WHAT’S AN INDIE ARTIST TO DO?
I have used CD Baby for my music distro since 2010. I just switched to SOUNDCLOUD DISTRO. Here are my reasons;
- I am already a pro-member of Soundcloud. I have been using it for years to store over 100 of my original songs. I share them with friends and more. And since distribution on all the streaming services is included in my membership. well, why not? Why pay extra to CD Baby? In other words, no cost to me except my annual membership which I pay anyway because my over 100 original songs are already there and available.
- I really like that SoundCloud is taking an assertive position as the only real social media for music artists. I really like interacting with fans of my music through their DM system.
- They actually offer song promo tools to reach more SoundCloud members worldwide. As of the date of this post, it will cost $ 50 USD to reach about 4500 new listeners in the self-chosen targeted market. They offer strong target filters to reach your market. You pick which countries and even the genders.
- For me, SoundCloud is easier to find “new fans”. With CD Baby, there are virtually no promo tools.
I have over 5300 plays on my song RAMSHACKLED on SoundCloud.com. On Spotify, I am lost in the mix of 60,000 new songs uploaded per day while their playlist curators try to find the 1,000 or songs from that daily upload on their prized playlists. Honestly, Ramshackled is a really good song. But what chance does it really have on Spotify? It’s nutzo. I will still promote Spotify because it’s the largest in the world but Soundcloud is better for me, at this time.
For my music videos, Facebook Groups are working for me with some of my vids getting in the thousands of listens/views. On YouTube, where it used to be where I got hundreds of thousands 10 years ago, it only gets me a few hundred now. It’s too saturated and those ads are killing me. I hate them. They ruin everything interrupting songs midway through forcing visitors to join their membership base which eliminates the freak ads.
CONCLUSION
So for the indie artist, what to do? Well, SoundCloud is making more sense to me than CD Baby. And with SoundClouding being a social media platform, well, I can readily engage with fellow music lovers. It’s working!
But alas, each artist has to decide for themselves what target they are trying to reach and what budget they have. For example, Facebook generally sucks for music promo, at least for those younger artists who are competing using Tik Tok and Instagram. Why? Their targets are NOT on the “antiquated” Facebook. But for Boomers like me, well, my fellow boomers are all over Facebook. They think it’s the bee’s knees!
So for me, stay tuned because I will be touring a nursing home near you, playing to my fans, and pinging Facebook pages all day long! LOL! Enjoy!
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