From Creation to Promotion: A Guide for Independent Artists to Build Their Brand

Sacramento, 2010. Two neighbors, Stefan Burnett—better known as MC Ride (or just “Ride”)—and multi-instrumentalist Zach Hill, from vastly different musical and artistic backgrounds, form an unlikely bond over a shared love of art and black metal music. Together, they would create one of the most polarizing, avant-garde, and chaos-driven musical projects of the 21st century: Death Grips. With the addition of producer and keyboardist Andy Morin, the trio quickly set themselves apart from the conventional music scene.

In 2011, Death Grips released their self-titled debut EP on Super Bowl Sunday, under a full moon—with a leading track aptly titled “Full Moon”—an intentional, subversive release that would become emblematic of their unorthodox approach. Shortly after, they dropped their mixtape Exmilitary—also for free through their website—setting the stage for what was to come. The buzz surrounding their abrasive sound and unconventional release methods quickly caught the attention of major labels, and they signed with Epic Records.

However, Death Grips soon proved they were far from the industry's typical mold. In 2012, they released their debut LP, The Money Store, bypassing their formal release by leaking the project themselves on their website—again, for free—breaching their contract with Epic, and ultimately being dropped from the label. Despite having little to no formal promotion—aside from an active presence on niche websites like 4chan, and more popular video platforms like YouTube—they managed to generate immense buzz, with many considering the LP to be the best of the year. 

The rest was history. Through word of mouth, raw authenticity, and a powerful online presence, Death Grips built a fanbase that would go on to fuel their reputation as one of the most influential, disruptive acts of the digital age.

DIY was the only answer for them. Death Grips simply decided they would do it themselves—and in doing so, they became the embodiment of what it means to be independent artists. Their self-made, guerrilla-style marketing and mysterious personas were exactly what their fanbase was looking for. They relied on a strong online presence, dropping captivating visual media that kept their fans engaged and hungry for more, all while rejecting the conventions of mainstream promotion. Their catalog continues to be free to listen to and download on their website.

This is something artists can achieve on their own, but it is not as simple as it seems. The quality of your output as an artist must stay consistent, but the method in which you promote not only your music but yourself as an artist is crucial. This guide will provide some direction for those who may need help with music promotion and music marketing.

Music Promotion: The Key to Success

Music promotion is an integral part of the artist experience. We’ve come a long way from the image of a questionable person standing in front of their open trunk, selling $5 burned CDs with their music in the parking lot of a local record shop, or a group of people on the sidewalk trying to sell their mixtape to passerby’s. While you may still encounter this type of old-school music marketing out in the wild, it has become more of an anomaly for younger generations.

As an artist, it is important to identify your target audience to effectively promote your music. Think about the type of music you are creating and who would find interest in it. It helps to identify age groups, the types of people who typically consume this style of music, and general characteristics of where your music fits in historically. Comparing yourself to other artists may feel slightly sacrilegious in the creative process, but the public will do that regardless. Identifying the typical audience of a similar artist in the same genre can help you find direction.

Building Your Online Presence

Your online presence is often people's first impression of you. We live in a nearly entirely digital world at this point. Many artists leverage themselves using social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and X for online music promotion. Joining online communities and engaging with, and supporting, other artists will help you garner recognition.

Visual content plays a very important role in your online presence. Especially with the reliance on short-form video content on social media, you must find ways to create engaging visual media. Sure, a website is important, but whenever someone mentions an unfamiliar artist to me, I immediately reference their social media— as I’m sure many do. 

Record labels already rely on a certain level of social media presence before even considering dealing with new artists. Virality online is the primary focus. The unfortunate reality is that this may sometimes come at the expense of an artist’s integrity. Focus on presenting yourself in a manner that works for you and reflects positively on your brand.

The Importance of Live Performance & Community Engagement

Life doesn’t only exist online. Social media promotion may be essential, but human-to-human contact is equally as important. The elements of your real-life presence are crucial to who you are as an artist, and how you conduct yourself in these situations says a lot about how you will be perceived. Being active in your local music scene can open many doors for opportunities. Going to shows and supporting other local and traveling independent artists is a great way to promote your own music. It’s really a give-and-take situation. If you constantly show up for others, they will likely do the same for you.

You will eventually build a recognizable name for yourself in these local and DIY communities and start playing more and building a fanbase. Subsequently, your social media promotion will also become more effective. 

Being active in your local music scene is invaluable. Talk to other artists, make friends, share ideas, and check in with them. The music industry is all about connections, and as those connections grow, it is likely you will too. This makes it easier to book live shows, collaborate with other artists, and learn a few things along the way.

Distributing Your Music

Properly distributing your music plays a key role in music discoverability on streaming services. The primary way people consume music these days is on various platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. They are essential for music promotion and allowing your music to be available for listeners. Services such as DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby enable independent artists to distribute their music globally. 

These services also offer artists easy access to their analytics to help identify and track audience demographics, locations, listening habits, and more to tailor your music marketing strategy accordingly. While these services cost money, they won’t break the bank. Keep in mind that there are tiered subscription fees based on your needs. These services have been essential for independent artists to distribute their music without formal representation.

