How to promote an album: 12 essential strategies

Completing an album takes a great deal of energy, heart, and hard work.  With so much invested in that process, it’s no wonder you want to get your album heard by as many people as possible.

Much of the success of an album release comes from the music promotion that goes along with it. There are some costs involved in promoting an album, but your biggest investment is going to be the time it takes to market your music by doing outreach—especially if you’re an independent artist looking to get new fans.

These 12 strategies will help you promote your album before and after release:

1. Set up a pre-order
2. Set up digital distribution
3. Release a single
4. Create an EPK for your album
5. Set up Smart Links for your album
6. Promote your album to fans
7. Pitch for playlists
8. Use short‑form video content
9. Promote your album to local media
10. Create new band merch
11. Organize an album release show
12. Book a tour to promote your album

1. Set up a pre-order

Music marketing can start long before you finish your album. Share snippets of your writing and the recording process to pique interest. Once you have the release date in mind, set up a pre-order to rein in those interested fans, and convert them to buyers.

A pre-order allows you to take orders ahead of the album launch and start marketing early. ​​Use a pre-order to build momentum as your release date approaches. It’s also a good way to target fans who want to be first in line to support your music, by purchasing a copy directly from you.

Add a pre-order option to your artist website on a dedicated music Landing page, and drive fans there. You’ll also get direct access to data this way, including visitor locations, listens, and the email addresses of people who complete a purchase. For streaming listeners, pair your pre-order with a pre-save so fans can add your album to their library ahead of time.

2. Set up digital distribution

Distribution is an important part of album promotion. If you haven’t yet chosen a distributor, look for a service like DistroKid that will get your music placed on a multitude of platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon. You can first distribute your singles, then add your full album. Be sure that your artist profiles are complete (bio, images, social links) and that your credits, lyrics, and visuals are set long before release, to maximize your momentumcome launch date.

While some artists aren’t crazy about having their music available to stream, don’t discount the benefit of music discovery. Being featured on a playlist could get your music more publicity with new fans, and trickle down to mean more merch and ticket sales in the long run. Consider enabling YouTube Content ID and social sounds libraries so fan-made videos can help your songs travel and still credit you.

3. Release a single

Releasing singles allows you to build continuous engagement with your fans. It helps build momentum, gain new listeners, and adds interest in your music as the full album release draws near. 

If your single gains traction on streaming services, you can use that success to reach out to press, music bloggers, and radio before the full album is released. 

You can release more than one single, but do proper promotion for each one by running it through the music marketing tools at your disposal. Create a video to go along with each one if you can; even a simple performance or lyric video works. Tease each track with 10-30 second vertical clips to seed on social platforms.

4. Create an EPK for your album

Create an EPK online that is dedicated to album promotion. An EPK is a quick and easy way for industry professionals to see all the important information about your album in one place.

Add your music, a text ‘pitch’ that sums up your album, promotional photos, a video if you have one, and press coverage you’ve received to date. 

Your EPK will be an essential tool in pitching your album to press, radio, playlist curators, and reviewers, so be sure that it reflects your music and your story accurately.

5. Set up Smart Links for your album

To really focus your visitors' attention, set up a Smart Links feature for your album on a dedicated landing page. You can customize this page as much as you’d like, and promote your album using the direct page URL.

You can use this page in marketing efforts across other channels, driving traffic to your website where visitors can purchase your album directly and easily learn more about you. Smart Links will also help you to gather important data about who is listening and where they are visiting from.

If you’d like to create a Smart Link for your music release, and promote places where your album can be streamed, simply add the various URLs as your links, and share the page. Include pre-save and pre-order buttons so fans can choose how they want to support you.

6. Promote your album to fans

When promoting your album, you’ll want to reach your biggest fans and potential fans alike. To do this effectively, make use of your mailing list, social media, and fan subscriptions.

New music gives you something concrete to promote to your fans and you’ll want to maximize this opportunity by creating a music marketing plan. Setting up a content calendar with ideas for authentic social media posts will help you to reach many of your fans. Consider a 6-8 week runway with behind-the-scenes insights, stories, clips, and countdowns. You may also decide to run some targeted ads on social media.

To get the word out to your biggest supporters, send multiple, staggered emails to your mailing list. Include some context about your music and add links to direct your fans to your music website, where they can buy your new album directly. You can also offer your mailing list early access, or a special discount to encourage them to buy your album.

