Social profiles are one of the most important areas for artists and often form the first contact with new audiences and listeners. Consistency is key across your social profiles and will help boost visibility in an already competitive environment. We’ve put together our top tips to make sure your profiles are in top shape, leaving you with more time to focus on doing what you love most: music!
Creating a unique brand name seems like the hardest thing to do in this day and age. With billions of both active and inactive social media usernames already claimed, it can be disheartening to find your preferred artist name has already been taken by another user. But fear not, there are ways to manifest a meaningful and unique name to christen your musical baby.
Have a think about your music and what it means to you, is there a street name or location that has particular meaning to you? Look at other artists in your field and the types of names they are using. Remember that the name you pick needs to be unique enough for search engine algorithms to pick up without confusing it with something similar. Feeling out of ideas? Head over to services such as Name Generator which will create you a unique rapper or band name for free.
Re-Ex best artist names: Beefsdick, Apollo OMA, Rofeu.
So for sure, you’ll probably already have your RepostExchange, Soundcloud, and Instagram profile, but in order to reach a wider audience, it’s wise to claim all of your social media profiles using the same unique artist name. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, make sure to claim your Bandcamp, Twitch, Tumblr, Snapchat, TikTok, Patreon, YouTube and Google accounts to prevent them from being taken by another user. Use services such as Namechk or Knowem to claim your artist name on tons of social profiles, just in case you need to use them in the future.
Whether it’s your logo or a picture of your dog, consistency is the key when selecting a suitable profile picture for your social media profiles. Use something that stands out, something memorable. 86% of people use social media every day and many via different social media channels. If you’ve got a consistent profile picture or at least a consistent theme, it’s much easier for users scrolling down to spot a recent post by you or click on your latest track because they noticed you on Instagram this morning and now they’ve spotted your profile picture again on Soundcloud too.
Re-Ex memorable profile pictures: Esotera, KRYØS, Cheeky Freaky TG.
The first thing to do here is to make sure that all of your social profiles link in with each other. Head over to your RepostExchange user account and select ‘settings’. Complete your social media profile information for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify. That way, other users can make sure to follow you on their preferred social media platform. The Re-Ex team are also on these socials and are always looking out for content to share and shout about. We love to know what our users are up to, so it definitely pays to update your Re-Ex profile.
Often the most overlooked part of artist profiles is a short description of the artist or band and their music. It can be challenging to write about yourself. One place to start is to write about yourself as an artist as if you were describing it to someone else. Remember to write in the third person and to just start writing. You can edit it later on but first, start by writing as much as you can.
Ask friends and family what they think your music sounds like or what your vibe is as an artist. Have a read of other artist biographies to get a sense of the style of writing and away you go. You’re welcome to compare yourself to mainstream artists, particularly when you’re starting out and want a quick way for people to identify your sound. However, it can be a way to pigeonhole yourself if you’re constantly being compared to say Armand Van Helden when you really want people to recognise you as your own unique self.
Try to write around 500 words initially and then condense this down to about 50 words and then again to 25 words. It’s a really good writing exercise and will help you to really focus on what you want users to know about your sound when they click on your profile. Use our handy infographic for character and word counts on some top social media platforms.
Whilst your music should speak for itself, just getting people to that point can be made easier by having attractive and relevant artwork on your tracks. Think carefully as if you were to release this physically as a CD, LP, or cassette(!) Is it good enough to go in the shops? Guide your artistic talent by identifying themes in your music, look at the artwork you really like that others have produced, identify what it is you like about it and if all else fails, ask a friend or artist to help out.
Re-Ex best track artwork: Slow Shudder - Replay, Ras Bootin' - Bad Batch, Night Vibez Records - Yey Honolulu, MaeXBae Hooly - Lucy, Giorgio De Palo - Disruption, Kloog - Get Into It, Esoro - Let's Play, Flight Facilities - Clair De Lune (Iskia Remix).
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