Playlisting: A Powerful Tool for Exposure

Along with digital distribution, playlisting can be an important factor for your exposure. Landing a playlist placement has the power to radically improve your streaming numbers and reach. Submitting to music curators can be tough, but if you are persistent, you have a higher chance of being noticed. Spotify for Artists, Apple Music for Artists, and other platform-specific submission tools can help with that. Making sure your music is polished and ready for release goes a long way. 

That being said, the likelihood of landing a placement on a popular playlist depends on your music marketing strategy. If you are consistently promoting your music and building an audience, you will have a better chance of being recognized by playlist curators.

Be sure to follow music tastemakers on social media and YouTube. Engaging with these content creators and looking out for open submissions can make a huge difference. A notable creator by the name The Yellow Button (@theyellowbutton on Instagram) occasionally hosts live streams while reviewing music submitted by her audience. She is a well-regarded, trusted source to shed light on new and emerging artists.

The Power of Music PR

The blog era of the late 2000s to early 2010s was a brief but incredibly impactful time for music promotion and discovery. It revolutionized the way artists gained exposure, particularly within the hip-hop community, and reshaped how people approached music marketing. Drawing from the same ideals as music magazines such as Rolling Stone, Spin, and Creem, music blogs were a force to be reckoned with, helping elevate artist visibility to the levels of stardom.

Although music blogs may not be the most sought-after form of music discovery today, they still serve as an undeniable resource for an artist's online presence and searchability. Reading someone else’s words about you as an artist can serve as a positive means to get your name out there. Never underestimate the power of music PR.

Setting Measurable Goals

Being honest and realistic with yourself as an artist may be a challenge. We all want to succeed and follow our dreams, but understanding what needs to be done to get there is half the battle. Establishing a music marketing strategy takes time and effort. Combining all of the previously stated methods can certainly help, but setting measurable goals for yourself is essential. 

Without defined objectives, it can be difficult to know whether your efforts are paying off. Whether you’re trying to boost streams for a specific song or increase your social media following, knowing where to focus your efforts at any given time will make the process more effective.

Free vs. Paid Music Promotion

Music promotion doesn’t always require a massive budget. It all depends on how you navigate your platforms. It is not at all necessary to spend money to create content for your social media platforms, but having some financial resources allocated to your music marketing efforts can make a noticeable difference in your ability to reach a larger audience. After all, it’s an investment in your career. You spent time creating your art, so ideally, you want people to spend time listening to it.

Paid Advertising

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube offer targeted advertising that can help you reach specific demographics. For example, running an Instagram ad campaign targeting fans of similar artists can help you gain exposure to people who are more likely to enjoy your music.

A well-thought-out budget will help keep you on track with your goals and help you identify areas where you may need a little more support.

Public Relations (PR)

Hiring a PR agency or freelance publicist to pitch your music to blogs, playlists, and media outlets can be a smart investment, especially if you want to increase your credibility and exposure quickly.

Content Creation 

If you're not comfortable handling all aspects of content creation yourself, you may want to hire a photographer or videographer for high-quality promotional photos, music videos, or live session footage. Content creation is easily one of the most effective ways you can promote yourself in the digital age. 

Free Advertising

Working with a limited budget, you could easily focus on creating your own content and building an audience organically online. 

Get creative with it. Tools like Kits AI can revolutionize your approach to content creation by enhancing your music production and streamlining the creative process. For instance, the Kits AI Stem Splitter allows you to isolate individual elements of any track, such as vocals, drums, and other instrumental sections, giving you endless possibilities to create unique content. You could use it to extract the instrumental of a favorite song and record a personalized cover, remix, or mashup that highlights your style.

Producers could benefit immensely from this, allowing them to chop and sample any piece of a song with ease. Crate digging doesn’t have to be the only option with this, although staying true to your roots never hurt. Alternatively, isolate the drums or bassline from your own track to create behind-the-scenes videos, tutorials, or play-along clips for social media.

These dynamic content ideas not only showcase your musical abilities but also demonstrate your versatility as an artist, helping you stand out in a crowded digital space. With tools like the Kits AI Stem Splitter, you can elevate the quality and creativity of your content, making it more engaging for your audience and helping you attract new listeners.

Live Performance

Live performance plays a significant role in your success as an artist. Creating content based on your performances can highlight the powerful presence you bring to these moments. Gathering phone footage from a friend or audience member is both free and effective. Being strategically placed on a lineup for a live show can also introduce you to new fans who may not have known about you before attending the event in support of another artist.

Think outside the box with your performances—you don’t need to stick to conventional approaches. For example, festival-goers leaving Lollapalooza were surprised to stumble upon the band Silly Goose performing on top of their van at a gas station. A massive crowd gathered before the performance was broken up, but this was a brilliant example of a truly DIY creative marketing strategy. The phone-recorded video of the performance gained nearly 100K views on Instagram, where they cleverly overlaid text promoting their upcoming new song.

Showcasing your creativity doesn’t have to break the bank.

Conclusion: Navigating the Modern Music Industry as an Independent Artist

Building a successful music career requires a multifaceted approach that blends creativity, strategy, and a strong online presence. It’s not enough to simply create music. As an artist, you must establish yourself as a brand and utilize every available avenue to promote both your music to the best of your ability. Drawing inspiration from Death Grips, who carved their own path in the music industry to become the reputable artists they are today, independent musicians have every opportunity to do the same.

By leveraging social media, fostering a strong community, and setting clear goals, you can pave the way for your success as an artist.