre-release to any song released through Ditto Music. It’s an optional service that many artists use to as a promotional tool before their track goes live in stores.

PR & Social Media Campaigns

Creating and increasing hype and awareness around your music is the best way to achieve more sales (obviously!), but many musicians simply release their tracks online and sit back waiting for the sales that will never come. That’s why it’s vital to give your tracks a fighting chance by organising an effective promotional campaign.

Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are accessible to anyone, and are arguably the number one way through which new artists can connect with their fans. An interesting, engaging social media presence offers an easy platform from which to sell and promote your music.

An effective PR campaign is also a fantastic way to reach new fans and potential punters. You can either approach press publications like mags, blogs and fanzines yourself via email, or you can hire a professional PR company to help your reach the masses. It all depends on your budget.

Professional Online Presence

If you look the part online; fans, labels and influencers are much more likely to take you and your music seriously at first glance.

Maintaining a professional online presence doesn’t just mean regularly updating your social media channels (which you should be doing anyway!). It also means developing a dedicated website alongside eye-catching logos and graphics.

You should make sure your website has clear links to your music too, directing your fans to iTunes, Spotify or anywhere else they can stream and purchase your tracks. Make it as easy as possible for fans to find your music.

You can release your music right now with Ditto Music. Just head over to the Ditto site, sign up, and start uploading your tracks.