After a ton of hard work you're finally ready to release your music project! Recent changes in the music industry have made it easier than ever for independent artists to create and release music that has the potential to be heard worldwide and make millions in royalties. Online access has created an equal virtual platform for all artists, regardless of where they're at in their careers. The opportunity for your music to succeed globally is very exciting in todays music business. The power lies in the artist and their team's potential to push the music. In this article I have included 7 methods to assist promoting a new music release.

Once the music project is complete and legally set up to earn royalties then it's time to push!

Website 

Consider this your hub to showcase your music. A place where anyone can access all of your music and you can learn information about your following. Your website will be continually evolving as you release new music and highlight the old. Keep in mind that when you sell music and merchandise directly through your website you will make 100% profit, verses the digital stores where an aggregator places your music and takes a cut (itunes, amazon, spotify, CD Baby and more). It's a good idea to direct traffic to your website to encourage fans to buy your music there first!

Your website will house your music, biography, shows, news, digital press kit and more. Bandzoogle makes it easy for artists to build a website that they can continually update at anytime. This is helpful to keep the website budget down and always be able to edit your website without knowing the complicated digital coding language on the backend of websites or hiring a website designer. Bandzoogle has a user friendly emailing system to store your email fan list and quickly design then send email updates to your fanbase.

Your email list is one of the most valuable tools to stay in contact with your fans. While it might be difficult and time consuming to collect emails, an email is a reliable source that you will always own. Social media sites, such as myspace or google plus, can fade and become obsolete. Once they do all of the time, money and energy you spent into those contacts will die with it. Instead use these social media sites as tools to build relationships with fans that lead to gaining emails. An email can lead to a fan buying your new albums for the next ten years. It will take time to build a strong email list but over the years it will become large and a great way to connect your fans with your musical evolution. One of the easiest ways to gain emails is to have an email list available at your performances and gigs.

The benefits of having a blog are endless and often times over looked by music artists. A blog is the perfect place for artists to communicate with their fans on a deeper level, get personal, tell stories about their releases, share knowledge, and so much more. Before you know it you will accumulate a ton of blog entries. In addition to entertaining your fans, you can monetize your blog so you can make money from advertisers!

Most importantly, having a blog will help your SEO tremendously by linking and back-linking to your website and other sites. Pictures that are properly tagged will excel in search engines when you have a blog that it getting traffic.

Reaching out and networking with other bloggers will richen your clout score to help you appear on the internet more. Find a music blog that will write a story about you or share your music and backlink the article to your website, blog and their website.

Get the news and local media outlets to write a story or review about your new music release by sending out a press release. A press release is a professional email that you send to local press in your surrounding area. Your email should include key facts about your release in a storytelling fashion. If the press finds your story interesting and timing works out, chances are someone in the press will pick it up. Having press run a story about your music will generate an extra buzz that people will take serious. Having an article written about you or being in the news or a radio interview will help you stand out as a professional, access new fans. It will also strengthen your SEO, clout score by back-linking to your website, and will be a crowd pleaser on social media.

Start collecting press contacts and create a special press group within your email contact list. Over time you will create these unique contacts through networking at shows and online. If you're new to the business or going on tour to a place where you have little contacts, do a simple google search such as "submit press release to news in (city)." Most major news stations have a page on their website where you can submit stories and breaking news.

There are many different unique kinds of events to launch your new music. Finding the event that's right for you will depend on the type of music project you are releasing.

Here are some ideas:

- Listening Party

- Website Launch

- Music Video Premiere

- Record Release Party

- Artist Meet & Greet

- Single Celebration

You're more likely to gain press exposure when you have a physical event that involves the community. Be sure to add your event to local print or digital magazines that list events. Many of these are free listings and will improve your clout score when done correctly online, in addition to bringing more potential new fans to your event. It's also a great idea to invite critics to review your new music and concert. This will be a great followup article after your launch event.

Notice that social media is towards the end of this blog article. Many artists solely rely on social media to push their music. On the contrary music fans don't find new music solely on social media. Where do you find new music that you connect with?

Social Media has significantly changed the music industry because you can reach anyone anywhere using social media properly. The trick with social media is to engage with your followers rather than collect followers and likes. Make real connections with people by commenting, sharing, messaging and more. It gives people a sense of empowerment when they feel involved with your music career. Let them know how much their support means to you!

There are ways to drive people away from your music by abusing the power of social media with obnoxious spamming. Posting the same content over and over again will do you a dis-service and cause people to unfollow you. Instead think of clever ways to spin and creatively display your new music over a series of many different posts centered around the same topic. Always be respectful and leave personal matters out that could offend your fan base. Be open minded that your fans come from many different walks of life but have one thing on common; their love and appreciation for your music! Sometimes saying less is better. After all people are following you for your music, stick to that topic!

Facebook - Have a personal and an artist account. Your artist account is considered a business account. Using the sponsored advertisement algorithms facebook offers tremendous exposure on a small budget. Facebook business accounts won't stream well if they aren't sponsored.

Instagram - Perfect for daily posts using eye catching photos. Include hashtags relating to your topic for extra exposure.

Twitter - Tweat away all day about your music. Twitter is one of the only social sites where redundancy and tweating often is socially accepted. Tweats are short and to the point. Hashtags will help you connect with other tweaters.

YouTube - YouTube is much more than a social media site. You can connect with other you tubers by commenting and following their sites. YouTube is a space to display your music videos, monetize your original material and make royalties from streams. Recent changes have made youtube a money maker for artists owning copyrights.

SoundCloud - This is a number one site for streaming music. You can interact with other music makers and fans. Recent changes have allowed royalties to be earned from streaming and monetizing.

Reverbnation - Create a profile on reverbnation and use this as an electronic press kit or temporary website if you don't have one already. Reverbnation is a great space to connect with other artists, venues, and other industry personal. Reverbnation offers opportunities to submit your music for professional opportunities.

Spotify For Artists - The background scene for artists who have music placed on spotify. Control how your music panel appears and learn information about your streaming history.

An old school method to promote music by simply networking and spreading the news about your music in public spaces. Printing flyers or posters and placing them in coffee shops, grocery stores, libraries and more. Be respectful where you distribute your literature. Be careful that you're not littering or leaving material in a private space where it will be thrown in the trash. Most public spaces have a bulletin board or a space in their store designated for the community to share their news, pictures, flyers and posters. If you don't see anything ask an employee if you can leave some of your literature.

The more people see your name out there the more you are branding your music. Keep grinding until you no loner have to introduce yourself!

Blogger and composer of the album, Wedding Music, ASCAP member, Katie Ann, is a music producer and music artist who has successfully released many works of art through her publishing company, LK PRO. A certified member of Wedding Wire and Buffalo Bridal Association, Katie Ann is a singing pianist specializing performing weddings and other special events. As an accomplished musician she offers voice and piano lessons to aspiring children and adults.