Another great opportunity to offer exclusive early access (and receive early support) is through your fan subscriptions. These dedicated supporters are committed to your music, and keen to hear your new work as soon as it's available. Consider perks like first-listen streams, behind-the-scenes posts, limited-run merch or vinyl presales, and subscriber-only discount codes.

7. Pitch for playlists

For independent artists today, playlists are a major discovery channel. Submit tracks to editorial teams where possible (via your artist dashboards), and improve your odds with algorithmic playlists by releasing consistently, selecting accurate genres/moods, and encouraging fans to save and add tracks to their own playlists.

Research independent curators and user‑generated playlists that match your style. Keep pitches short and specific: key song hooks (mood, tempo, theme), ideal contexts (e.g., focus, workout), and a one‑sentence artist story. Track wins in a simple spreadsheet so you can thank curators and keep the relationship going for your future releases.

8. Use short-form video content

Short‑form video remains one of the fastest ways to spark music discovery. Upload clean snippets of your strongest hooks (10–30 seconds) as sounds, and post multiple concepts per song: live performance clips, lyric captioning, behind‑the‑scenes, fan reactions, and trend‑friendly moments. Encourage fans to use your sound with simple low-lift prompts, like a challenge, duet, or stitch that people can easily interact with.

Identify a handful of micro‑creators who already like your genre and offer early access to a track, a shout‑out, or exclusive merch in exchange for using your sound. Make it easy: provide them with a Smart Link, and suggested captions/hashtags. Be sure your distributor has delivered your audio to social sound libraries so creators can find it natively.

9. Promote your album to local media

Aside from the more popular means of getting your album out there, a few other outlets exist that can help promote your music locally. Consider local TV, radio stations, online newspapers, and podcasts that might interview you and feature your music. This is especially helpful if you pair it with live shows in your town, or nearby areas.

To promote your music to radio, target local community and college stations, identify a specific show or host that fits your genre, and follow their submission guidelines. Send a concise EPK, a clean radio edit of your track(s), and a short intro line the host can read on the air. 

Local television shows and online papers are almost always looking for stories about the people who live in their region. For podcasts, consider both music-centric podcasts and podcasts about the area you’re in. Many towns and cities have podcasters who dedicate their show to local events and artists.

10. Create new band merch

One of the best ways to rally support for an album is by creating merch to go along with it. You’ll likely want to press CDs and vinyl, so you’ll have album art ready to use. T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, and posters are strong staples, and merch bundles add value and nudge fans to buy.

Consider using print-on-demand to create merch so you don’t have to store and ship products, and so you can test designs without large up-front costs.  For higher‑touch items (vinyl, limited editions, or signed runs), take pre-orders to gauge demand and cover production lead times. Keep sizing inclusive, add a clear ship‑by date, and photograph a few real‑world shots so fans know exactly what they’re getting.

11. Organize an album release show

An album release show is an excellent way to get fans to buy your album in person, and to generate more buzz around the album itself. It’s also a really great opportunity to perform your entire album live, the way it was meant to be heard.

Sell tickets directly on your music website so fans don’t leave your online hub. Bandzoogle's checkout stream will do the rest of the work—it will automatically generate your guest list and invite buyers to join your mailing list so you can follow up with them later on.

Be sure to tie this show into your local media push, and use it to generate buzz on social media, before and after your official album release. Offer bundle tickets (show + signed CD/vinyl) and place a QR code at the door for quick sign-ups; the next day, share a short recap with photos and a merch link.

12. Book a tour to promote your album

Getting fans to listen to your music live is still one of the best ways to promote your music. Start with booking shows at venues you’ve played before, or reach out to local places to keep your initial costs low. A new album release is often a good angle to use to approach a venue.

Even a mini tour of your local area can really help keep the momentum going after you’ve released your album, and gaining a good draw at these shows can be leveraged to book more shows in the future.

Final thoughts

Releasing music takes a lot of time and energy for any musician. Creating an album is a major event for any artist, and you’ll want to be sure to do it well, especially if you’re an independent artist looking to build your fanbase.

Start early and build a release strategy you can stick to from project to project. As you see what truly resonates with your audience—emails that get opened, clips that get saved, shows that sell—adjust and repeat. Album promotion is a career‑long habit for most indie musicians; believe in your music and put in the work to be sure your fans are able to enjoy it!