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The Holiday Checklist: 5 Plans for Musicians for the 2014 Holiday Season

November 20, 2014

[Editors Note: This is blog is written by Chris Mooney, TuneCore’s Senior Director of Artist Promotion & Strategic Relationships.]

Artists are people too and around the holidays, they also have families to visit, gifts to buy, eggnog to drink, etc. – but artists can’t ignore their craft and career during this time. As the temperature drops, I wanted to provide some tips and ideas that can help to fire up your fans. It’s only a “slow season” if you choose to hibernate; there are plenty of opportunities to focus and grow!

We also reached out to members of the TuneCore community to weigh in with holiday tips of their own!

1. Host a Concert!

Why not be the Christmas party of the year with live music from you and your talented group of musician friends. And this could be in a home, but oftentimes a friendly local bar/venue will give it to you the space as long as you meet minimum spend at the bar. Really make this a Christmas party with White Elephant/Yankee Swap games, Toys for Tots drive, Horrible Sweater or other fun holiday themed events. Mix in your music with holiday classics.

Label Tips Holiday
2. Host an Online Concert!

Sites like StageIt or Concert Window enables artists to host online concerts for their fans, with a tip jar experience. Promote this now to try and build excitement around it on social—have a fan vote for the songs to perform, perform as Santa, do a 12 days of Christmas countdown to the event, etc…
Artist Tips Holiday

3. Learn Cover Songs!

It’s obvious maybe that artists should always be writing new material, but this “off-season” could be a perfect time to learn cover songs to attract a broader audience. Fans love to hear these songs at live shows—instant sing-alongs!—but these new tracks could be used for your YouTube channel, as well as new releases. Maybe your new material won’t be ready until summer or spring, but a cover song distribution could keep your profile high with fans.
Marketing Tips Holiday

4. Are You Ready for Fan-Funding?

Many artists are now embracing the idea of fan-funding and have engaged MusicRaiser, Kickstarter, and other platforms. During this holiday season, use your down time to make a plan including a plotted-out calendar,  an album release goal and ready the rewards for your backers. This will help you map out your overall marketing plan.
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5. Don’t Miss Holiday Store Deadlines!

iTunes has a holiday shutdown period that causes delays in music going live. So we recommend that you ready and distribute your music now. More details on the Holiday deadlines for iTunes.

Make Great Music & Happy Holidays!

Tags: artist tips featuring holidays independent music music tips