What most people don't know about Newgrounds, is that you can submit almost any type of content, be it Flash movies, games, movies..etc... or in our particular case, Audio Submissions. I know that there are many other sites out there that let you do the same thing, but I have never found any with such active participation from its users. There really are a whole load of people ready to look, listen and review. In my experience, I have had almost instantaneous feedback after all of my Music submissions, in the form of reviews, ratings and personal messages. This is great for a band or music maker looking for exposure and response. All it takes is a few simple tricks to turn this into an excellent marketing tool for your band/music.
Let me explain...
First you need to create an account at newgrounds.com to let you submit content. Once this is done you have to create a great profile, you want to be more than just an "invisible" user that just submits content from the shadows. Create a profile image, write something about yourself, and most of all make a link to your band website! Your profile is where you want people to find the link to your website. Not spammed in your song description or in comments on other people's work. You want it to happen naturally or people will just get pissed off at you. I'll probably say that again at some stage but it needs to be very clear. You want your content to be your strong point!
When you submit your songs make sure you give it a compelling description that will pique people's interest, as well as giving them a good idea of what they are in for. Once again, no spamming! People aren't stupid, and will give you bad comments/ratings if you annoy them. Then in your author comments give a nice description of what the song is about. Make a quick mention of your website here. Nothing too prominent; just let them know that there's more to be found. The reason that its not so good to keep pitching your website is that you want traffic from the people that are genuinely interested in your music. Its of no use to you to generate traffic that bounces back out the door after less than 5 seconds. Maybe you like seeing your web statistics/counter go up, but its not going to be of any real benefit. You want to build a solid following of people.
Another tip that will help increase your following, is to listen to other people's music on Newgrounds. Find songs/artists you like or have a similar style, and comment on their work. Once again no spam comments etc..etc...etc... Give them some encouraging feedback, thoughts criticisms or ideas. You can ask them to have a listen to your work too, but I would avoid shamelessly promoting your website on other peoples submissions. Commenting on others' work may seem a like a strange thing to do, but I promise it will help contribute to building solid followings, as well as solid relationships with other like-minded artists. Its is just another facet of not becoming a "faceless" content submitter, think of it in a social networking point of view. Participation will help your popularity!
So that's about it. This is definitely one of my favourite ways of promoting my music, and I can promise you that it is a very effective way of getting exposure and response, not to mention traffic to your band website (newgrounds.com is the top "referral" traffic source for this website!). There is a lot of people at Newgrounds just waiting to devour your music! As a final thought, I'll restate that you should let your content be your strong point (that means no spamming and plenty of submissions!) and make sure you actively participate! |
