Instagram is a must-have tool for every musician, thanks to its wide audience, active followers, and perfect content formats.
In this blog, I’ll walk you through 8 Instagram tips tailored for musicians. Plus, stick around for a bonus section where I’ll share the top hashtags to help your music get noticed on Instagram.
How to Blow Up on Instagram as an Artist
Building your presence on Instagram is crucial for growing your fanbase and making your music go viral. Here’s 3 sure tips to help you blow up on Instagram:
Post Regularly: Keeping your audience engaged means sharing content consistently. Try to post something new every day, and switch things up with posts, Stories, Reels, and IGTV. Include your fans in your feed, and post their TikTok videos grooving to your music.
Connect with Your Followers: Make sure to reply to comments and messages. Engaging with your audience helps create a loyal fanbase. Hosting Q&A sessions or going live can also give your fans a chance to interact with you directly.
Collaborate with Other Artists: working with other musicians will introduce you to their followers, boosting your visibility. Collaborating on IG Live or giving each other shoutouts are great ways to reach a broader audience.
Pro Tip: As an emerging artist, boosting your online music presence takes time. However, hiring a music marketing expert will get your music the visibility it deserves within weeks.
How to Promote Music on Instagram
Instagram offers huge promotion opportunities, especially for musicians. That’s why I’ve put together this must-read guide filled with top tips, and hacks to help you effectively promote your music on the social platform.
Behind-the-Scenes Teasers: Fans enjoy getting a sneak peek behind the scenes. Share studio clips, concert footage, or snippets of your daily life as an artist. Post short teasers of your upcoming songs or music videos to create buzz before it’s released. IG reels are perfect for this because they have high engagement rates.
Instagram Stories: Millions of people are posting and checking out IG Stories every day. For musicians, IG stories are an incredible way to share personal updates and fun moments with fans. You can use Stories to promote nearly anything—from a new music video to that gig you just bagged. Got some new gear? Share a quick story about it on Instagram!
Plus, Stories connect directly to DMs, so when fans reply to your Story, it starts a one-on-one conversation between you and them.
Go Live: Instagram’s “Go Live” feature lets you stream live directly from your profile. While performing your song live, whether at a gig or from home, you can also get creative with it by hosting listening sessions.
Use Go Live to share uncut material and behind-the-scenes content that your fans would love to see. It’s also perfect for announcing new singles, album releases, or tour dates. Just be sure to let your fans know in advance when to tune in!
Instagram ads & sponsored posts: Investing in Instagram ads and sponsored posts is a simple and fast way to get your content or music in front of new audiences. You don’t have to spend much—just test the waters to see how these ads can boost your followers and engagement.
Since Instagram is owned by Facebook, you can set up Instagram ads using Facebook Ads Manager. If you’re unfamiliar with Ads Manager, click here, and we’ll help you get started!
Use Swipe-Up Links: If you have over 10k followers, take advantage of the Swipe-Up feature in Instagram Stories. This feature allows you to directly link your followers to your latest release on streaming platforms or your website, making it easy for them to check out your new music.
Hire Instagram influencers: Instagram, alongside TikTok and YouTube, is one of the best platforms to connect with music influencers who can introduce your music to a wide audience that may not have discovered you yet. Influential music tastemakers on Instagram can give your music the exposure it needs to go viral—if you know how to find the right one.
Giveaways: Giveaways, competitions, and rewards are excellent incentives to get your fans more actively engaged with you on Instagram.
People love giveaways—if there’s a prize involved, they are much more likely to participate for a chance to win and will pay attention to the content that’s being promoted. Furthermore, you don’t have to break the bank either—rewards like merchandise (Hoodies), meet-and-greets or concert tickets, etc.
How to Add Lyrics on Instagram Stories
Adding lyrics to your Instagram Stories is a fun way to engage your audience and make your posts more interactive.
Instagram Music Sticker: While creating a Story, tap the sticker icon and choose the Music option. Pick your song, and if lyrics are available, they’ll automatically sync with the music.
Manual Method: If lyrics aren’t available through the sticker, you can add them yourself. Use the text tool to type out the lyrics as the song plays in the background. For an extra touch, try matching the font style and color to the vibe of the song.
Third-Party Apps: Some apps let you add animated lyrics to your videos, which you can then upload to your Stories. Apps like Musixmatch and Mojo offer cool templates and animations to help your lyrics stand out.
Best Hashtags for Music on Instagram
Hashtags are essential for boosting your visibility on Instagram. Using the right ones can help your posts reach a wider audience. Here are some top hashtags for promoting music:
#musicpromotion #music #musicproducer #newmusic #hiphop #musician #spotify #rap #musicbusiness #musicindustry #musicmarketing #artist #rapper #musicpromo #producer #musicartist #promotion #musicvideo #musicproduction #soundcloud #unsignedartist #singer #independentartist #rapmusic #musicians #musicislife #spotifyplaylist #youtube #musicpromotions #songwriter
Mix these hashtags with genre-specific tags (like #Pop, #AfroBeat, #Rap) to reach the targeted audience.
Instagram for Bands: Using IGTV
IGTV (Instagram TV) is a great tool for bands and musicians to share longer content. Here’s how you can use IGTV effectively for music promotion:
Share Music Videos and Performances: Post your official music videos or live performances on IGTV. Unlike regular posts, IGTV lets you upload videos longer than one minute, making it perfect for music content.
Create an IGTV Series: Launch a series where you post regular episodes, like behind-the-scenes looks at your band’s journey, weekly updates on your music projects, or a reality series on the making of your latest album
Engage with Comments: Just like regular posts, IGTV videos have a comment section. Interact with your viewers by responding to their comments, and encourage them to share your videos.
Promote with Instagram Stories: Tease your IGTV content on Stories. Share a short clip and direct your followers to the full video on IGTV.
Conclusion
Are you a musician looking to boost your career?, SounDisruptr has an Instagram marketing package for musicians that will help you get started and see organic growth in the number of followers. These tips and strategies shared will also provide you with loyal and engaged followers to give your music career a much-needed kick and support