If you’re an independent musician, you know that your workload doesn’t lessen year-to-year. But whether or not you released music in 2023, you can still rethink how you strategize your PR plan in 2024.

I’ve compiled a list of helpful PR/marketing tools every independent artist, manager or label should consider using. Some are free and some are paid, but they are all platforms I use or have used, as an independent publicist.

Navigating the industry is all about trial-and-error, and not being afraid to ask questions. Cobra Promotions, and all of my experience in the PR and business side of the industry, has developed from the ground up, and I still have so much to learn. Most of these tools are ones I have found through googling two “simple” questions, that are quite big when you think about them:

How do I promote my music?

And

Where do I promote my music?

But if you’re completely new to PR and the music business, it’s the smaller questions you need answered, and you’ve come to the right place! Here’s some things to ask yourself:

Do I know what a press release/EPK is?
Do I know how to write/make a press release/EPK?
Do I know where I can send my press release/EPK?
Do I know when it is appropriate to send a press release/EPK?
Do I know how to structure or organize a PR plan?
Do I know how to manage/record the results of my PR plan?

Etc.

This might be overwhelming, but remember that almost every artist has had to do their own research and get their answers. After all, music PR isn’t completely a “one size fits all” process, but there are plenty of shared tips and tricks across the industry.

If you’d like to read up on the basics of music PR, check out some of my other articles here

For now, let’s get into some tools to try in 2024.

Post-release PR tool: Dailyplaylists.com (free & paid)

Daily Playlists is a website that artists can use to submit their songs to independent Spotify playlists. There are different pricing plans, but I personally use the free version, which allows me to submit to twenty curators every two weeks or so. The range of curators is extremely diverse; there is everything from metal, to jazz, to instrumental film music accepted on this site. If your submission is accepted, you will be notified via email, or you can keep track via your dashboard.

It’s an excellent free tool that you can use indefinitely: Spend ten minutes every two weeks and submit old and new songs, and slowly build up your playlist adds.

Post-release PR tool: Indiemono (free)

Indiemono is another playlist pitching website, that is even quicker than Dailyplaylists. Personally, Dailyplaylists has had more results, but there is no harm in submitting to Indiemono also. All you have to do is submit to your most relevant genre box, and they will send it out to relevant curators. You can also submit multiple songs, so take the opportunity while it’s free!

Pre-release PR tool: Musosoup (free & paid)

Musosoup is becoming an industry standard way for artists to pitch and promote their releases. Instead of doing PR the “traditional way”, which would include emailing/communicating with music publications and media outlets directly, Musosoup instead, brings the press to you. You can upload your release, make your campaign live for three weeks, and watch the offers roll in. These offers can include anything from reviews and interviews, to mentioning you in video content or giving you a spin on the radio. You are fully in control of what offers you accept.

Musosoup is a paid platform, and the minimum amount you can spend is about 35 pound, and this is to just make your listing live. All offers that come in afterwards, will require payments on top of the 35 pound. Offers can range from anywhere between 2 pound, to 25+ pound. If you’re an artist with a small budget, this will suit you, but if you have zero budget, it can be on the pricey side. However, every single offer from a curator must have a “free alternative”, so that an artist is never left empty-handed. These free alternatives normally include a Spotify playlist add, twitter mention, social media shoutout, or Soundcloud repost. Every offer depends on the curator.

For my most recent PR campaign I tested out Musosoup for the first time, and I only paid for two features on top of paying the listing fee. Everything else I accepted (over 60 offers), was completely free, and I got some excellent playlist adds and twitter shoutouts for the band.

I would personally use Musosoup again, because it’s the best tool to “guarantee” some degree of press coverage for your release. If you for some reason, get no offers (which Musosoup says is exceptionally rare), you will be refunded. So at the very least, I would like to think that every artist that submits a release to Musosoup, will get at least ten playlist adds. To reiterate my latest PR campaign’s results, the band I was working with (Cascando) are a very unique and quirky blues/roots rock band. Their style isn’t exactly “mainstream”, yet I received what I felt was quite a high amount of offers. If you are an artist in the stream of pop, indie or alt-rock, it’s fair to assume that you would do even better (if your song is as good as theirs ;) )

My advice would be to try it out once and see for yourself. You should be able to submit an old release, so you can be comfortable in putting forward your best piece of work, if that’s the case.

Pre-release and post-release: Drop Rocket (free trial, then paid)

Here’s where I’m going to get a bit biased! I am PR manager at Drop Rocket, but if I also released my own original music, I know that I would still be a sure lover of this platform. I first got in touch with the founder, Elina, because I wanted to hear more about what it offered, and so that I could actually join her mission in helping independents strategize their releases.

Drop Rocket is essentially the ultimate management tool for releasing music. If you struggle with organizing and planning your assets, coming up with content to promote your release, and remembering all of the many tasks associated with traditional PR and new media, then this is the tool for you. Elina herself is an independent musician, digital marketer and consultant, so she knows exactly, the struggles of getting your music out there.

