During these incredibly uncertain times, nobody is quite sure how long the containment efforts of COVID-19 will last. During this downtime, it’s important for you to continue working on your craft to make sure you’re ready to go once things start up again. Don’t fall behind! Here are some things you can do to stay on top of your game while social distancing.
9 Things Musicians Should Do During Coronavirus Downtime
Update Your Website
Yes, your social media presence is very important. However, your website is your home base. It should be a streamlined hub for everyone to access anything they could possibly want to know about you. Your website should include these things:
- New bio
- Press photos — good quality ones, please!
- Update all your videos
- Latest Music
- Lastest press support
- Contact Info
- Links to ALL your socials
- Live stream dates
- Donation and funding options
- Press features
- Add a newsletter subscription area
Your website doesn’t need to be flashy or extensively intricate. Keep it simple. You don’t want to overwhelm the viewer, but you do want to include the most important and best things you have to offer. Make sure it’s polished, easy to navigate and ready to go!
Optimize your YouTube Channel
Is your YouTube channel getting the most exposure it could be? Do you actively work on optimizing your channel? If not, you need to! With Symphonic, we can increase your video’s potential and visibility with our YouTube Optimization Services.
If you’re a client, we’ll analyze your overall brand, content and KPI’s based on your YouTube channel, website, and social media presence to develop a custom strategy that fits your needs and increases the visibility of your videos.
Auditing yourself is a great way to make sure all your IP (intellectual property) is looking crisp and clean as can be. That way, no matter where your fans are, they’ll have the most up-to-date image of you, your brand, and your most recent content. We also have a great YouTube guide that can help you get up to speed in all things YouTube.
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Learn more…
Marketing Strategies You Should Know as a Musician
5 Things Every Musician Needs on Their Website
The Complete Guide to YouTube for Musicians
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Register with a PRO
If you haven’t already, you need to make sure you’re registered with a Performing Rights Organization like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. This is crucial. These are the people who make sure you’re getting paid every time your song is played!
If you don’t want to deal with this, it’s a good idea to seek out a publishing administration company like Songtrust who can help you manage your catalog and collect your royalties worldwide.
Take Online Courses
Have you been meaning to improve your social media skills? Or maybe you’re realizing you have a lot to learn about music marketing? Now is the perfect time to bunker down and sharpen your skills. There are tons of online courses to help you learn whatever you need to to get ahead of the game.
Short on funds? We get it. Now more than ever, times are uncertain and money is tight.
- In the post, “5 Courses to Level Up Your Social Media Game”, we highlight some classes that are either FREE or under $12 to help you be the best you can be when it comes to social media marketing. Work smarter, not harder.
Want more? Check out “Music Industry Topics You Should Be Learning About” to sharpen your skills even further.
Create New Playlists
Besides Spotify, you can also be creating playlists on Apple and Deezer. Some ideas can be:
- Collaborative playlists with other artists from the events that got cancelled and share it
- Playlist of the acts you were going to see at the festival that was cancelled
- Playlist from inspirations for our releases
- Mood playlists
- What you’re listening today
Create Your Own Challenge
At some point during this lockdown, I’m sure you’ve sat down to scroll through the deep abyss of the internet and found yourself still scrolling hours later. You’ve seen the TikTok challenges, the Facebook challenges, and so forth. Why not make your own?
Need inspiration? I assume you’ve seen the viral videos of music blasting from people’s balconies in the streets of Italy with everyone singing along. Consider challenging your fans to post a video of them screaming YOUR lyrics into the world.
Engage with Your Fans
Because we’re stuck at home, artists or otherwise, a lot of us are killing time glued to our phones and computers more than ever. Now is a great time to show your fans some love on socials. Especially in stressful times like these, we could all use a little pick me up. Symphonic is now offering their socials for clients to use for a live stream. Interested? More details here.
Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Live Stream a behind the scenes look at your studio
- Report Fan content
- Host an Instagram contest
- DM some of your most consistent fans a heartfelt message
- Collaborate on a playlist together
What would you want YOUR favorite artist to do on socials to show their appreciation for you? Get creative with it. Get personal. Showing your fans that you are, in fact, a real life human with real life feelings will only help grow your fanbase and foster a deeper connection with those who have had your back since the beginning.
Share Prevention Practices
Show your support by sharing some prevention tips or best practices for staying healthy during this time. Share hand-washing techniques by doodling them out on a piece of paper and encouraging others to do the same. Post a video of you washing your hands while singing along to your latest release. Get creative with it. Not only is this great for spreading the word, it’s fun to do, too. It’s also important to show your audience they aren’t alone in this, and you’re right along with them.
Re-think your Workflow
Are you getting the most out of your online services? Do you think you could streamline your processes to get more done? Now that you’ve got some time to sit back and reflect on everything you do, it’s a good time to rethink what’s been working and what hasn’t.
Whether you need to save time, automate certain processes, or learn to delegate, our blog has some insights to help you improve. Below, you’ll find some posts to help guide the way.
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Optimize the way you work with these helpful resources:
5 Tools to Transform Your Music Career
How to Tap Into Creativity When You’re Uninspired
5 Time-Saving Social Media Content Creation Tips
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In Conclusion…
Take this time to reflect on how you manage your day to day. Assess where your strengths are. Pinpoint what things you could be doing better and learn how to improve them. The last thing you want to do during this social shutdown is to shut yourself down. Use this time to better yourself and future you will thank you for it.
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