Forward Digital

How to find new artists for your record label.

By Osvaldo, August 30, 2021

Every record label for its success needs to have a plan to avoid failure and to succeed in the digital era.

In our previous article we talked about how to get the most out of your record label with a few simple marketing techniques that will help you promote your project and increase your audience. But none of this would be possible without artists or music to release.

Many emerging labels fail because of the quality of their music or the lack of good artists. But how do you make sure you don't fail and get noticed if you don't have a well-established artist behind your record label?

First of all, you need to be consistent, patient, and hard-working. Taking care of the quality of your music is a must.

In this article, we are going to see how you can use social media and the internet to find new artists for your label depending on your musical style.

How to find rising stars on Spotify.

Explore relevant hashtags.

Go to the "Explore" (search) section and start searching for your favorite hashtags. Try mixing popular tags like #NewMusic with more "niche" or genre more "your-genre" or any other specific genre, as you will get more relevant results. more relevant results. 

Begin by following these hashtags:

#NewMusic #NowPlaying# NewRelease #NewSong #MusicVideo #InstaMusic #ListenToThis #NewMusicFriday #diymusician #MusiciansOfInstagram #releaseradar #ListeningToMusic #lovethissong #music #concert #cover #MusicForLife #musiclover #musicartist #musicianlife #MusicBusiness #musicismylife #musicfestivals #musiclife #musicmaker #musicpromotion #musicstreaming #musicstudio #beats #MusicProduction #mixtape #unsigned #unsignedrapper #unsignedband #unsignedsinger #studiotime #studiovibes #SupportLocalBands #SupportLocalScene #indiemusician #producergrind #singersongwriter #producedby #inthestudio #RecordingArtist #vocalrange #producerlife #djproducer #MixingAndMastering #ProducerSounds

Dive into the location tags.

Type in the places that interest you and scan the posts for additional hashtags (e.g. "London” & "#SupportLondonArtists").

Find and follow industry profiles.

Instagram gives you the possibility to find relevant music media, journalists, local podcasters, etc. Also, browse the profiles they follow and browse the "Suggested" section.

Take a look at "Music" on Instagram's "explore" tab.

On your mobile app, head to the search section, click on the "Music" category, and start browsing for trending posts. However, you'll have to do a little research to get past Instagram's algorithms.

How to find rising stars on Spotify.

Take a look at "Spotify Radar" and check out the latest playlists based on local search.

Spotify has a hub dedicated to showcasing rising musical talent from around the world. It's called RADAR and you can check it out here.

As for playlists you can take a look at Spotify's official profile and browse for playlists of your musical style.

Spotify Publics Playlists

Release Radar

Discovery Weekly

Find playlists from independent curators.

To locate potentially undiscovered gems, go beyond Spotify's algorithms and the content everyone else follows. Try searching for playlists by music portals such as Electronic Groove, When We Dip, Progressive Astronaut, etc.

We've compiled a list of some Spotify playlists that often feature artists you might be interested in for your record label.

EG Downtempo

EG House

EG Melodic House & Techno

EG Melodic House & Techno

EG Electronica

EG Indie Dance/Nu Disco

EG Afro House

EG Progressive House

EG Techno

EG Top100

Deep House - Best New Tracks - When We Dip

Melodic House & Techno - Best New Tracks - When We Dip

Progressive House - Best New Tracks - When We Dip

Tech House - Best New Tracks - When We Dip

Techno - Best New Tracks - When We Dip

Afro / Indie Dance / Italo Disco - Best New Tracks - When We Dip

Organic House [Progressive Astronaut]

Favourites [Progressive Astronaut]

Progressive House [Progressive Astronaut]

Melodic House & Techno [Progressive Astronaut]

Deep House [Progressive Astronaut]

Afro House [Progressive Astronaut]

Here are some other lists that you can take a look at:

Pitchfork's Best New Music

POP is New King

Tiktok Songs 🍉

Fresh Finds🍃

Pigeons & Planes 🐦✈️

Discover : Weekly Discovery 2021

Tech House 2021 | House Music | Discover EDM Weekly 🔥

Indie Playlist • BIRP! August 2021

Discovery Daily by Strike Hard UK

Indie Nation

Undiscovered Indie & Brilliant by indiemono

Double J Best New Music

New Music Hits🍉 Discover Mint

Techno - Dark & Deep

Fresh Finds by imusicbuzz

Discover Weekly by The TasteMakers Inc.

Weekly Indie A&R Chart by We Are: The Guard (Indie Pop, Hip Hop, EDM, R&B, Hyperpop, Indie Folk)

New Music Discovery by The Line of Best Fit

50 new artists for 2020

The motherfucking future: the nocturne edit

How to find new artists on SoundCloud.

A very good idea to discover new artists on SoundCloud is to follow their blog.

Although the articles are not as regular as they used to be, they can still be very useful. Open the blog to explore the hashtags #New Music, #Artists to follow and #DJs to follow. For example, open one of the "Artists to Follow" articles and click on the tags on the left to see more.

Check out SoundCloud's Discovery Features.

Here you can get started with playlists and stations. Once you create your account, your "Home" screen will start displaying popular playlists such as "SoundCloud Weekly” and "Charts: New & Hot." Search for the genres you're interested in.

Stations are located on the left side of a channel and can be started from any track, search term, or content stream, or from your SoundCloud Library. Once you click on a station, you'll get an endless stream of tracks "related" to the genre of music you're researching.

Follow SoundCloud channels that introduce new artists.

We have selected a list of SoundCloud channels that you can follow.

Like That Underground

Dancefloor Romancer

Hate Music

Heard It Here First

Data Transmission

This Song is Sick

Progressive Astronaut

Sweet Music

Techno Cave

DIT KLINGT JUT

trndmsk

NovaFuture

When We Dip

Soundspace

Underground Deep-Tech STATION

Suprematic Sounds

Indie Select

How to find new artists on Twitter.

Browse hashtags and music related topics.

Open the "Topics to follow" section and search for "Music".
Topic. You can also follow genre-specific threads, or even those created for professionals. You will find them in the "Backstage" section of Music Topics.

You can also open Twitter on your desktop, then search for the following hashtags, and bookmark them in your browser.

#Music #ArtistToFollow #NewMusicFriday #NewMusicAlert #NewAlbum #MusicProducer  #NowPlaying  #MusicLife #techno #hiphop #musicvideo #musicismylife #musicstreaming #spotify #soundcloud #youtube #bandcamp #rap #hiphopnews #UnsignedArtist #song #studio #bass #countrymusic #dance #dancemusic #deephouse #dj #djlife #dubstep #edm #edmfamily #edmlife #musiclover #goodmusic #punk #rocknroll #beat #unsignedhype #nextup #newhiphop #indierapper #indiemusician #singersongwriter

In addition you can follow some influencer accounts on Twitter.

Mixmag

Indie Music Filter

Music Crowns

Earmilk

xlr8r

Dancing Astronaut

DJ Mag

Attack Magazine

OK-Tho!

Fusicology

Hype Machine

This Song is Sick

FANTANO

Twitter Music

Stereogum

Fact Magazine

Indie Shuffle

Pigeons & Planes

Looking for a music distributor?

If you're looking for a platform that offers everything you need in one place, why not try Forward? We can help you with music distribution, music publishing, music management, promoting your music, music marketing and improving your online presence. Contact us today by clicking the button below.