Analytics, Artist Marketing, Music Marketing, Soundcloud
What’s up musicians?! Do you ever find yourself sitting and staring at your Soundcloud analytics page, not really sure what to do beyond checking your weekly plays and likes? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Getting valuable insights from statistics and analytics can often be tricky; it takes some skill to put all those numbers and info together to add up to something that makes sense. In this post we’re going to give you the rundown on Soundcloud analytics navigation, which statistics you’ll want to measure, and what this data means for you as an artist. Let’s get started.
Layout and Navigation
To access your Soundcloud analytics page, click on your profile icon in the top right corner of the homescreen, followed by the stats button in the drop down menu.
You should now be on the main Stats page. From here, you’ll see that the default date range shows the last 7 days. This can be changed to the last 14 days, 30 days, 12 months, or any custom date range of your choosing. For easy navigation between dates, the arrows located beneath the graph area to the left and right will move forward or backward in time based on the date range you’ve selected. For example, if you set your range to 7 days, hit the back arrow to see the previous 7 days, and the forward arrow for following 7 days. Pretty straightforward, right?
Beneath the date range options you will see a list of your uploaded tracks defaulted in order of most-least plays. You will also see these numbers laid out in a graph in the main area of the page, telling you which specific dates the different plays came from. In the upper left hand area of the stats page you will see the options for plays, likes, comments, reposts and downloads. Clicking on any of these will change the information displayed on the graph accordingly, as well as the way in which your tracks are ranked.
To see statistics for an individual track, simply click the name of the track you wish to isolate in the track list in the upper right hand area of the page, and the bar graph will change to a dotted line graph showing analytics for that specific track.
Basic Statistics
For the most part, the basic stats offered by Soundcloud analytics are pretty straightforward; you’ll be able to see when and with what tracks you’re getting the most plays, likes, comments, reposts and downloads. But where these stats can start to give valuable insights, are in cases especially when things don’t seem to add up.
[Tweet “it’s important to try and put yourself in the shoes of the listener #soundcloudanalytics”]
Maybe one track has less plays than another, but it has much more likes, or maybe more reposts. In these cases, it’s important to try and put yourself in the shoes of the listener. Perhaps the reason your most liked song is getting a low number of plays is from something as simple as the name, or even the image paired with the track. What is it that is different about the most played track that is getting it all of those listens?
Another great way to use these statistics is when you start using other social media platforms to push your work as well. For example, say you just uploaded a ton of promotional posts to Facebook telling people to check out your Soundcloud page. If you make note of the dates when these posts went live, you can see how it reflects in your Soundcloud analytics. You can experiment with different social platforms to see which methods of promotion and which channels bring you the best results.
This is where Soundcloud can start to provide you with some very valuable insights. With a Pro Unlimited account, you’ll get more advanced statistics such as which specific people are listening to your tracks the most, which countries and cities give you the most plays, and which websites your listeners are coming from to get to your Soundcloud page.
Let’s start with your top listeners. This is a very valuable statistic that essentially lets you see who your biggest fans are. You can use this insight to reach out to them directly and show appreciation, ask their opinions on your music and what they’d like to hear from you in the future, and if they’re a fellow musician, collaborate!
[Tweet “ask for opinions on your music and what they’d like to hear from you in the future, and if they’re a fellow musician, collaborate! #soundcloudanalytics”]
Knowing which countries and cities are giving you the most plays is a great way to see where your biggest fan base resides. You’ll be able to see which locations your music resonates in the most, where potential marketing efforts will be the best received and what locations may need more attention, and which destinations would be best to gig at while on tour!
Arguably the most useful pro statistic is the ability to see which websites your listeners are coming from. One major benefit of this is seeing which social platforms are best for focusing your marketing efforts. For example, if the majority of your fans are coming from Facebook then you’ll definitely want to spend more time there; create more paid ads and maintain a consistent presence while engaging with your fans on a regular basis. Another benefit is the potential for finding new websites or bloggers who have linked to your tracks on their own means; this is a great way to reach out and make new connections for future collaboration!
