The career path for a musician looks a whole lot different than it did for those a few generations ago. With the introduction of the internet, music production and promotion have since been on a speedy uphill climb, the market becoming more and more saturated as undiscovered musicians are now releasing music that turns viral in a matter of days on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
As a musician, your job is to first and foremost create music that you are proud of, but secondly, you are being asked to keep up with this lightning-fast pace if you wish to be discovered. One of the newest ways musicians can get discovered is through Instagram Reels. You might be thinking, “Another platform? Didn’t I just get used to TikTok?” But not to worry – your guide to Instagram Reels as a musician is listed below, answering some of your forefront questions.
Upload Your Music
Reels is like the baby sister of TikTok, but it is quickly developing unique features to stand out from the competition. Just as you can upload your own sounds onto TikTok, Reels allows you to upload your own tracks to be used by the public, though with credit to you, the original artist. This opens up an ample market opportunity, increasing the potential of your music being discovered.
As the artist, you will want to make plenty of Reels using snippets of your songs. But don’t solely think of it as a performance opportunity. Brainstorm ways that your songs could be used for comedic purposes, as you have seen creators do with other musicians’ music, resulting in a viral trend. Ultimately, you want to get your music discovered by others, and uploading your tracks is a great way to do so.
Create, Create, Create
Using Reels goes so much further than uploading your music and singing your own tracks. Instagram is prioritizing video now more than ever, as the CEO said it is no longer a photo-sharing app. (Side note: this does not mean the app is getting rid of its photo-sharing capabilities, just that it prioritizes video.) This means that users who continually produce Reels will get their content pushed out to more people and have a better chance of being seen by new followers.
If you are an aspiring musician, you need to capitalize on the Reels benefits. This means spending time browsing other Reels to find new trends, posting covers of other artists’ songs and more. You could even give out tips for aspiring artists, give an introduction to the studio process and more. Whatever you have that could be of value to others, make sure you are putting it out there.
While Reels is just one of the many latest and greatest social media features, it is of importance to those looking to grow their audience. Social media burnout can be real, but by being intentional with these features, you’ll have much higher chances of finding success within the music industry.