If you’re getting to the point in your music career where it’s time to start playing more shows or even hit the road on your first tour, you’ll want to ensure that the new ears you attract have easy access to your songs. Not to mention, the talent buyers and venue managers you reach out to in order to book these gigs usually want to see more than just a bio, some photos and your latest Soundcloud listens and YouTube views. 

Don’t get me wrong - Soundcloud is a great way to build a fanbase online, and YouTube provides a plethora of ways to promote yourself. But the hard truth is, people who are going to book your show want to see streaming and sales numbers on more universal platforms like Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and Amazon Music, too. On top of that, if you’re widening your touring efforts into new cities, it’d be nice to show off how many listeners you’ve already got baked-in locally. Remember: venues want to sell tickets and drinks, and while talent buyers don’t assume a newer touring band/artist is going to sell the house out on their first trip to town, your pitching emails are up against a lot of others in those inboxes, so every stat you can boast helps.

When you distribute your releases digitally to all the major (and lesser-known or less-local) stores and streaming platforms, you’re already doing yourself a favor. While it might seem obvious, the fact is when you make your music available across the world for listeners to buy and stream, you make money, expand your fan base, and develop a story to share with bloggers, playlist curators, talent buyers and others. But let’s go back to some of the benefits as it pertains to performing live.

There’s never been a better time to be an independent artist, but there’s also never been more competition when it comes to capturing the attention of potential fans and members of the music industry. As mentioned above, digitally distributing your songs will help build up your credibility when it comes to booking the shows you want to play and landing the tour dates you need to justify hitting the road. But something you may not have considered is how it can help implicate exactly where you look for gigs.

With a digital distributor like TuneCore, you’re not just getting your sales and streaming revenue. Your dashboard will be chock full of data and analytics that will show what platforms your music is being sold and streamed on across different cities and countries around the world. 

So if you’re a Philadelphia-based band that is suddenly seeing a higher rate of streams and downloads from listeners in Raleigh, Atlanta and Gainesville, and not so many in Brooklyn, Hartford, or Boston, your regional tour planning could literally go in another direction. Or if you’ve been looking to get out of your country altogether, your sales and streaming reports can act as a helpful indicator as to where to book those flights. Even better, when you’re prepping your next release for digital distribution, you can utilize these stats within your marketing plan: find new local outlets in markets where you’re seeing a buzz, secure press coverage, and include it in your outreach to the venue!

Finally, let’s talk about the IRL-element of all of this. In real life, being able to rattle off a handful of platforms that your music is available on to people you speak to at shows is as essential as telling them where they can find you on Instagram or Facebook. With all of this discussion of digital distribution, emailing talent buyers, and promoting your shows online, we can’t forget what makes live shows so meaningful: the human component. Being able to perform to an audience of any size is the best way to build a connection. 

Whether you’re opening the night, playing in the middle of an out-of-town bill, or headlining in your local market, you’re given the opportunity to let audience members know who you are, what your music is all about, and where they can go find it after the show. Stage banter could be an article all on its own, but you’ll get there eventually - the important thing to remember is to let people know where your latest EP is streaming, or where your upcoming single can be found.

And don’t forget about your interactions after the set wraps up. Hang at the merch booth? Be ready to let fans know they can follow your artist page on Spotify. Grab drinks at the bar and receive a quick compliment on your set? Ask them what platform they listen to music on and remind them you’re on it. You don’t need to be a salesperson here - if someone digs the live set they just saw, peppering this stuff into the conversation is hardly a social faux pas. 

So if you haven’t already started distributing your music to Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon and all the other digital platforms out there, now’s the time to start thinking about it. And if you already have, hopefully the tips mentioned above can get you thinking about how you convert audience members to fans! 

Click below to receive 25% off your first distribution with TuneCore, whether it is a single, album, or ringtone. This code expires Dec. 31, 2021.