Producing a song and then a music video on top of that is very challenging, as soon as we’re done with production, we immediately upload it to YouTube and on our socials and then expect the song to do well. While some songs perform well, most of them don’t. Here’s an interesting statistic from Music Business Worldwide.
“Spotify confirms through its Co-Head of Music Jeremy Erlich that the company adds 60,000 new tracks daily. That amounts to 22 million tracks uploaded in a single year. It also means that a new song enters Spotify every 1.4 seconds.”
So we at Christian Music India saw these common issues every artist faces and want to help you employ a few healthy habits so your music can reach more people.
1. Master Your Release Calendar
One of the most common issues, we’ve noticed over the years with artists is this – Most songs are released only on holidays and we can even name these holidays – New Year’s Day, Republic Day, Valentine’s Day, Good Friday, Easter, Friendship Day, Independence Day & Christmas. Especially with Christian holidays, I’ve always found it strange, If a Christmas song is released on Christmas day, when will I sing it in church? Only for next Christmas.
A better suggestion would be to release the song 2-3 weeks before the holiday, so this gives your audience to listen to the song, learn it & sing it at their local churches. If it’s an upbeat song, it gives the children enough to learn the dance steps to perform at their church events.
For years, all of us were dancing to “Pray for India” by Anil Kant until Bridge Music released Desh. Comment below if you know more patriotic worship songs. Now this leads us to our next mistake, which is “Building an audience” but before we get there, What do artists like Sheldon Bangera, Amit Kamble, and Bridge Music have in common?
2. Building Bridges: Connect, Engage, Grow
Apart from writing amazing songs & producing scintillating videos, they have been doing this for years and have built an audience base for themselves. Now you might think that this is an achievable task, but trust me, It isn’t! Plus we live in a world of digital media, which constantly has made things easy for us.
Here are some ways you can build an audience base:
- Start with your local church, even if it is a small church, and get your family, church family & friends to support & share your music.
- Reach out to other churches in your community, Volunteer to lead or play music, and help them, so they can help you. Participate in their events and network.
- Create a poster & pin it at your local stores, bakeries, college boards, and bookstores and anywhere and everywhere you can but don’t do it on public properties.
- WhatsApp is an amazing tool too but don’t spam your contacts, get their permission before you add them to your broadcast lists and clutter their inbox. Use it mindfully with respect.
- Interact with people who comment on your songs, react to the ones who share your songs on social media, be genuine, and appreciate their heart towards you. (Foster genuine connections with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and inquiries promptly. Engage in conversations, ask for feedback, and show appreciation for your fans’ support. Building a strong rapport with your audience can help cultivate a loyal fan base.)
- Collaborate with other artists.
3. The Collaboration Code: Making Musical Partnerships Work
Partner with influencers, bloggers, and fellow artists in the Christian music community to expand your reach and attract new followers. Collaborations can help expose your music to a wider audience and lend credibility to your brand as an emerging artist.
It’s quite evident that Bridge Music India (Formerly known as The Last Bridge) has changed the scene ever since their inception in 2019, their mission & purpose align with what they do in their collaborations, and ever since we have seen everyone follow this trend, to a point we question why?
While collaborating with a seasoned artist can give you a significant boost in terms of reach, you have to be aware that in collaboration, you do need to bring significant value to the table instead of solely relying on the collaborator and what you can get from them.
So be mindful and collaborate.
4. The Heart Behind Your Art
We get hundreds of DM’s on our Instagram from artists to promote their music, while we appreciate artists reaching out, most of the messages are very vague. They go like – “Repost this on your page,” when asked why should we promote, most can’t answer this question. Instead, they reply – “For the glory of God!”..” More people will be reached..” while there’s nothing wrong with these answers, most of these answers fail to tell the story, the heart behind the effort put in, the purpose. We’d highly recommend watching this Ted Talk video of Simon Sinek, in this video, He talks about finding your Why, using the principle of the golden circle and how great leaders in history were able to achieve so much because they were able to find their why.
5. Authenticity in Action: Finding Your True Voice
As the Christian music scene in India is growing, as new artists, we are so new & inspired by our favorite artists we tend to mimic them and their style of music & signing & dressing up. It is very important to find your voice and your style. This might take a while but as you keep doing it, analyze and repeat, practice.
Spend time to get there. Don’t conform yourself to a particular style of writing or signing. Bring in the YOU flavor. Just because a Hindi demographic people is an easily reachable audience, don’t write songs in Hindi, Start writing in your language, whatever it may be. India is a country with so many languages!
Here’s what we found on Wikipedia – “According to the Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in the definition of the terms “language” and “dialect”. The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people.”
Wait a minute! This data is almost 22 years old!! 122+1599 languages, imagine the kind of people we can reach if we stay true to our roots. That’s incredible!
We hope that these tips will help you grow in your artistic journey! We’re excited for you as you pursue your call, your gifts towards His Kingdom, As we discover God’s heartbeat for India and redeem the sound He has for our Nation. Join us, share this article, follow us on social media, and leave a comment or slide into our Dm’s if you have to say something.
