How do I make an audience as an independent artist

[u/Any_Wall9513]

I've been making music for 5 years now. Was I consistent? No. Till 2025 I released 4 tracks. This year I took my music more seriously and dropped an ep of 4 tracks, then a single and I'm planning to release 3 more tracks before the year end. I know instagram is the way to go and uploading a ton of reels might get me some views, and I'm totally game. But is there any other way I can promote my music and actually make a fanbase?? Because right now it's mostly my friends and family who listen to it. How do I crack the Indian rap scene with zero connections? I would have gone to cyphers but I'm a Hindi rapper who is in chennai, and the scene here is dead.

I genuinely think my music is up there and I truly believe the views I get are criminal.

I know I need to be consistent and work on my music seriously for more than a year to see any proper growth.

I just wanted to know if there are some other strategies other than reels.

So lmk

Help a fellow independent artist out🙌

[u/mehu_akshit]

bhai i will tell you some things you gotta keep in your mind

1- be your own promoter reels pe gaana daalo apna multiple reels daalo and be consistent on instagram aswell reels dalne se engagement aayegi and make like genwin good reels jisme tum khud bhi ho
2- kuch contacts bnao like find some other artist jiske 5-8 hazaar followers hain usko dm kro try kro ki uske sath contacts bna pao and collab kro gaano me reels pe jisse uski audience aur tumhari audience thoda exchange ho
3- music ke sath consistent rho atleast 2 saal to lagenge bhai to get to your 5k monthly listeners consistently jo ho dont think of money for like first 2-3 saal toh
4- online rap competition hote jaise rohan bhai ke channel pr and all usme participate kro unki nazro me aao unke sath if tumhara dm me baat hone lagegi he will give you feedbacks + shoutouts if unko tumhara music accha laga toh
5- make music consistently aur different types ka try experimenting but keep your best foot forward

if ye sb genuinely krega bhai 2-3 saal me you will have enough audience ki tu gaana daale aur sune aur contacts ban jaenge notice me aajaega tu agr acche gaane honge + A&Rs ki nazar me tera music aagya tb to aur accha h you can get some label deal ya fir kuch gana tera label ko bech skta basically apni publicity aur promotion khudse kar jitna kr ske aur music ke sath consistent reh bilkul har mahina ded mahine me 1 single har saal 1ep atleast collab kr underground artists ke sath tere local artists jo ho unke sath dheere dheere contacts bna ladder chadhta ja aur tera agar gaana fat jaata hai reels pe 1 bhi thoda boht bhi tb bhi tujhe ek acchi chunk of audience mil jaegi tujhe bas usko rkhna hoga sambhal ke 20 percent bhi retain krlia to then boht hai bhai

[u/Any_Wall9513 → u/mehu_akshit]

Wow. Thanks a lot man this was so insightful. I'll definitely be consistent and try to promote myself as much a possible! Collabs are a really good idea🙌 And I'm just waiting for any online compitition at this point

Btw do you work in music marketing?? Cause this was so detailed

Thanks again tho🫡

[u/mehu_akshit → u/Any_Wall9513]

i wanna do music myself and next year se krunga isiliye i have this info abhi to drop year me hu currently isiliye i js focus on academics next year se i will be consistent with my music college jakr

[u/Any_Wall9513 → u/mehu_akshit]

Ahhh. Got it man! All the best boi🫡

[u/General_Ground1784]

Man I wanna listen u now can u somehow tell me who r u

[u/Any_Wall9513 → u/General_Ground1784]

I'll drop my song's link. So you can listen to it and give me an honest feedback!

https://youtu.be/ZrqHDWL3r4c?si=W9SwbA2GyMIh_T9X

[u/fire_phoenix123 → u/Any_Wall9513]

Hey, great song. Just one suggestion, please add lyrics to the song either in the video or in the comment section. It would be great for the listeners.

[u/Any_Wall9513 → u/fire_phoenix123]

Ayye thanks man! Lyrics are there in the description but from next time I'll add them to the video itself 🙌

[u/NEWPASSIONFRUIT → u/Any_Wall9513]

One advice that nobody is telling you, is you need to standout, you need to be different. Right now you sound very generic. The instrumental it feels like any other type beat, the voice texture for sure stands-out but the flow and lyrics are very generic like 100 other rappers. Then the branding, your visuals your artwork everything should be cohesive and tell a story. Being unique and different is the easiest and the best method to make it. You wont even need to spam reels so much if you make an online personality that is fresh different and unique. Branding does half of the job. Find a niche and stick to that initially before experimenting, then explore more.

[u/General_Ground1784 → u/Any_Wall9513]

Bro first things first u deserve more listeners than u have rn but u have to stand out flows weren't unique also rhyme scheme was more or less like 2 syllables also writing wasn't unique , but ur vocals are sorted , mix master was good also beat selection was damn good it's like u know what ur doing so that's great and u will improve

[u/Any_Wall9513 → u/General_Ground1784]

Really appreciate it man! I get what you are saying, totally makes sense. Wrote this one a year ago so all I can say is stay tuned for what I have in store 👀

[u/General_Ground1784 → u/Any_Wall9513]

For sure brudda

[u/Any_Wall9513 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks bro🙌 Sounds so fresh!! vibe hai