In conclusion, you can use Soundcloud analytics as a reflection of the current standing of your music, and a great indication of what steps you should take next. We hope this post will get you started off in the right direction, but if you have any questions don’t hesitate to tweet us @thesm_artist to learn more about Soundcloud and other social media marketing tips :).
Artist Marketing, Artist of the Week
This week we sat down with the talented Knox Harter to talk about creating shows, promoting them and the wonderful world of burlesque. Knox is a Toronto based dancer, performer, teacher, and producer with a unique style and vintage flare. Read on to learn more about her and her work, as well as her new upcoming show The White Light Follies through the links at the bottom of this article.
1. What draws you to burlesque?
I fell into burlesque as a professional dancer by accident and found I had far more freedom to creatively express myself than contemporary or commercial dance allowed. The turn-over rate for creation is also very quick comparatively, which means within 5 years of High Society Cabaret’s existence, we have a diverse body of work. I have also found on a personal level that I get to indulge in more diverse and daring work, never mind the fact that the art form has taught me so much! Burlesque not only made me a better dancer, performer and choreographer, but turned me into a director, writer, and producer.
2. In 3 words or less, how do people describe your shows?
Theatrical, thoughtful and funny.
3. What is one goal you’d like to accomplish in your lifetime?
I have so many! One goal I have for High Society Cabaret is I’d like to get the point where we’re doing full 2-3 week runs of a show. I would love us to be THE must-see cabaret company in Toronto, in the same way, Paris has the Moulin Rouge. For myself, I’m starting to have big dreams of being an international headliner. I would love to just travel the world and perform and teach.
4. Do you spend time promoting your shows online?
I spend anywhere from 2-6 hours every day on creating promotion in general, about half of that time is online promotion. What I have found most helpful is setting up a timeline of how, when and what to promote. Typically I start promoting a show about 6-8 before the show happens. This gives it time to be “discovered” gradually by my audience leading up to the show. From there I pick and choose what aspects of the production I want to showcase in my time line, I try to suss out what will get the most draw when I need it, then I spend the last two weeks of my promo period with aggressive pushing. I try to keep tabs on which posts do well and when. It’s still a crapshoot, but each show I discover a new trick to expand my reach and get people talking!
5. What’s the most difficult part of promoting yourself and your shows online?
Getting people to actually take action! Toronto is such a difficult and temperamental city when it comes to engagement. They’re incredibly hesitant to see new art. They want the bandwagon to be rolling before they hop on. As a new(ish) company it’s a struggle to convince Torontonians to take the leap and try something new! The shows are fantastic! My cast in some of the best talent in the city, it is a guaranteed entertaining evening, but Toronto audiences are scared to commit in case “something better” happens on the same night. The challenge is convincing them aggressively enough to buy a ticket or show up at the door. Once they’re in, they’re always hooked!
6. What advice would you give to other dancers who are starting out?
Be patient and never give up! My grandfather told me when I left school “it takes years to become an overnight success”, and I’ve held on to that advice through every challenge, pitfall, and disappointment I’ve encountered. Every time something doesn’t go my way, I try to take a step back and assess why something did or did not work. I try and take responsibility of the things I can control, and let go of the things I can’t. And trust me when I tell you, that takes a LOT of practice! But I keep faith that if I keep going, I keep pushing and I keep learning, that one day my hard work will fall into place and bear the most beautiful fruit!
For more on Knox Harter, follow her adventures on social media here:
Knox Harter:
High Society Cabaret:
Enter a theatre in New York’s most iconic theatre district on the 1940s, as Broadway producer struggles to keep his productions afloat in a competitive market. It’ll take a whole cast of characters to make this show work, if only they could all just get along! With an original script, musical numbers and enchanting burlesque acts watch as dreams come true under the bright Broadway lights!
