Sitting at home not sure how you can use your time efficiently? Why not start your 2021 off right by resolving to make sure your online presence is optimised across all your streaming profiles and social media? Follow this checklist to make sure you’ve got everything in line to get the most out of this year.
- Is your profile verified? Visit our Pitching Hub for more info on how to claim your profile.
- Have you set an Artist Pick? Point your fans to your new release or a playlist you’ve created. Alternatively, you can set up a Fundraising Pick. Remember this needs updating every two weeks or it will disappear from your profile!
- Create an Artist Playlist.
- Is your bio up to date?
- Have you added all your social media platforms?
- Have you updated all your artwork? Make sure you have filled your image gallery and set a banner and profile image.
- Are you listing your virtual events on your profile?
- Finally, make sure you upload a Canvas for each of your releases.
- Have you set up your Apple Music for Artists and added a custom profile image?
- Is your channel an OAC? Official Artist Channels merge your content and subscribers together from your regular YouTube channel and your Topic (music) channel. As long as you have at least one video live on each channel we will be able to request an OAC for you.
- Read the first in our YouTube Channel Checklist series to ensure you are building a really strong Homepage. This blog covers your channel artwork, trailer and how to create playlists and channel sections.
- Next, have a look at how you can optimise your content on your channel. This blog explores upload frequency and how to best set up your videos to get noticed.
- Are you using YouTube Community? YouTube Music advise in order to get your music supported on the platform you need to be taking advantage of the Community tab.
- Are you setting up Premieres for your videos? We’ve got all you need to know on Setting up Premieres, Livestreaming, and the best ways to use Super Chat and Super Stickers in your premiere campaign.
- Finally, at the end of last year, YouTube introduced some exciting new features. Read on to discover how you can use YouTube’s Live Redirect, Trailers and Countdown Themes.
- Contact your Label Manager to set a cover image for your Amazon Music profile.
- Are you set up on Twitch?
- Have you seen what data you can access via the Amazon Music for Artists app?
- To set an artist image and add social media links, contact your Label Manager.
- Have you got an up-to-date biography on your profile and added all your social media links?
- Has each track uploaded been tagged with at least 3 key words?
- Have you created a public playlist to promote your new releases? Followers will be notified when new tracks are added to the playlist.
- Are your pages verified? We can request this for you. Contact your Label Manager for more info.
- Update your custom imagery to ensure they reflect your latest campaign/project and are in sync across platforms.
- Make sure your bios are up to date.
- Facebook: include links to all your other profiles via your About page.
- Twitter and Instagram: include one link to stream your music or something related to your latest promo.
- Facebook and Twitter: pin a key post to the top of your profile.
- Instagram: use your stories effectively and regularly and remember to add the best ones to your story Highlights.
- Get together a long-term plan of what you’re going to post over the next 6 months. This will help you think clearly about the kind of visual content you need, the frequency of your posts, how you will build engagement and how you will interact with your fan base.
- Are you are posting natively to each platform, as opposed to sharing a Facebook post onto your other socials?
A few other things to think about:
- When delivering any of your releases, make sure you have sent lyrics. It makes your releases easier to find when fans are searching for them.
- Have you registered all your music with Neighbouring Rights? If you’ve made any sound on any recorded music, you may very well be entitled to royalties from that recording. If you’re not sure you’re collecting for all of your music, or you don’t know where to start, contact Absolute Rights Management head Gina at gina@absoluterightsmanagement.com.
Download your own personal Checklist here so you can mark them as you go along!