Rock music has been around for a long time and has spanned different genres. One such genre is Christian Rock which combines prayer with rock music. Many bands or artists who create music in the genre are Christians themselves and sing about matters related to the faith. Bands such as Skillet, Thousand Foot Crutch, Underoath, etc are some of the most famous Christian rock bands on the scene. However, Christian rock is a niche genre, which means that you will need to think outside of the box to promote your Christian rock album.
You will need to use unconventional and unique ways to promote your album. Conventional marketing can still have some uses for you here but the effort made into it will be disproportionate to the results gained. Here is how you can effectively promote your Christian rock album.
Engaging Album Covers
They say never to judge a book by its cover. But with musical albums, there is some degree of judgment. When your album is sitting on a shelf or is present in an online store as a thumbnail image, people will first look at the album cover. If it is catchy and engaging, then it is likely that people will be compelled to check it out. To ensure that it happens, you need to create such an album cover using a graphics editing service such as PosterMyWall.
It is an easy-to-use, beginner-friendly, graphics designing service that will help you create the album cover design you need. It will only take a few minutes to do so and you can use the hundreds of templates available to choose from. They will shave down the time spent designing from scratch and make your job easier.
In the example below, the Christian band Underoath shared a social media post promoting a vinyl release of their album. The post featured the album cover along with artwork that would be printed on the vinyl itself. You probably wouldn’t be releasing on vinyl from the get-go, but notice the artwork on the album cover itself. It has an artistic background with a big album logo pasted all over the cover. This is one of the ways you can go about creating your album cover.
Free Cafe Concerts
Concerts and live shows are great for exposure and promotion for a band. Many bands go on tours leading up to and following the release of their albums. However, most of these bands deal in the mainstream genres. For your Christian rock band, you can go smaller in scale and play venues like cafes.
You may even offer to play these venues for free since your main goal is to get exposure. Moreover, you play acoustic shows since they are relatively easier to organize and you won’t have to lug around heavy equipment. Contact the local cafes and bookstores and see how many can accommodate you as such. Afterward, you may hold some meet and greet sessions with fans to further promote your album.
Release Free Singles
People love free stuff and such is also the case with music. Of course, fans also love to support their favorite artists, but if they get something free from them, then that’s just icing on the cake. As such, consider releasing a free single off your album leading up to the launch. Put it up on YouTube, Spotify, etc, and also offer a free download to your fans.
This will act as a trailer or a teaser for your album. People who listen to this single will be teased and will be left wanting more music from your band. It works in a similar manner as trailers for movies and shows do. Since you can’t precisely release one for your album, the free single will act as such.
Forums And Groups
Social media these days has many forums and groups where like-minded people get together to discuss their favorite things and enjoy them. This is also true for Christian rock music as well. You can visit several subreddits and groups on Facebook where you can see fans of the genre discuss different bands and music made by them.
As such, you can join these groups and share links to your music there. You will also need to be active and regularly interact as many groups have that requirement.
Christian rock may be a niche genre and may not receive as much attention. But a good promotional strategy will increase your chances of getting the exposure you need. There isn’t any rocket science involved in promoting anything, just simple techniques that yield results when done properly. All you have to do is present your album and band in an attractive way that compels your audience to engage, which you now know how to.