September 6th and 7th (Wednesday and Thursday)
Revival Night Club – 783 College Street
Doors 7pm, show 8pm
Standing ticket $15, Seat $25, all door admission $35
Artist Marketing, Artist of the Week, Social Media
It’s “Artist of the Week” time! This week we sat down with the talented Landon Abram to talk music and promotion. Landon is an upcoming Toronto based musician with a great sound and some stellar tracks already under his belt. Read on to learn more about him and his work, and have a listen to his newest EP through the links at the bottom of this article.
1. What draws you to creating your music?
So many things – storytelling is one. I feel like you can explore depths of an emotion or moment in ways that other mediums can’t. You’re simultaneously using lyrics, tone, instruments and length all as tools to create an emotional state in your listener. It’s a very fascinating art. Also it’s just really fun.
2. In 3 words or less, how do people describe your music?
Complex, dynamic, cathartic
3. What is one goal you’d like to accomplish in your lifetime?
I’d really like to get good at a martial art – like black belt level.
Black belt level
4. Do you spend time promoting your music online? If you do what has been most helpful for you?
I do but I struggle to put in consistent time. Treating it as a job helps; then I can’t ignore it. I’d rather be focusing on my craft, or going outside or something.
5. What’s the most difficult part of promoting yourself online?
I hate the self-focus. I love film, music and acting because you’re sort of removed from yourself and part of something bigger, while I feel social media depends on making your personality your brand. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just not something I understand how to do, honestly.
6. What advice would you give to other musicians who are starting out?
I’m pretty new to this myself, but prioritization. Don’t focus on a brand or website or frills if you don’t have the content to back it up. If you don’t know where your own artistry is, and what your songs are going to be about, why bother with everything else? And I say prioritization because all these things are important, and they all need individual focus. When you’re making music, you need to focus on making music. When you’re trying to get your music out there, focus on that.
To hear Landon’s work, watch his latest music video for his song “Monday” here and take a listen to his newest EP “The Darker Side of It” through any of the links below:
Bandcamp : https://landonabram.bandcamp.com/album/the-darker-side-of-it
Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/album/2sxPPXZ92jpp5t6i17zEux
iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-darker-side-of-it-single/id1257908408
Apple music: https://itun.es/ca/4II-kb
Artist Marketing, Branding, Facebook, Instagram, Music Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
As all things slowly start to hop aboard the digital train, music promotion has already boarded and is finding its seat. Music streaming and digital sales are edging out physical merchandising and advertising more and more each day, and having an online presence for your music is now a must-have. But it doesn’t have to be so hard! We’ve put together a list of what we believe to be 5 of The Best Social Media Sites for Musicians to get you started. Let’s dive in.
Soundcloud is an enormous community of artists and one of the best platforms to share tracks, receive feedback, build a fan base, and find other musicians. Many artists such as Post Malone and Bryson Tiller actually started their careers off the backbone of Soundcloud and were discovered straight from the site itself. With the music scene shifting more towards streaming rather than direct physical sales, this is a great platform to be taking advantage of.
Some of the great features of Soundcloud are:
- Users can like and repost your tracks. Similar to Twitter, when someone reposts your track, it will show up on their personal stream and allow their followers to see it, ultimately putting your music in front of more sets of eyes – Score!
- Comments on tracks are time stamped at the specific time in the song in which they were posted, giving you a neat way of seeing what specific part of your track made people want to comment.
Real-time comments are one of the many great features offered by Soundcloud.
- Statistics on when your tracks are getting plays, reposts, likes and comments are free with any basic account. Paid accounts can offer more valuable statistics such as plays by country & city, the names of the users who are playing your music the most, and which social networks and websites people are coming from to get to your songs.
Just like Soundcloud, Bandcamp is another one of the best social media sites for musicians, labels and fans to get together and share music. While Soundcloud is more social media based with commenting and reposting, Bandcamp is skewed towards creating a more well-rounded sales platform for your music and brand, and is home to more full length albums, merch sales, and more.
Some interesting features offered by Bandcamp include:
- Setting a price or a “pay what you think is fair” option for your music so that you can start making money off of your track instantly. You can even create your own discount and promo codes!
