With over 72 million subscribers, Apple Music is the second-largest platform for streaming and promoting music online, after Spotify. Whether you’re just beginning your music career or already gaining traction, Apple Music should be an essential element of every indie artist’s promotion strategy.
The best part is that Apple Music is built for music promotion. It offers numerous promotional tools for artists releasing their music on the platform. However, simply getting your music on Apple Music is just the start—what you do next will truly make you stand out.
8 Tips for Promoting Your Music on Apple Music in 2024
When promoting your music on Apple Music, it’s important to understand the distinction between Apple Music and its counterpart, iTunes.
While iTunes allows users to purchase and download song
s or albums individually, Apple Music operates as a subscription service where listeners pay a monthly fee for unlimited streaming.
While you can still sell music on iTunes, focusing your promotion efforts on Apple Music can be highly beneficial. Here’s how.
1. Claim your Apple Music for Artists profile
Claiming or verifying your Apple Music for Artists profile is perhaps the most crucial and straightforward step to kickstart your Apple Music promotion strategy!
If you’re new to Apple Music for Artists, follow these steps to claim your profile:
1. Visit artists.apple.com to create an Apple Music for Artists account
2. After signing up, click on ‘Request Artist Access.’
3. Paste your iTunes Store artist link into the provided text box.
4. Choose your artist name and complete the verification process.
2. Create a track preview tweet
One of Apple Music’s most effective promotional tools is the ability to create a track preview tweet. This feature allows you to share a Twitter audio card featuring a 30-second preview of your song, complete with cover art and a direct link to listen to the full track on Apple Music. It’s a powerful way to boost social engagement and encourage music sharing among your existing fanbase and potential new listeners.
Note: This feature is currently available only for individual songs, not albums or playlists.
3. Design your own badges & icons
Apple Music badges and icons, available in 42 languages, serve as recognizable symbols to help global listeners identify you and your music. They are effective tools for promoting your music across various marketing channels, including social media, apps, websites, and printed materials.
Badges are branded images that visually represent your music or product, often accompanied by text displaying its name.
Icons feature the product’s imagery, incorporating elements like music notes and color schemes.
Both badges and icons can be strategically embedded as clickable links to your songs or albums on Apple Music, enhancing visibility on platforms such as your website or social media.
Here are the steps to create an Apple Music badge or icon:
1. Visit Apple Music Marketing Tools.
2. Locate and select the song or album you want to promote.
3. If applicable, insert your affiliate token into the designated field on the content page.
4. Scroll to the ‘Badges and Lockups’ section.
5. Choose a color and language for the “Listen on Apple Music” badge.
6. Click on Download to save the badge for use in your marketing materials, such as press photos and album art.
7. Use the Copy Embed option to copy the URL to your clipboard for embedding on your website or other platforms.
Note: Before creating or using any official Apple badges and branding, it’s important to review the Apple Music Identity Guidelines to ensure compliance with their requirements.
4. Make an embedded player
An embedded player on Apple Music allows users to share music previews directly on any website. This feature enables both Apple Music subscribers and non-subscribers to listen to 30-second song clips, view album previews, or explore playlists with full track listings. Subscribers can enjoy full tracks without leaving your site to stream them on Apple Music. Similar to the track preview tweet, embedding a player provides a convenient way for listeners to sample music directly from any site that supports web embedding.
Here’s how to create an Apple Music embedded player:
1. Go to Apple Music Marketing Tools.
2. Find and select the song or album you wish to embed.
3. If necessary, enter your affiliate token in the designated field on the content page.
4. Navigate to the ‘Preview Player’ section and adjust the dimensions (height and width) as needed.
5. Click on ‘Copy Embed’ to copy the embed code to your clipboard and then paste it onto your website.
5. Create links to your music
The most effective method to direct listeners to a specific song, album, or playlist is through links that automatically open Apple Music on any mobile device or digital platform. Additionally, you can generate shortened links for use in email marketing and social media promotions!
How to generate a link to your music on Apple Music:
1. Go to Apple Music Marketing Tools.
2. Locate the song or album you want to promote.
3. If necessary, input your affiliate token into the designated field on the content page.
4. Scroll down to ‘Content Link’ and click on ‘Copy Link’.
5. For a shortened URL, navigate to ‘Short Link’, click ‘Generate Short Link’, and then ‘Copy Link’.
6. Grow your audience on the platform
Begin by mobilizing support from family, friends, and existing fans. Sync all your social media profiles with your Apple Music profile to direct diverse followings and traffic to your Apple Music presence.
Take it further by supporting fellow musicians on the platform who are at a similar level. Follow them, offer compliments on their tracks, and consider giving them shout-outs or mentions on your social media channels.
This not only helps in fostering a community of like-minded musicians on the platform but also encourages reciprocal support when you promote each other, expanding your fan base network.
7. Upload music consistently
Consistently uploading music increases your chances of success on Apple Music. Regularly releasing new songs and albums ensures that you remain in your fans’ musical radar and streaming playlists. Maintain a steady and well-promoted uploading schedule to stay engaged with your audience.
However, always prioritize the quality of your music. Avoid the temptation to release subpar content just to maintain visibility, as discerning fans will notice and it can harm your reputation in the long term.
8. Secure placement on playlists
Getting playlisted on Apple Music, similar to Spotify, is a valuable music promotion strategy for emerging artists.
Unlike Spotify, Apple Music’s public playlists are curated exclusively by Apple Music’s editorial team. This means you can’t directly pitch your music for playlist consideration unless you have a personal connection with an Apple Music curator or staff member.
However, while direct submissions aren’t accepted, there are actions you can take to improve your chances of landing on a public playlist. These include verifying your profile, building a strong following both within and outside of Apple Music, and collaborating with a well-connected distributor.
