Why you should be giving away all your music for free 

Giving away music for free is something that many people within the music industry still find controversial. They believe that consumers should still pay the 99 cents for every single song – like they used to 5 years ago. But, as many people who are smart know, that’s simply not the case anymore. Music distribution has evolved to a point in which tracks are easily accessible to literally anyone around the world. So why should people pay for music? They don’t. Which is why during this article, we’re going to discuss the benefits of giving away music for free and how this can accelerate your career to the next level.

Firstly, it is undeniable that giving away music for free helps lift the exposure of your brand to a completely new tier of the music industry. YouTubers, vloggers, and many other types of content creators are constantly looking for new music to feature in their works. But due to the threat of copyright strikes, they are often forced to use copyright-free music from the likes of NCS & traditional sound libraries. Instead of striking content creators, consider messaging several thousand people offering the opportunity to use your new song in their videos in exchange for putting the Spotify link in the description. Of course, it a lot of work – there is no denying that. However, the benefits of such a method definitely outweigh the time cost. For example, if 120 people used the song & each video got an average of 50k views, that’s automatically 6 million people listening to your music. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that those who love the track will click the Spotify link in the description and save it to their personal playlists. By giving your music away to people on YouTube, you’re essentially attracting thousands (if not millions) of new fans with every single new release.

Likewise, with Instagram, you could message loads of brands, influencers, and meme pages offering for them to use your music in exchange for tagging your artist profile in the description. If you’re able to get several million impressions on the platform, it will undoubtedly translate into several thousand new followers for your artist brand. Giving away music for free is the ultimate gateway to so many new opportunities within the entertainment industry. As you’re not asking for anything substantial in return, it makes the recipient of your message/email a lot more likely to say yes – than if you were to give them a copyright strike. Here’s an example of an email template that you could send to a social media influencer:

“Hey, Jack,

How are you? I absolutely love your content! I’ve been watching your YouTube channel for several months.

I understand that talented social media influencers like yourself are constantly struggling to find high-quality music to enhance their content. As a music producer, I would love to offer you the opportunity to use my new song in any of your upcoming videos. Unlike the majority of people in the music industry, I won’t strike the uploaded video – and so you can, of course, feel free to monetize your content. 

I’ve attached a download/streaming link & look forward to hearing from you”.

Send a similar out to one thousand, possibly several thousand, people in order to get your music noticed by as many people as possible. Granted, the vast majority won’t reply because either they don’t like the song, or they simply didn’t see the email. Regardless, it’s the 10% which say yes that make the whole process worth it.

Now we’ve covered why giving away your music for free can massively benefit producers, it’s time to talk about how a DJ can use similar tactics to get more shows, and ultimately charge 10x their current fee. Let’s create a scenario in which you are an upcoming DJ from The Netherlands looking to get some shows. The first thing that you need to get out of your head is that nobody is going to want to pay you thousands of dollars when you don’t have a reputation. So getting rid of the ego and having humility is a great first step towards success as a DJ within Europe, and eventually the world.

Next, you want to identify all the places within your country that have DJs play similar genres of music to you. A good way to do this is by looking at the tour schedules for several dozen DJs, and writing down the names of every club & venue in which they are playing. This will provide a great domestic starting point for establishing yourself within the local music scene. 

A tactic which almost nobody uses (because too many people have a massive ego) is reaching out to as many venues as possible offering to play for free. Although it may sound counter-intuitive at first, it genuinely makes a lot of sense. When booking professional DJs, the vast majority of promoters look at your past experience, fanbase size, press kit, and many other factors before deciding whether to accept a booking. By offering to play for free, it gives you the chance to gain experience of playing your favourite clubs, getting some great footage & press shots during the show that can be used for your EPK (electronic press kit), and thus have a much higher chance of being accepted for bookings.

Following on from that, you want to repeat the process at least five or ten times in order to create a so-called resume of impressive clubs you’ve performed at so that everyone will be impressed at the rate in which people are booking you. By offering to do a show for free on the club’s quietest night, the chances of them saying yes are almost 100% guaranteed. It’s a simple case of rinsing & repeating the process hundreds of times until you have played shows across the continent (just obviously make sure your travel expenses are covered). As you are now a DJ which has performed at the biggest clubs in Europe, in multiple countries, in a very short space of time, it gives you a lot of leverage to command a relatively high booking fee of (potentially) thousands of dollars per show. 

If you’re able to get 3-4 shows a week, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that playing shows for free can be extremely financially lucrative in the long-term – if you’re willing to have humility and lose your ego. Giving away your music for free is undoubtedly one of the best strategies that you can deploy to achieve your ambitions within the music industry.