Letter No. 41 [silent night countdown]
Dear friend,
It feels like I haven’t written here in a while, but it’s only been a couple weeks. It’s now been a year since I started writing a blog, and I’ve loved it, but I’ve decided to scale back a little and write twice a month instead of four times a month. I’ve been working hard at my music and my piano studio, and I just feel like it’s going to be better overall—for that work/life balance too!
I’ve recently released my second single, “Silent Night,” and I wanted to share the countdown pictures I posted because there is some neat history behind the making of this song. This could also be an idea for other artists brainstorming release/countdown ideas.
PREP:
What I did was find ten interesting facts about the creation of/history of “Silent Night.” I then had to decide:
which ones I wanted to share
the exact days I would start/end my countdown
how I would share these facts
One of my sisters gave me the idea of an advent countdown, where I opened up a new slot each week (to reveal something that represented each fact) and made the viewer feel like they were the ones opening it up. I tweaked the idea a bit, and ended up with using a miniature treasure box to hold each day’s props. I bought it, along with a few props, from Michael’s, and just painted it pink. I’m not sure why I chose pink…but I really wanted it that color. ;)
To introduce the countdown on social media, I shared some of these images of me painting the box and prepping. Then I started the countdown the week of my release, have the last day be release day.
To be honest, I’m still figuring out exactly the best time to start a countdown. I’ve seen artists do a variety of things—some artists only give a heads up when the pre-save is ready, and then again on release day, and others let their fans know weeks to months in advance, showing lots of behind-the-scenes photos and videos. The time of year and type of genre you’re in also has some play I think, but I also don’t think it’s a black and white matter. If you have a creative release strategy, and are consistent with sharing it, I think your fans will appreciate it and learn what to expect from you.
COUNTDOWN:
With each day of the countdown, I kept to a certain format. I shared how many days there were until the song was released, I gave a prompt to “open the box,” and then I shared an interesting tidbit about the creation of the song. I also did these three things:
I always started a shot of the box closed or my hands just opening it, so viewers had to swipe right to “open” the box.
I photographed the box in a different setting each day to try and keep it interesting.
I used different kinds of props to create variety and (hopefully!) hold interest.
DAY 1: ⭐️4 more days⭐️ until “Silent Night” is on all streaming platforms!
Swipe to the right to see what’s in the box:
👉 45 years after “Silent Night” was first performed, John Freeman Young, an Episcopal priest, translated the song into English.
However, the lyrics are not an exact translation from the original German. If you open the box, you’ll find a paper with the direct translation for the first verse.
Information and lyrics from:
https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/christmas/stille-nacht-silent-night/
DAY 2: ⭐️ 3 more days ⭐️ until “Silent Night” is released!
Swipe to open the box and find out what’s inside:
👉 on the evening of December 24, 1818, Joseph Mohr (the writer of the text), walked to the neighboring town to see if his friend, Franz Gruber, could set his poem to music. Mohr needed to perform the song in a few hours, so Gruber wrote the music for him.
Interestingly, the church had been flooded recently, so the organ was unavailable. Gruber wrote the accompaniment for guitar, and later that night, the two friends performed it with a choir backing them up.
Information from: https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/christmas/stille-nacht-silent-night/
side not on these photos: I took them outside on our patio. It hadn’t snowed yet, so the moss was still exposed and I thought it would be a good backdrop. Our neighbors were out though, so I’m sure I looked strange crouching down and photographing the ground. :D
DAY 3: ⭐️ 2 more days ⭐️ until “Silent Night” comes out! Woohoo! Almost there, friends. ☺️
Swipe to open the box and watch a time-lapse!
👉 Because the Salzach River was prone to flooding, in the 1920s, the entire town of Oberndorf (where “Silent Night” was first performed) was relocated 800 meters upriver to a safer location. At this time, a new parish was built in place of the old, as well as a small memorial chapel (which still stands today).
Information from: https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/christmas/stille-nacht-silent-night/
time-lapse video: You can follow this link to see the little time-lapse video I posted for this day.
DAY 4: ⭐️ 1 day ⭐️ until Silent Night is released (tomorrow at 3 pm)!!
Swipe right one last time to find out what’s in the box:
👉 There are two writers of Silent Night: Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber.
Mohr (who wrote the words) was an illegitimate child who became a priest, died penniless, and left his small earthly fortune to help with the education of the children in his village. The school is still run, and it stands only a few feet from his grave.
Gruber (who put the words to music) was a school teacher in the neighboring town, and also the choir master and organist at the parish Mohr served at. He wrote the music in just a few hours.
Information from:
https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/christmas/stille-nacht-silent-night/
DAY 5: Release day!
I posted a reel for this day with my single playing in the background as I told people it was out! In my caption, I made sure to do three things:
let people know my single was now available on all streaming platforms
gave an action—”add it to your playlists and share it with your family and friends”
gave credit to who helped me with the single, in this case, just one other person who mixed/mastered it (Atman Sheth from Fiverr).
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
On your release day, make sure all of the links on your social media platforms are updated so people can click directly to where you want them to go, and update your bios if you need to. It’s also a good idea to have a consistent profile photo across all your social media accounts, so it’s easier for people to find you.
Specifically for Instagram, artists will usually share in their stories all of the other people who are sharing their single as a thank you.
It’s good to be active on social media for the first few hours/days that your single is released (especially those first few hours!). During this time, interact with your followers and promote your single through networking. This is really difficult for me—because as soon as I release something, I go through this thing where I hate it and think everyone will think it’s terrible. But we also have to believe enough in our music to push through this. The follow-up after the release is really important, and we don’t release music to gain the approval of everyone. Some people will hate your music, but then some will love it too, and I’d much rather have strong reactions that a lukewarm response.
If you have an email list (which you should!), send out an email blast to your subscribers about your single. It can be as simple as a photo of your album cover art, a link to where they can listen to it, and a short paragraph including streaming information, thank you’s, and a call to action (like “add it to your playlists and share it with your friends”).
A few days after the release, I shared another thank you post for all of the support and love “Silent Night” was receiving. I shared the cover art, but I think it’s better to do a video of yourself thanking everyone, so I’m going to lean toward that with future releases.
I feel like I’m just jumping into all of this, so if you’re feeling overwhelmed, I completely sympathize and understand. The best way to learn these things is to just start doing them. There’s so much advice out there that it’s paralyzing, but just pick a few things you’ll do for your first release, try to make it creative and unique to you and your skills (like using art or photography), and keep honing your skills with each new release. I’ve only released two songs so far, but I already see so much growth between the first and second, and it will continue to be that way with each release as we continue to learn and accustom ourselves to this process.
All the best,
Tara