- New artist recommendations that can automatically put your music in front of new fans, ultimately growing your potential follower base without having to lift a finger.
- In depth statistics showing what’s being purchased and when, where fans are coming from and more. A paid account can even link your Bandcamp statistics with Google Analytics for some serious data collection.
- The ability to sell merchandise! You can bundle together your music and merch to make different packages available at different price points.
Although not directly related to music promotion, Facebook is an excellent platform to build a central hub for fans to reach out and have discussions, learn about upcoming shows, singles and more. With over 2 BILLION active users every month, it is also a great place to share content that has the potential to go viral.
Facebook offers many great page management tools that make it easy for you to highlight important info and find new fans;
- The use of a strong header image that shows upcoming singles, gig dates etc. is a great way to advertise important events without actually showing people an advertisement.
Here’s an example of a good promotional header image.
- The ability to pin posts allows you to pin popular content that is performing well to the top of your page where it can stay until you decide otherwise (perhaps a new video or single?)
- Pro Tip: Previous posts that have performed well can be used to grow your fan base by simply clicking on the ‘likes’ button to see who has liked the post, then clicking the ‘invite’ button to invite those likers directly to become fans of your page.
When it comes to directly communicating with fans, fellow musicians, and even labels, Twitter is absolutely one of the best social media sites for musicians to be on. Creating a dialogue and engaging with those that are most important to you is an amazing way to build your fan base, get in touch with other artists for potential collaborations, and even get discovered by labels (fingers crossed!)
In order to get on top of the Twitter game, knowing how to get the most out of the platform as well as it’s features is crucial;
- Start utilizing Twitter Lists. This feature allows you to categorize people/accounts into specific groups of your choosing. Make a group for labels of interest, number one fans, music blogs, favourite artists etc. so that certain people of interest can be found in one place with ease.
Twitter Lists is located in the drop down menu when clicking on your profile icon.
- Pay attention to trending hashtags! Stay current and be aware if any of the content you are uploading will naturally relate to trending topics.
- Reach out to other artists to build relationships, music blogs for possible features, and stay up to date on what your competition is doing.
- Insert links at the beginning of your tweets rather than the end; they are more likely to get clicked on that way. Also be sure to use calls to action! If you ask for a retweet, there’s a better chance you’ll get it.
[Tweet “Reach out to other artists to build relationships, music blogs for possible features, and stay up to date on what your competition is doing.”]
Instagram is one of the most popular and active platforms today, so not taking advantage of it would be a huge missed opportunity. Being the major platform for photo and video content, creating a brand for music on this platform and showing off behind the scenes footage of new song development, musician life, live performances and more is a great way to get your music heard.
Some important tips for using Instagram are to:
- Use relevant hashtags. Up to 30 hashtags can be included in a post and can easily be hidden in the first comment of your post instead of the caption to avoid the look of being too ‘hashtag-crazy’.
- Use the ‘story’ feature located at the top of the app to post a photo or video that lasts 24 hours and shows people what you’re up to in the moment. You can also start live videos from here!
- Follow other artists, labels, and music blogs. By now I’m sure you’re seeing a pattern. Building relationships is CRUCIAL on every platform and is one of the most important aspects of ALL kinds of marketing!
[Tweet “Building relationships is CRUCIAL on every platform and is one of the most important aspects of ALL kinds of marketing!”]
The world of digital music promotion can sometimes be a little overwhelming, especially when it seems like there is an endless number of websites and apps claiming to be the “be all and end all” for selling your work. But realistically, there is no one platform that is best to use, and instead you’ll find that creating a consistent presence across multiple platforms is the best method for successful music marketing. Hopefully this list gets you started off in the right direction, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send us an email :).
