First I wanted to say that this is a dream come true! Two years I ago I wasn’t even sure if I would ever make my own music again let alone release my own single. But I did it. First single ‘Over and Done’ is out now on all digital platforms!
That’s the thing about living your purpose, you actually can’t escape it and we should all try to pursue that what makes us truly happy. Don’t get me wrong it took a lot from me and still is. Trying to release a song without a label and without big budgets demands you to be creative. Cause you still have to create a buzz and still have to create cloud and get people (fans) to listen to your music but without help from a big machine.
So for those who look for inspiration or some motivation, or just guidelines on how to do a release independent, go ahead and read through the steps I took to release my songs:
- First things first you start with creating a bunch of demo’s and from all those demo’s you pick 3 or 4 that have the most potential. Ask opinions of other producers or writers you trust and who’s opinion you value. And be careful with this cause not everyone is going to be genuine and building you up. That’s why you should always listen to your gut and take what you can use and benefit from the advice people give you. But don’t let their opinion determine whether you should do it or not. If you feel that your song has the potential to be great then just go for it!
- The reason why I picked 3 songs is because a lot of people are so focused on their first single that they forget they should have follow ups in place. If anything is a buzz kill it’s when you don’t have 1 or two songs to follow up your first single. Because you will lose your crowd and momentum when you release a song and then have nothing to show for. Believe me I learned that the hard way! Because then you have to build all over again. And a lot of people these days are so easy distracted. So the best way to keep your audience and fans happy is to be consistent.
- Out of the 3 songs you picked of course you should choose wisely. Cause the song you’re going to put out first will say a lot about you as an artist and the song has to make people curious about you and wanting to hear more off course. Not an easy job at all. My team and I had many discussions back and forth and that’s oke! These things should not be taken lightly. Let time go by and really think about it but work with deadlines. Cause you will have to choose eventually otherwise you can’t start the planning of the release.
- Once you’ve chosen your first, second and third single you can make a release plan. Write press releases, bio’s (if you haven’t done that already) plan to shoot a video, photoshoot, cover artwork has to be made and the songs should be mixed and mastered off course. And most important of all make a good social media marketing plan. Cause it’s nice and all to put music out there, but if no one will ever know that it’s out there, you might as well stay and record in your basement forever. (lol)
- For extra promotion, reach out to local radio stations, Pluggers, Dj’s and influencers on Instagram to get the flow going. Something I learned during this process is not to expect results right away. Music needs to grow on people and will take some time. You should not overkill the promotion, just let the song take the time it needs.
- What I am trying to do now is to get in on some great playlists on Spotify and Deezer etc. that way a lot of people you normally wouldn’t reach come across your songs and they might like it and add it to their favorites list. I even discovered some of my favorites songs today because I was listening to a playlist on Deezer. This is still new for me, so I will write more about it once I have more experience with these things.
- When your releasing a new song, a lot of people want to get to know you and see what you look like or want to know what kind of person you are. A music video can help a lot with that. But also try to make your Instagram as inviting as possible, with here and there little facts about you. You can learn a lot about a person by looking at their Instagram page. So make sure it represents the artist you are but also shows the person you are day to day. For example I really like to travel and love fashion and make-up and stuff. So I post a lot about places/countries I’ve been and or glamorous photos of me in dope outfits. I also love to motivate and inspire others so every once in a while I’ll post my wisdom trough quotes and that is what I want people to know about me.
- I distributed my song via tunecore. I like the fact that they let you keep 100% of the revenue and their fee isn’t expensive at all. Via Tunecore I’m able to release the songs over all the prominent digital platforms and they keep track of my plays and sales online. Just click the link above if you want to know more about tunecore. One thing you should know is that when you have a release date in mind, you have to upload your song at least a week or 2 before that release date. Specially for the first time. Cause I really wanted to release my song on July 1st but it wasn’t available on all platforms yet because they all have a process to go through before it will be available. You really learn by doing this stuff and that is why I’m sharing my journey with y’all. But in the end it all worked out and people can listen to ‘Over and Done’ everywhere!
Today I released the video for my first single ‘Over and Done’ and I would like to go in to detail on how I arranged the video and budgets and more, but then this blog would be extreme long (lol) and no one wants to read all that at once. So in my next blog I promise more insight on how the production of the video took place and how to do all that on a small budget!
Hope you enjoyed reading my blog, check out my music video on youtube and let me know what y’all think of the song and the video. Till next time loves <3
-XOXO-
Kimberley Mungra
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