The platform includes a free-trial, and then is only about €3.50 a month afterwards (you can also use my promo code, COBRA30 for 30% off your first month). This is a very small price for something you will use forever, again and again, and is also constantly updating. If you completely self-produce with your own equipment, and don’t engage with any paid press coverage, then paying €3.50 a month to never worry about how to do things and remember how you’ve achieved things in the past so you can follow the same steps, is really nothing.

When you sign up, you get a fully customizable industry-standard template full of tips, tricks and resources. There’s a built in calendar, content ideas, task descriptions and a hub full of video resources and promo codes, that will only grow as time goes on.

If you’re a member of IMRO Ireland or AIM Ireland, you can enjoy further discounts:

https://imro.ie/affiliates/drop-rocket/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyvyK3CMdmH/

We’ve recently launched a brand new blog and some Spotify playlists, so that we can support all users with their new releases. There’s also a referral program, where you can get your very own code and earn every time another artist signs up using it. There’s simply a lot of perks to joining Drop Rocket, and myself and Elina are always on hand to answer any questions and hear your feedback about how we can make it even better.

Consider trying it out for your next release!

Here’s a video on how I used Drop Rocket for my latest campaign:

Pre-release and post-release - Canva (free and paid)

If you want to be an artist with a defined, eye-catching brand, then you definitely need to download a graphic design app. Canva is one of the best, if not the best, free app in the market, and it’s what I use to create all of my social content, youtube cover content, and directory covers. You can use Canva on your laptop or phone, and its free version should have everything you need to build a brand. 99% of my graphics are created using their free template designs, just with my branding edited in. For me, being memorable means being consistent, so it’s important to really stick with your brand across all socials and multiple forms of content. Spend an hour exploring Canva and seeing what catches your eye, and make a note of everything that does:

Do you like bold or minimalistic fonts and graphics?
Are you more traditional or avant-garde?
Do you like normal, neon or pastel colours?
What colour pairings do you like? (Cobra uses black, white and yellow, with splashes of pink).
Are there any filters or effects you particularly like? For example, tv static transitions, trippy transitions, no transitions.
Have you spotted any elements, stickers or logos you like? Cobra uses the same two or three snake stickers across our posts.
Does everything you’ve picked feel like “you” and your music?

I really can’t fault Canva’s free version for much. Aside from social posts, you can also create documents, posters and flyers, so you might like to consider branding up your own performance contracts or PR reports, if you really want a clear-cut brand!

Extra tip: Canva’s free version doesn’t allow you to schedule your posts, but I recommend Buffer, which also has a free version.

Pre-release and post-release - Mailerlite (free and paid)

Mailerlite is an email marketing website, similar to Mailchimp. However, I have found that the free version of Mailerlite offers lots of tools and isn’t that restrictive. I use the site to make my press releases (I design certain elements on Canva and then upload), mass send the press release on release day and after, and I also used it in the past to host my very first landing page and website. It’s an excellent hub that you can use to build your brand. You’ll find that sites such as Squarespace make you pay for extra features, such as emailing marketing, or payment to simply publish the site, but Mailerlite’s free version includes all of this.

If you are an act that is starting to build an online presence and is considering a website or landing page, I highly recommend starting out with Mailerlite. If the idea of a whole website is daunting, just create a landing page, which is basically a one-page website that sums up everything about you. You can include your biography, latest release and links to your socials, and brand it up the way you like. If you need any help with this, get in touch with me and we can discuss setting this up and designing it together.

Post-release: WARM Analytics (free and paid)

WARM stands for World Airplay Radio Monitor, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. The site tracks where your release has been played, and you can download a breakdown of countries, cities, number of plays, dates, and names of stations. I have only used the site’s free trial, but it would be well worth it if you looked up your release towards the end of your campaign, so you’re seeing as many results as possible. Below is an image of the breakdown I received, for Cascando’s release, “Jimmy Boy”.

One of two of these stations did not inform me or the band that they would be getting airplay, so it’s a great site to see some unexpected results! It’s also useful to know who enjoys your music, and who you can pitch to again in future. I have not yet used any paid version of WARM, but I’d imagine if you were an artist who focuses on radio airplay and has a mainstream appeal, the site would be excellent for you to use and consider paying for, if you have the budget.

Final Tips:

Check out these tools, see how they work for you, and don’t neglect them if they do! If you feel that you/your act doesn’t have a strong “look” or brand, I recommend kicking off 2024 by using Canva, and finding a couple of templates that you can use again and again. Similar to the music itself, finding your “style” in terms of social media, will make you feel good, and look good, so it’s certainly not a bad place to start.

Then, if you’re planning a release, try Drop Rocket’s free trial, kickstart your Musosoup campaign and use Mailerlite to fire off your EPK. Once the song is out, get submitting to Daily Playlists and Indiemono. And just like that, you have a PR plan.

Cobra Promotions will be opening submissions for new PR clients in 2024 (from approximately March onwards). See our past clients here, and get in touch to discuss your next campaign! We can send an overview of what we offer, including the price breakdown, so you know exactly what you’re getting from a Cobra campaign. Get in touch with Rhí to have a chat!

Cobra Promotions is proudly affiliated with DROP ROCKET