Social media is even more important when you’re looking to promote your music than ever before! Going social is the best way to reach out to fans, get them listening, and inspire them to tell others about your music.

Social media is beginning to truly live up to its name: it’s going social. Social media isn’t just about people sitting in their room complaining on Facebook any more. It’s something you take with you to events so that you can share it from different points of view, and share it with people who couldn’t be there.

That makes it perfect for any musician looking to promote your music and get noticed!

So what should musicians know about recent changes in social media? Let’s take a look at new ways to help promote your music!

Using Social Media To Promote Your Music In 2013

If you want an overall theme, it’s this: Be in the now, man.

Be spontaneous. Be creative. Find ways to get people interacting with you and talking about you. Create moments that people remember. Social media moves so quickly that you have to keep doing buzzworthy things, so make them fun surprises. (Plus, that’s cheaper than a real PR stunt.)

• Be there. Some of the hottest social media apps in the last couple years are location-based. Services like FourSquare have inspired most of the major social media sites to add check-ins, which open up great new ways to interact with your fans. Have surprise jam sessions and invite people to check in as they arrive. Offer smaller promotional items to people who check in.
• Keep the stream flowing. You need to keep up your social media feed throughout an event. Getting people to use a #hashtag on Twitter prior to an event is a great way to give fans a single place to talk. However, you need someone to keep up your side of the conversation. Appoint your favorite roadie, or find someone backstage who’ll keep up with your tweeting.
• Stay interacting. There’s nothing wrong with using your social media to self-promote, but always keep your fans involved. Don’t say anything that doesn’t invite them to say something back. Respond positively to fan initiatives and consider greenlighting anything you’re pretty sure won’t make you look bad, even if you’re not sure it’ll work. Let them try; it’s totally free advertising if it works. In short, on social media: work the crowd, always.
• Get visual. Photo and video-sharing semi-social sites are getting huge. Look to picture posting services like Instagram and Snapchat and video snippet services like Tout and Twitter’s new Vine. Don’t forget that your visuals sell you along with your music. Keep the new media flowing and send your fans new material to pass around! The “tiny” nature of these apps makes it easy to quickly capture a moment to promote your music, upload it, then move on to the next!
• The show must go on. It’s the golden rule. Whenever circumstances conspire against you, turn social media into part of the show! Did someone screw up some wiring and delay the show by half an hour? Laugh about it on social media and get people laughing with you. Social media allows you to be your own emcee, keeping the crowd upbeat even when the show is temporarily stalled.

Social media is a must for any musician looking to build his fanbase online in 2013. Reach out, connect with your fans, and give them great experiences that leave them wanting more!