Why You Should Consider Releasing A Mixtape

If you’re an aspiring musician, you may be considering whether to produce a mixtape or an album, in order to promote your music.

Why You Should Consider Releasing A Mixtape

If you’re an aspiring musician, you may be considering whether to produce a mixtape or an album, in order to promote your music. If you’re having difficulty deciding between the two, simply continue reading to discover the unique benefits of opting to release a mixtape, before releasing an album.

Reasons for releasing a mixtape: 

1. As mix tapes are typically free, they are great way of expanding your fan base

If you’re a relatively new artist who is looking to create a name for yourself, it’s definitely worth releasing a mixtape as potential new listeners have nothing to lose by listening to your music. Whereas individuals are far less likely to purchase an album, released by an artist that they know little about.

2. Releasing a mixtape can convince listeners to pay for your music, in the future

If you’re concerned that you won’t be able to make a decent living by giving away free music, think again! If you gain fans by producing a free mixtape, you’ll have more chances of booking high paid gigs and increasing your ticket sales, to your concerts.If you release a free mixtape, which gives your listeners a taste of an upcoming album, you’ll be likely to convert your new listeners into paying fans. Who will be willing to support your new album.Remember that selling albums, is not the only way to make a living as an artist. Even chart topping artists who have a slew of Grammys and MTV music awards, use alternate methods of making money, such as selling merchandise. As in today’s digital age, it’s easy for pirates to illegally distribute or stream an artist’s brand new music.

3. A mixtape can showcase what makes your music unique

Releasing a mixtape is a unique opportunity to show a potential new audience, what makes your music unique. Mixtapes help rappers and singers, establish their unique sound.

4. A mixtape is easier to produce than a full album

Typically a mixtape will feature up to 10 tracks. Whilst a typical studio album will feature 12 tracks. It’s also common for mix tapes to feature original tracks as well as remixes, which means that you only need to produce a couple of chart topping hits, to create a mix tape. Whereas, if you were to produce a full studio album, you’d have to produce 12 unique tracks.So if you’re looking to save money by producing fewer tracks, it’s well worth producing a mixtape. Especially, as booking studio time in a professional music studio, can be a huge expense to budget for.As an added benefit, if your mixtape only contains a couple of tracks, new listeners are more likely to listen to your tracks on repeat.

5. If you’re an aspiring rapper it’s far easier to release your first mixtape

If you dream of becoming the next Jay Z or Kanye West, you may want to release a mixtape which features you rapping over someone else’s instrumental. Just ensure that you have the permission to feature the instrumentals you choose on your mixtape and to pay all royalties, which you may be obliged to pay. If you’re looking to release your first mixtape, you may want to cut costs by choosing royalty free instrumentals that are in the public domain. However, if you’re a more established artist, it’s definitely worth producing your own backing tracks.

6.Mixtapes are a great way to ensure that you stay relevant between releasing albumsOne way to create hype surrounding your career, is to ensure that your fans don’t forget about your music. As it’s impossible to constantly release album after album, you may want to consider periodically producing mixtapes between your album releases, in order to ensure that you don’t lose fans.

7. It’s easy to distribute mixtapes

Why not consider distributing free mixtapes at your gigs as a way of increasing your fan base? If you book gigs on a regular basis, giving away mixtapes is a sure fire way to increase the buzz surrounding your music.So if you’re an aspiring singer or rapper, it’s well worth releasing a mix tape, before releasing a full album. As you’ll be able to significantly increase your fan base without spending a small fortune on studio time.

For a more in depth guide on releasing your mixtape, grab our Ultimate Mixtape Bundle.