How To Make Yourself Findable: The Real First Step in Music Marketing

Every week, artists send me messages asking the same thing:

“Which song is the one that’s going to take me to the top?”

Wrong question.

If I search your name and can’t find you — you’re not ready for any song to take off. Before you can win new fans, you have to make yourself findable.

Table of Contents

What Are You Optimizing For?

Start here. Are you optimizing for your music to be found and used — or for yourself to be found and followed? Those are two very different paths.

If the music is the point

Build utility music ecosystems (mood-first, use-case-first).
Create SEO-friendly playlists/channels on YouTube and Spotify.
Use high-search, low-competition keywords (check Google Trends).
Title by purpose: “Late Night Chill Beats,” “Dark R&B Vibes,” “Workout Motivation.”

You’re building an environment for your music — not a spotlight for yourself. More on this here.

If you’re like most artists… you are the product

For most artists, you are what people buy into — your voice, story, world. The goal: when someone types your name in Google, YouTube, Spotify, Apple — you show up. Not once, but everywhere.

The Do’s of Being Findable

Get verified everywhere: Spotify for Artists, Apple Music for Artists, YouTube Official Artist Channel, Deezer, Pandora, Anghami — claim them all.
Clean your metadata: Correct artist tagging and routing. Kill duplicate Spotify profiles and stray YouTube “topic” channels. More on this here.
Fix collaborations: On features, make sure the uploader selects your correct Spotify artist URI. Tagging matters. More on this here.
Get your lyrics online: Musixmatch, LyricFind, LyricNow. Helps SEO and powers synced lyrics on platforms. More on this here.
Use consistent handles: Same username and bio across platforms. If you change it, change it everywhere.
Publish YouTube videos for your most popular songs: YouTube is Google. Each upload = another search result with your name. More on this here.
Stack small blog features: Many niche posts beat one “dream” pitch. It all indexes.
Use unique song titles: Don’t disappear under “Love You,” “Miss You.” Be searchable.
Make a basic website: Central hub with links, signup, and meta pixel. Gives Google a clean entity to index.

The Don’ts

Don’t change your artist name (unless you’re ready for pain)

If you’ve been releasing for years, a switch means:

Contacting every distributor you’ve used
Fixing metadata across catalogs
Chasing every collaborator to update tags
Losing URLs/algorithmic history and spawning duplicates

It’s almost never worth it. If you do it, plan for months of cleanup and avoid releasing for ~4 months.

Don’t confuse the algorithm

Pick a lane. If half your posts are raps and half are meditation videos, nobody — and no algorithm — knows what you are. You’ll attract fans for the wrong thing and derail recommendations.

How to Get a Google Knowledge Panel

Your target end-state: a Knowledge Panel (that big box on the right of Google with your image, links, discography).

You can’t create one — Google generates it once it recognizes you as a public figure. Then you can claim it.

Search your name on Google.
If a panel appears, click “Claim this knowledge panel.”
Sign in with verified artist accounts.
Submit identity proof (official links, socials).
Wait for approval.

Once claimed, you can suggest edits, set links, and keep your info clean.

What You’re Building Toward

Your official profiles rank first on Google and YouTube.
Your lyrics, videos, and blog mentions dominate page one.
Duplicate profiles/channels are merged or removed.
Your Knowledge Panel appears and is claimed.

Now you’re actually ready for a hit — because people can find you.

Next Steps

360 Promo is a full-service music marketing, promotion, distribution and admin company. Learn more about us and what we do at 360 Promo, follow us on Instagram and contact us to tailor a plan that works for you.