Artist Marketing, Branding, Social Media
Showcasing your art on social media for the first time can definitely seem a little overwhelming, especially when there are so many myths surrounding artist marketing that paint it in a bad light. But we’re here today to debunk those myths and let you know why marketing your work on social platforms is a smart move, as well as an essential part of being an artist today. Think of this as a little sneak peek of our #ArtistMarketing webinar on Jul 25 @3pm
1. Using Social media for Artist Marketing is “Selling Out”
This is probably one of the biggest things we hear from our clients at SMA. While you may think that putting your work up on social media is the equivalent to selling your soul to the big marketing machine, it really isn’t. It’s simply the way that things are done today, and it’s an absolute critical process in getting your work in front of the right sets of eyes. Merely using word of mouth and telling friends and family is just not enough anymore.
The tools now exist to show your art to the right audience with ease, and plenty of artists are taking advantage of this. If you are truly serious about turning your passion into paychecks, then accepting this reality and getting on the same level of your competition is a necessity. With proper planning and execution, your online artist portfolio can still hold true to your creative self image, and after time, the only thing you’ll see that your selling is your work itself.
2. Artist Marketing Takes Too Much Time
Would you say you have at least 10 mins of free time in a given day? Then you have enough time to market your art. Social media platforms have made it extremely easy to navigate and utilize their advertising tools with plenty of helpful tutorials and extremely user friendly interfaces.
Creating an advertisement on one of these tools typically takes no longer than 10 minutes if you know the type of audience you are looking to reach. After your ad has been created, checking it’s performance each week takes next to no time at all and can give valuable insights into how your post is doing, who is engaging with you, and ultimately who your new fans are.
Using social media management tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer are also great ways to help manage your time. Tools like these allow for posts to be scheduled with ease across multiple platforms at once, and allow you to monitor engagements and analytics of various social platforms all from one place; talk about a time saver!
Reserve my spot!
3. Artist Marketing Costs Too Much Money
If you have enough money to go buy that grande Starbucks latté every morning before work, then finding the money to market your art is the least of your worries! Paid advertising on social media can cost as little as a few dollars a day.
When creating a paid advertisement on social media, you get to set the maximum budget you wish to spend on that ad. Based off of the goals you aim to achieve as well as the advertising tool you are using, a specific algorithm will be used to put your ad in front of your target audience as frequently and efficiently as possible while staying within that set budget.
[Tweet “If you have enough money to go buy that grande Starbucks latté every morning before work, then finding the money to market your art is the least of your worries”]
4. People Online Might Steal My Art and Sell it as Their Own
If you’re just starting out in the world of social media and marketing your art, then this really isn’t something that you have to worry about. Unless you are a big time artist with an enormous following of thousands of fans, then worrying about somebody stealing your work and claiming it to be their own is not a pressing issue.
This almost certainly won’t happen
However, if it is concerning for you, using something like a watermark on your pictures or a disclaimer at the beginning of a musical track is something that can easily and quickly be done to prevent people from hijacking your masterpieces. Just keep in mind that an Instagram feed doesn’t look so pretty with watermarks. Consider the risk and act on it.
5. There’s Too Much Competition Stopping My Art From Reaching the Right People
We aren’t going to lie to you, you will have a lot of competition. But by using social media marketing tools to finely tune and define your target audience, getting your work to the right people is definitely an attainable goal.
Social media advertising tools such as Facebook Ads have changed the way that advertising is being done. Every time you go on a social media platform, you’re giving very valuable data about the pages you visit, your interests, hobbies, location, and so much more. All of this data is then utilized by these advertising tools to make finding the right target audience and marketing your work an absolute breeze.
For example, say you want to market your indie rock band that has a style inspired by artists like The Smiths and The Pixies; you can then use Facebook Ads to target people who are 1) Into indie rock, 2) Fans of The Smiths, and 3) Fans of the Pixies. This only scrapes the surface of the targeting options given to you on these social media advertising tools, but the end goal is a specific target that is best suited for your work.
See, artist marketing doesn’t seem so overwhelming now does it? We hope that this list eliminated some of the fears you may have had about presenting your work on social media, and that you feel confident and ready to create an online presence for your art. Thanks for reading and if you’re interested in taking your #ArtistMarketing skills to the next level – you don’t want to miss this webinar:
Reserve my spot!
