The way we consume music is an ever changing part of our lives.  CDs, downloads, streams, YouTube playlists, Spotify streams…it’s often hard to keep up with changes in delivery and consumption methods.  For an artist however, you should be concerned with methods that people use to discover new music.  Whilst you might have a small but engaged fan base, you’d like that to be bigger.  Most people haven’t heard of you or your music, so what are the ways that people use to discover new music? Recent studies suggest that people still rely on radio as their preferred method to discovering new music.

Radio. It’s still a way that most people discover new music.

A recent Neilsen Music study revealed that 51% of Americans still discover most of the new music they listen to via radio.  In addition, August 2014, a survey found that 64% of 1,000 16-24 year olds in the UK discovered new music through radio. This is in comparison to only 20% who used Facebook for discovery.

So the bottom line is that radio still has a very an important part to play in marketing your music. Things you should remember however:

• You may stand a better chance of getting played by using a plugger/PR company.
• Radio (and its producers, presenters) is still a ‘gatekeeper’.  They choose what their audience get to listen to; you might put a lot of effort (and money) in and not get played.

• The quality of music production needs to be good enough to allow it to be played (this is less important when your music is just online).
   

Got any questions about this post or how you can better market yourself?

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