PRACTICAL DIGITAL MARKETING TIPS FOR RECORDING ARTISTS

R Kelly

Often times I get approached by artists telling me they want to promote their songs online, that's not an issue, fine, i do that all the time and i enjoy the work. What i find baffling though is that many come when they are about to release their albums and think that after going down to Alaba or Upper Iweka market, get some marketers to sell their CDs, then told to go and do some kind of promotions to let the people know "what time it is" they come to me. 

Nna Na wa o!

Please note that your marketing (of which digital is an integral part of) strategy is very critical and deserves the same time and attention as the ones you put into recording those songs (I hope you did really put time and attention to your recording though).

Today, with over 11 million daily internet penetration density and 125 million active mobile phones in Nigeria, digital marketing should be an artist first engagement tool. This is the wonderland of unending opportunities and those who has learnt to live here right are reaping humongous rewards. 

So what do you need to do to design, develop and deploy effective digital marketing strategy to sell yourself and your music.

Below are my 5 tips 

1. WHO ARE YOU?
Abi na...Who the SPOON are you? It aint about the fake bling chains or the aba-made sneakers and the dirty china jeans. It's understanding who you are and the purpose for doing what you are doing.

TIWA SAVAGE

 A lot of artists walk up to me and in less than 10 minutes i know it's just a waste of time. Yep, it's no algebra when a so call artist say's "I just wan blow" or "i want to be like tu baba" I know he's dead before he was born sef. Originality and passion are your selling point, as an artist, you must make your music represent something unique and different and be passionate about it. You must see yourself as a messenger and your music as a channel for its delivery. All of the greatest and most accomplished musicians are known as a result of their individual identity and originality of their music. They love what they do, not for the money, but for the fulfillment of their inner callings. 
So also you too must begin to do same, define your music and the purpose you wish it to serve. The market knows and feels originality when the hear one, they know who is faking it and who is serious about what he/she is doing so "you ain't fooling anybody". Ok, there maybe one or two lucky exceptions, but you may never be one of these in a life time plus 2. Enough said on this...on to the next one.

2. MAKE MUSIC
LOL...isn't that what why you are here in the first place? Well let me prick your blow-blom (Balloon); lots of artists don't make music, they make noise. A cacophony of musical instruments joined and mixed with voices that's a mix of cricket and a drunk bullfrog trying to outshout each other is what a lot of these artists call music.
We hear these everyday and we are not impressed and if you are in this category of noisemakers, you are sitting on a veeeery long thing. The moral of this story is "You better make good music or else you are wasting everybody's precious time". 

3. GET A MANAGER/PR
Music business is serious business and should be treated as such. One thing i know about creative people is that very very few of them can play the business game and so end up being exploited. So if you mean to go far in this business sector and make a living from it, you need to get someone who understands the terrain and can handle your "biz".Your Manager should be a cross between RICHARD BRANSON and JIMOH IBRAHIM. 

Cellulant Nigeria is leading value added services (VAS) company based in Lagos. They have a wide range of mobile application services with key value propositions for Customers 

• Bulk SMS
• Shortcodes
•  CRBTs                                                                                                                                                    They are located in Lagos, Nigeria.

...TO BE CONTINUED