5 Music Marketing Strategies to Get More Exposure and Build Success in Your Career 

In today’s blog, I wanted to give you a quick peek of our Artist Sanctuary Membership Mastermind for March’s subject. I am presenting the latest strategies that successful musicians are using to boost their careers. 

The industry is changing rapidly as we speak, and artists are reinventing their brands and careers and taking ownership of their music into their own hands more and more. 

James Blake is on that journey right now and recently shared on social media about how he is transitioning away from the major label capture. More and more artists are reclaiming their creative freedom and carving their own path and teams on their own terms. While daunting to accomplish, it’s also a very exciting time as an independent artist. 

In 2025, musicians are adopting several strategies to enhance their success in the competitive music industry. Some of them have been around awhile and are still proven to deliver and others follow newer trends in marketing for musicians. 

By staying informed about these trends and adapting their strategies, artists can maximize their potential for success.

Here is a sneak peek at the 5 Top Musician Strategies to Boost Your Music Career. 

1. Covers

Everyone loves a great version of a well-known cover song. That’s why American Idol became so popular because people love hearing covers with different voices and interpretations. As a strategy, it continues to be a viable way to grow visibility and many well-known artists recently have used it to grow their audience. 

Recent top artists that have climbed to stardom this way: Teddy Swims, Benson Boone (American Idol), Jac Ross, Joseph Solomon, Angeline Jordan, Larkin Poe, Allen Stone, Eva Cassidy and even Sabrina Carpenter and Joseph Arthur. 

Try this: 

• Research top covers on YouTube.
• Make a list of songs you want to cover.
• Choose songs you sound great on that fit your voice, your genre and vibe.
• Don’t be afraid to try stuff.
• Try your own interpretation of a cover.
  • Take an uptempo and turn it acoustic or slow it down.
  • If you are a female, try covering songs by male singers and vice versa. Brings an automatic new spin on the song.
• Set up your sound and backdrop and plan your recording sessions.
• Batch a bunch of videos every few weeks.
• Create a posting schedule.
• Research hashtags and keywords and don’t be afraid to drop other artists names as keywords for mutual covers. 

2. Collaborations 

Collaborations with other artists can help to grow your audience and career opportunities. To maximize the impact of collaborations, work on developing a strong marketing plan, utilizing social media, email newsletters, and other promotional tools to raise awareness and drive engagement.

• Collaborating with artists from different genres, backgrounds, and cultures can also help musicians grow and develop their sound and appealing to a wider audience than you would on your own.
• Sharing the stage with other accomplished musicians can boost your image and business opportunities.
• Social media collaborations with other artists can grow your following.
• Many musicians are implementing TikTok-first marketing strategies, collaborating with influencers to create dances and trends for new releases, and engaging in virtual concerts.
• Livestreaming virtual group shows or teaming up with another artist on a show can help to expand your audience and career opportunities. This can give visibility to anyone the other artist is working with and open the door to possible opening spots and other opportunities.
• Also consider reaching out to Spotify playlist curators and other musicians for potential collaborations and joint promotions.

3. Viral Content

In 2025, musicians are focusing on creating high-quality content to attract followers and grow a fanbase. 

To make the most of developing high-quality content it is good to have monthly or bi-monthly (twice a month) content planning sessions. It takes time to research other content that is doing well, stay up on the latest algorithm releases and suggestions per platform, and plan engaging content.  

A good content plan consists of:

• Content that showcases your personality, music, and behind-the-scenes moments.
• Leverage new features, such as Instagram Stories, Reels, and TikTok challenges, to create engaging content that resonates with your audience.
• Hashtags for musicians are still a great way to increase visibility and attract new fans. 

For great engagement, it’s essential to interact with fans regularly, responding to comments and messages, and fostering a sense of community.

Regularly check the insights on your posts to see what content is doing well, has engagement and to assess what is working best to do more of that!

Utilizing AI tools for content creation, such as AI-generated long-tail keywords and automated comment management, can streamline the process and improve engagement.

Short-form content, particularly on IG Reels or YouTube Shorts, is also essential for reaching a wider audience, especially among Gen Z viewers.

4. Building Your Own Team

After leaving a 12-year major label deal, Blake has been outspoken as an artist advocate speaking out his journey in rethinking how independent artistry can work. He is rebuilding his career and how his music gets out there with companies like Good Boy, Stellar Music, and Stem which he signed with right inside the Indify platform.

“Before last year, I was an artist who very much buried my head in the sand in terms of business,” he says. “And when I really looked into the machinations of what was going on behind each part of the industry, getting all the statements, I saw that there are unethical parts of the model that are responsible for a massive transfer of wealth away from the artist,” says Blake.

“The best place I’ve found is Indify and that’s where I’ve done the deal for my next record. Indify is a platform that puts you in touch with music services, who you can see on a leaderboard measuring the real value they’ve brought to the artists they’ve worked with – in actual streaming figures. They can work with you to build a deal that doesn’t request the ownership of your masters forever. The platform only allows a deal that leave at least 50% of the royalties to you, generally for a single album or even a single song, on YOUR timeline. The terms are simple and transparent and the deal is done directly via the site. Contrastingly, the standard major label deal is 80/20 to the label, multiple albums, with them taking lifetime ownership of masters and cuts of merch (the ‘360 deal’).”

Those of you who are building your career, it is helpful to know the state of the industry and how to build your own team to keep over 50% of your profits instead of 20% or below. 

Here are the takeaways:

• Build your own Team.
• Find people who are focused on the music as much as the business or you will be creatively unsatisfied.
• Stop thinking of yourself as a struggling artist. James says, “The romanticized idea of the struggling artist is actually harmful. Getting yourself to a place of coherency in your mental state and your business actually makes you more productive. It’s artistic freedom turned up to 11.”
• Blake’s advice is to “Look for ways to supplement your income, figure out a different model that works better for you, and get away from predatory contracts.”
• Set yourself up for success by working with companies like Indify who are building transparent relationships between artists and the companies helping them. 

5. Building Community 

James Blake is waiting to release his next album, which is already recorded, instead focusing on transitioning from the label to his own team while focusing on building his community first. Many artists today rather than focus on “selling” their music, focus on community building first and then once it is established move forward with monetizing their music which is easier with an engaged audience. It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that the music will grow the audience, but you need the audience first to really grow the music. That’s why some of the strategies above will help. You might want to think about a cover campaign like Jac Ross or Teddy Swims to help you grow first.  

One of the strongest strategies to emerge from the DIY Indie movement that really started with Amanda Palmer decades ago is the ability to connect directly with fans and build a highly engaged community. 

Artists are building communities on platforms like Patreon, With the Band, and inside their own privately hosted communities using a membership app inside their website. 

Communities often start growing with Crowdfunding or large Facebook groups. Livestreams can be a great way to also attract an audience that converts to community with special perks. 

Spend time thinking about where and how you can grow your community of fans and supporters to build your music career!