Music makes the world go round. It has evolved into a form of language that can convey complex human emotions through sounds. From pop music to some of the more obscure genres, people around the world can enjoy numerous types of music.
One such genre is shoegaze music, a subgenre of rock music that originated in the late 1980s-early 1990s. It involves heavy use of effects pedals on which the artists looked down during their live performances, leading to the name. Despite being a niche music genre, shoegaze still enjoys an active fanbase.
As a shoegaze band looking to promote your album, you will have your work cut out. But thanks to some clever strategies, you can effectively give yourself the edge and advertise your album to a broad audience.
Get Active On Social Media
It goes without saying that social media is crucial for anyone looking to have any sort of presence in the 21st century. As a shoegaze band, this will be the number one place for you to interact with your fans directly and update them regarding new releases.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are the main platforms used by artists and performers to communicate with their fans. You should have active accounts on all these platforms and make regular posts regarding your band’s activities. When you have a new release coming up, you will first advertise it on these platforms. That way your fans will know of your upcoming album and will buy it or stream it as soon as it releases.
One of the pioneering bands in the shoegaze scene My Bloody Valentine took to Instagram to inform their fans about their releases. In this instance, they put their earlier work up on Spotify for fans to listen to, but the same strategy can be used by your band for your upcoming album.
Use Eye-catching Album Covers
The cover for your album encapsulates its identity in a graphical form. For that purpose, it should catch the viewer’s eye and compel them to purchase and listen to it. Many fans will do so just because your logo is on the album cover. However, to convert casual fans or non-fans into dedicated listeners, your album cover must be impeccable.
To create your album cover, you’ll need some creativity and a tool with which to design the art for the cover. You can choose something like Adobe Photoshop or work with an online design tool, such as PosterMyWall, where you don’t need to download and install anything. With online design tools, you can get a head start by picking from professionally designed album cover templates being offered on the website.
Simply choose the one you like, tweak and add as you see fit, add in your logo and album name and you will have your album cover ready for download. You can then use this album cover to promote your album on your social media posts as well since it will be an image and easily uploadable.
Tease Your Album
Film and TV production studios build hype and tease their upcoming movies and shows with teasers and trailers before their release. It builds anticipation among the audience and ensures that a large number of people will watch their productions.
As a shoegaze band, you may not necessarily use teasers or trailers, but you may build hype and tease your album by releasing a single leading up to the album’s full release. Choose your album’s best song and release it sometime before the album is fully released. This will build hype, give the audience a peek at the good stuff and leave them wanting for more. So by the time your album is released, you will have a number of people quickly buying it and listening to it.
One of the pioneering bands in the shoegaze scene Slowdive, released a single before the release of their album. They chose to make a music video for the song as well which is also another great way to promote your releases. The single also features on the album but in this case, acts as a trailer for a movie. The same can also work for EPs in addition to full-length LP releases for your band.
Forums And Subreddits
An excellent way to put your band and your music on the scene is by posting and interacting with shoegaze and niche music fans on dedicated forums. By posting and sharing your music on these sites, you can expose your music to the most passionate fans of the genre and get heard.
You may also want to consider interacting with shoegaze and indie music subreddits. You can share your music there and people will listen and interact with your band. Fans on these subreddits regularly discuss the genre, songs, albums and their favorite bands in the scene.
Once you get a solid following, you can also create dedicated subreddits for your band where you can hold AMAs (As Me Anything). Fans can post their questions for you to answer and get an inside look at your workings as a band. It’ll also become a central area on the internet for your fans to get together and share the love they have for you and your music.
At the end of the day, people will listen to your album if you have made good music. Despite all marketing techniques and strategies, the quality of your music will determine how the public perceives it and how much they listen to your album. As mentioned before, shoegaze is a niche genre and enjoys a smaller piece of the figurative pie in the music industry. This means that you probably won’t enjoy a listener base as extensive as pop music for example. But by using the techniques listed above, you can give yourself the edge and increase your audience numbers and get your album out to a far greater number of people than you would have managed otherwise.
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