22 Take-Aways from Ariel Hyatt: Record Release Strategies (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star)

Vox Henderson
Jun 14, 2020
4 min read

Updated: Aug 17, 2022

Ariel Hyatt Record Release Strategy --Blooming Prejippie

22 Take-Aways from Ariel Hyatt

At SyncUp Workshop - 'Making the Most of Your Record Release'

February 19, 2019, New Orleans

Facebook Replay: https://bit.ly/hyattsynctalkvid

Why bother?

As you probably already know, we are knee-deep in finishing the last few tracks for our funk album, “Sugar Fit.” In fact, I am soooooo obsessed that finding out as much as I can right now has been my current quest. To that end, I have shared a couple of resources on our Facebook group page, where folks come to learn how to grow their creative music biz empire ( http://bit.ly/diyrockstarjoin ).

Backstory?

And before you ask; yes, we have been writing and releasing music for over 30 years (see the backstory here: http://bit.ly/allthethingsprej ), but being the rebels that we are, we have NEVER taken into account best practices for ANYTHING! So, since this newest journey has been about trying to follow wisdom where we find it, we have to go those who have had greater success promoting music, which leads us to turn toward the best in the business, Ariel Hyatt, CyberPR.

5 Secret Weapons of the D.I.Y. Rock Star --Blooming Prejippie

Get to the advice, alright already!

Here are some impactful and actionable notes that I took from her talk at SyncUp Workshop - 'Making the Most of Your Record Release' on February 19, 2019, New Orleans (Facebook Replay: https://bit.ly/hyattsynctalkvid ).

1. Plan to have 4 to 5 singles per album; each single can have a different purpose (building email list, shocking the Spotify algorithm, etc.).

2. Twelve weeks is a great amount of time to do all the things in advance of a new release.

3. Bundle your release with a merch item (like a sticker, t-shirt, etc.) as an incentive for fans to purchase.

4. Look for angles connected with song themes to pitch to reporters (i.e., depression, Black Lives Matter, etc.).

5. Take advantage of flashback Fridays to post old songs and photos on your social media channels.

6. Create a social media content calendar revolving around and somehow connected to your release. Look at the 30 days leading up to it as priming your audience.

7. Do some Facebook ads to get folks to liking your Facebook page. People like to support people who seem to have some momentum already.

Tips for Better Band Photos --Blooming Prejippie Zine

8. Try Submit Hub to send your music for blogs. This should have happen at least a month before the release. Especially great for EDM and hip hop.

9. Be sure to change all your social media channels art to reflect your new music release.

10. Videos are very important, but fans don’t expect big budget productions anymore.

11. Ask your fans to take some kind of action in your emails to them (either subscribing to YouTube, pre-save you on Spotify, etc.), but only ask them to do one thing at time.

12. Your email list is going to be important in communicating with people who identify as your fans. Take some time every month to look through your own inbox and compose an email that asks them if they would not mind opting-in to your email list in an easy, but time-consuming way to grow your list faster.

Getting Sh*t Done Planner --Blooming Prejippie

13. You could use NoiseTrade.com, where you pay $250 to be accepted and they will send your track to a million music fans; hundreds will likely sign up to your email list.

14. Now, Instagram hashtags should be in the first comment under a post, instead of right in the post. The algorithm reads it differently.

15. “Indie on the Move” is a massive list of festivals and venues that you can check out to see if you can find live gigs to play in support of your release.

16. Include in any pitch for festivals a killer live performance video, so that the talent buyer can see how well you play live.

17. Educate your fans on how the pre-save on Spotify, which is helpful to “spike the algorithm.” If everybody listens to your new song at the same time, on the same day, Spotify will make it available to more listeners.

18. Artists that make playlists that include other artists that inspire them—along with their own music—can create a valuable community of reciprocation.

19. A website as an HQ is important, so that you do not have to depend on social media channels to keep track of your music and performances in one organized place. A talent buyer EXPECTS that a band has a website to discern if the band is serious.

20. A traditional bio is not what you should be sending to bloggers, etc.; go to “Freebies” page to download many artist resources, as well as a special webinar related to writing your “nugget” bio. https://www.cyberprmusic.com/free-resources-for-musicians/

21. Release your new music on Friday, because the playlists are refreshed on Fridays.

22. Timelines, planning, calendars are important; they are the foundation on which your album release schedule and related content rely.

YouTube Frenzy --Blooming Prejippie Zine

Here's how I went YouTube crazy: http://bit.ly/youtubefrenzy

So what?

Based on many of these important pieces of advice is how we will construct our record release plan. As always, there are some items that we were already aware of, but then there were some things that we had never considered.

What now?

If this post was valuable to you (or to someone you know), please consider sharing this on your favorite social media platform and tagging them in the post. #bloomingprejippie

What do you think?

What advice resonates with you?

What advice can you add to our list?

Be sure to leave it in the comments below.