Most music marketing advice is abstract: 'build your brand', 'engage with fans', 'create authentic content'. Useful frameworks, useless instructions. This guide is different — it's a week-by-week plan with specific actions, in order, for an independent artist starting from zero. Assumptions: one track ready to release, limited budget (under $200/month), limited time (under 1 hour per day). Let's build.
Week 1: Foundation
Day 1: Distribute your track via DistroKid ($22.99/year). Upload to Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok sound library. Set release date 3 weeks out.
Day 2: Claim every platform under your artist name: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter/X, Spotify for Artists. Same username everywhere.
Day 3: Set up your Spotify for Artists profile: high-res photo, 300-word bio, artist picks section with your track.
Day 4: Write your 1-sentence artist bio. Update all social bios. Add Spotify link to every bio.
Day 5–7: Submit your unreleased track to Spotify editorial pitch tool. Register with a PRO (ASCAP/BMI) if you haven't. Set up Autohype or plan your TikTok content calendar.
Weeks 2–3: Pre-release teaser content
Post a 15-second teaser clip of your track on TikTok daily. Caption format: 'this drops [date]', 'I've been sitting on this for 3 months', 'preview of the song I'm most nervous about'. The goal is to build anticipation and warm up your TikTok audience before release.
Post the same clips (watermark removed) to Instagram Reels every other day. Reply to every comment on your first 10 posts — the algorithm rewards early engagement velocity and it builds real community.
Week 4: Release week
Release day (Friday): post everywhere simultaneously. TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, any Discord or Reddit communities you participate in. Email your list if you have one. Ask 10 people who love your music to save it on Spotify within the first 6 hours — early saves are disproportionately important for algorithmic signals.
Days 1–7 post-release: one new TikTok clip per day with different angles of your song. Day 1: best hook. Day 2: the story behind the song. Day 3: lyric reveal. Day 4: no-face cinematic B-roll. Day 5: process clip. Day 6: reaction or comment response. Day 7: best clip again with different caption.
Weeks 5–12: Sustained daily posting
This is where most artists fail. The song has been out for a week. The excitement fades. Posting feels pointless because numbers are small. Don't stop.
Daily TikTok posting for 60–90 days is the single most reliable predictor of eventual traction. By day 30, the algorithm knows your audience. By day 60, your best clips are compounding. By day 90, you almost certainly have a clip that's broken through to a new audience.
Automate this with Autohype if manual daily posting isn't sustainable. The consistency is what matters — whether it's manual or automated.
Month 3: Evaluate and repeat
At 90 days, look at your data: which TikTok clips performed best? Which captions got the most comments? What's your Spotify monthly listener trajectory? What's your save rate?
Repeat what worked. Release your next track with the same system — distribution, pre-release teasers, editorial pitch, release week push, 90 days of daily posts. Each release builds on the audience of the last.
The compound model: release 1 builds 200 listeners. Release 2 builds 500 new listeners (some found you via release 1). Release 3 builds 1,000. By release 6–8 with consistent posting, many artists have broken the 10K monthly listener threshold.
Automate weeks 5–12 so the plan doesn't break
The 90-day posting consistency is what kills most music marketing plans. Autohype runs it automatically. First 7 days free.
Start your free trial →Frequently asked questions
How much time should I spend on music marketing per day?
30–60 minutes is the realistic target for an independent artist with a day job. Break it down: 15 min for TikTok content (or let Autohype handle it), 10 min for replying to comments and DMs, 5 min for checking analytics. More time only if you're in active campaign week.
Should I hire a music marketing manager?
When you're earning $1,000+/month from music and want to scale to the next level. Not before. Before that threshold, self-managed marketing with tools like Autohype is more cost-effective than any manager who will charge a percentage of earnings that don't exist yet.
What's the difference between music marketing and music promotion?
Marketing is the overall strategy — brand, audience targeting, platform selection, release timing. Promotion is the execution — posting content, pitching playlists, running ads. This plan covers both, but for most independent artists, the promotion (consistent daily content) matters more than a perfect marketing strategy.