Download Fender Artist Playbook for emerging musicians

The musical instrument company says the guide offers upcoming musicians advice on how to effectively release their music and build their careers on their own terms, from “cracking the TikTok algorithm” to leveraging alternative revenue streams, digital marketing tips, NFTs and more. “It’s a comprehensive resource for artists in 2021,” Fender says.

The Fender Artist Playbook includes a checklist with 15 things that musicians should do before they release a song or album.

“There are some really crucial things that you do need to do before your release gets out into the world to make sure everyone who should get paid, actually gets paid. If you want this piece of work to reach an audience of more than just your friends and family, there are some things you can do to help find a larger audience and get some traction on the streaming services. Some of them cost money. Some of them cost time. All of them are worth thinking about,” Fender said.

The guide offers tips like the 50/50 rule where artists should spend 50% of their time on the music and 50% of their time on promotion. The rule should also be applied to money spent, with “50% ... spent on the creation of your art (song, album) and 50% of your money ... spent on the promotion of that art. Too many artists put all their money into making the music and then have nothing left over for marketing and PR and wonder why no one cares about it.”

The playbook lists five marketing strategies for releases this year: New visuals and story, engage your core audience, submit to Spotify playlist editors, run an influencer marketing campaign, and run a digital marketing campaign.

“There are over 60 000 songs uploaded to Spotify every day. And the vast majority of them don’t crack 1 000 streams – ever. If you want some traction on your music, listen up,” Fender said.

Download the Fender Artist Playbook here.