Becoming a recognized artist is now easier than it ever has been before.

With the downfall of CD’s and many of our music shops now closing down, it’s time to invent yourself as an online artist and it’s easier than you may think too. Here I have rounded up some ideas which may help you promote yourself in our new digital era.

With the likes of Justin Bieber and Jessie J as an example, both of these artists were discovered on YouTube.

YouTube has 1 billion active users each month, the site allows you to upload videos giving you instant exposure to those who love to find new music.

Make sure you’re promoting yourself using twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Twitter alone has 232 million users, whilst Instagram have a 150 million and Facebook have 500 million users, so these are great platforms to start promoting yourself. Twitter has a brilliant way to promote yourself even more with the use of the ‘#’ and ‘retweet’ option, these are helpful tools to get wide spread exposure and make contacts within the same industry.

Create a page on these networks and provide regular updates of where you are, what you’re up to and upcoming events, to ensure people have somewhere to keep in touch with you. Make sure you’re holding regular events such as gigs to give a taste of your music.

Giving out your music on USB devices to people who are interested, will allow the opportunity for people to share and download the music, providing you with a fan base and possibly an income too. This is also a great idea for the use at clubs, by ensuring your USB device is branded with your/the band’s name on it will mean they won’t forget you the next day.

Networking these ways essentially provides a powerful, simple and successful way to promote yourself as an artist without the use of a record label.

Sound Cloud is a fantastic network if you’re looking to successfully share your music online. This network allows unsigned artists to create and share their music across their social media platforms- it lets you share privately with friends and family or you can post your material publicly. The network, as with all social media can be accessed by using almost any device of your choice, so you’re able to use it anywhere, and it is free to use.

It’s important to have your own website so that your social media has a platform to refer back too. This will be the place all the latest news, stories and images should be located and stored, pack as much information on there as possible. Make sure the website looks professional so people know you want to be taken seriously, make sure it’s well laid out so that subjects and pages are easy to find, and people can explore your website at ease and gain as much knowledge on you as possible.

Compared to before when all artists had were CD’s to promote themselves, there are now so many more opportunity’s which you are able to take advantage of to get yourself known in the industry, without having to spend big money on promotion.

"Claire Louise Sheridan is a keen blogger, writer and marketer with aspirations of becoming a recognised member of the digerati. Until then, she's content seeing the world, watching live music, volunteering, playing with her kitten and eating all of the food. You can find her Twitter here" @xo_clairelouise