Frontline Music Group circa early 90's

I’ve worked in the music industry in one way or another since 1990.  Music has been a passion in my life since a very early age.   I’ve run a brick and mortar music retailer. I’ve sold CDs and cassettes for music distributors.  I’ve worked for record labels in sales and marketing.  I helped to create and then ran one of the very first Christian music internet sites back in 1997. I built many of the first Christian music artist sites for Sparrow Records, Word Records, Benson and more.  I’ve written articles for music industry pubs. I’m teaching on marketing for NAMM and the Christian Musician Summits.  I still like to get directly involved to help market major releases by artists of whom I’m a fan.  It’s nice to be able to pick my favorites these days.

So after all this time including the last 10 years now at my own company, FrontGate Media, watching every Christian music company market their artists and albums, here is the ONE THING YOU MUST ALWAYS do in any music ad or promotion:  you must directly ASK your target consumer to IMMEDIATELY hear (watch or download) your music and make it QUICKLY and EASILY possible for them to do so.

Your direct email ad, web banner, email newsletter advertorial, print ad, social media post, press release, direct email subject line (which BTW is more important than the graphics in your ad!), mobile app and anything else you can come up with should always ask the consumer to come hear, watch or download your music.   This has actually been missing more often than I would have expected as ads come through to our FrontGate Media audience.

Music sells by being heard.  Period.

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the top Christian music site is named HearItFirst.com…  😉