Artist Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
What is Fringe Festival you ask? If we could sum it up in one word: amazing. Since it’s conception in 1989, Fringe Festival has aimed to support local artists by providing them with a platform to create theatre for the people, by the people. Today it is Ontario’s biggest theatre festival, showcasing over 150 plays at over 30 different venues in downtown Toronto throughout the month of July.
With so many great submissions from local artists all over, the festival has also made its fair share of success stories. Ever heard of the Toronto-based comedy show Kim’s Convenience? Probably not before Fringe Festival attendees did back in 2011 where it originally made its debut as a Fringe play. After receiving critical acclaim it was picked up by CBC as a comedy series, and is making it’s way to the big spotlight on the Broadway stage later this year!
But now it’s time to get to the real meat and potatoes of this post, which is why you (the artist) should be using Twitter to promote your play and create conversations around your work. Here are 5 ways you can promote your Fringe show on Twitter so that you can get your audience to come out and see it in person.
1. Create a Twitter Account for Your Show
Create an entire account for just my play? That sounds like a lot of work, isn’t that a bit much? NO. [Tweet “Creating an account for your work shows that it is something to be taken seriously and that it is a play worth tweeting about.”] It also gives your audience a platform to reach out to while funnelling dialogue to one location rather than only relying on your cast members to drive the conversation.
When creating your account, be sure to show off what the play is about! Include the name of your play in the bio along with a short description, as well as dates and times when it will be showing. Then make sure to promote, promote, promote! Use your personal page to promote this account page and let your castmates know to do the same. This is a sure-fire way to get your play the coverage it deserves.
2. Follow the Fringe Hashtag
Following the #FringeTO hashtag is an excellent way to constantly see what others are talking about in regards to events, plays, and the Fringe Festival itself. This gives you a great opportunity to add value to conversations, engage with other artists, and meet potential fans of your work!
Be sure to like, comment, and share with others, but be careful not to try and be too “salesy” when it comes to telling others about your play. Only promote your show when it seems appropriate. If someone is tweeting about how they lost their sunglasses at the festival and how it really bummed them out, promoting your show is a no no, but if someone is asking about play recommendations or looking for a specific genre that your play would fit into, then promote away!
3. Create a Custom Hashtag for Your Show
This one’s pretty straightforward. Creating a custom hashtag (usually as simple as #nameofyourplay) allows for dialogue to have a clear focus and for conversations around your play to be easily found through a standard hashtag search.
Additionally, the custom hashtag is a great way to run contests related to your play and to get people participating and engaging. Ideas could range from random tweet draws to photo contests where the hashtag must be used by every participant who enters.
4. Don’t be Afraid to Promote Your Show Online
Going back to the “promote, promote, promote” advice from earlier, this is a big one to take note of. [Tweet “Promoting your show should be just about as important as the show itself.”] Make graphics, share behind the scenes footage, show reviews and do whatever else you can think of to get your show in people’s minds and in front of people’s eyes.
Make your show personable and really let it come to life on Twitter. Let fans get to know your cast members, show them powerful or memorable quotes from the performance itself, and use writing in your tweets that encourage fans to retweet. These examples just scrape the surface of what you can do to promote your show, but whatever you do, be sure to keep everything consistent and true to your play’s image.
5. Build a Twitter List of Fringe-Worthy Followers
Last but certainly not least, building a Twitter list is a great tool that takes up hardly any time. Twitter has an AMAZING feature that lets you group together people/accounts that fit into similar segments or “lists” as they call it. You can then easily access these lists and see everyone who’s in it all at once.
Twitter Lists
So how would you use this feature to your advantage? By compiling a list of Fringe Festival organisers, supporters, performers and sponsors of course! This is a fantastic way to easily engage with fellow Fringer’s tweets and consistently be aware of all happenings related to the Fringe Festival.
And there you have it, 5 simple yet extremely effective ways to stay ahead of the promotion game when it comes to promoting your play this year. These tips shouldn’t replace all your marketing efforts, but it sure beats busking and handing out flyers all day; Happy Fringe 2017!
