If you want to release your own rock music album, be prepared for lots of hard work. Before you even start recording, start an online presence and keep it updated. This is probably the most important thing you can do as an independent artist. Optimize your website so it shows up in as many Google search results as possible.

When you approach record labels, they will ask you if you have a website and if they’re interested in you, they will do a search. Make sure your website is professional and easy to navigate. When people do a search, you want as much information about you to show up as possible.

Showcase your music on the landing page. Have plenty of pictures of you or you and your band making music or playing live at various venues.

Connect with people in your ‘about me’ section in your site. Talk about your interests and paint a picture about you and your life. The more people connect with you as a person, the more they will connect with your music.

Your social media presence.

Social media is just as essential as having your own website. Without a social media presence, people won’t know you exist. The website shows who you are, and social media shows what you’re doing day to day.

Be generous with your knowledge of the music industry. Create helpful content and perhaps post valuable tips you’ve learned the hard way. People love getting value for free and they might willingly support and follow you.

Post videos of you making music at home, anything funny goes down very well and people love to share. The fastest way to grow your social media followers is to post on Instagram two or three times a day.

Make regular content updates for your followers. It will make them curious about what you’re doing and visit your social media sites more often.

Make a YouTube channel.

YouTube is an incredibly powerful tool and the perfect place to release your music as an independent artist. Make sure you link to your YouTube channel from your Facebook, Instagram, or website and they will all be helpful to each other to grow naturally.

It’s hard work making video content for your YouTube channel but try and video everything you do whether it’s just practicing or performing live. You can use that content for your Facebook and Instagram as well as your You Tube channel.

Sign up with a distribution agency.

Distribution agencies are intended to help independent artists release their music. Some agencies are free, and some charge a small fee.

Your agency will require you to upload your song and album cover along with your personal details such as website and social media details to release a song on these platforms.

Once you’ve created an account, and uploaded your song and album artwork, you’ll have to wait 2 – 4 weeks for approval. If all goes well, you’ll receive an official release date.

And then, you’ll start receiving royalties! Your distribution agency collects your royalties automatically and deposits them into your bank account. If you’re just starting out, making an income becomes paramount. Various platforms pay you to stream, Spotify pays about 0.006 cents per play, check though, rates change often.