You’ve worked hard on a song and are waiting for it to ‘go viral’?
Well, good luck with that! We believe there is no such thing as viral. Songs go through a ‘compounded sharing’ cycle where more people listen to your song and then share it, and the cycle continues. There are only two ways to increase your song sharing:
1. Increase the initial exposure of your songs
If 100,000 hear your new song release, you will have a better chance of reaching millions compared to if you just showed your song to 50 people, because a proportion of your initial audience will be responsible for sharing the song.
This is where major record labels have typically had an upper hand. When a label produces a song that isn’t actually very good i.e. it has a low rate of sharing, they can still get the song to reach millions by funding a huge initial exposure – even if a tiny percentage of that audience shares the song, it’s still likely to reach millions more people.
You should put up your song on as many high-quality, high-traffic sites as possible. Do not depend on that one site, or it might be a very long wait. A site may give you a broad listenership, while another may give you a smaller, but much more engaged audience. The audience on Tallenge is different from that on Soundcloud or Reverbnation. So, to maximize initial exposure, post your song on many sites and reap the benefit of their reach.
2. Increase the rate of sharing, or what makes it more likely for a fan to pass your song on to their friends?
Here’s a few ideas:
- In general if your song sounds good, more people are likely to share it :)
- Post on sites that make it easy to share AND request your listener to share
- If friends and fans like you and want to help you get known, they’re more likely to share your releases. This comes down to reputation and relationship building. So reply to comments and spend some time everyday connecting with your fans.
Try some of these out and leave a comment sharing your experience.