5 Great Twitter Music Contest Ideas

Whether you like it or not, or whether you use it much or not, there's no denying that Twitter has proven to be a useful marketing tool for many people -- including musicians.

Lately I've been researching Twitter contests. (Hint: I may do one of my own soon.) And I realized there are two good reasons to do a Twitter contest campaign:

• It can quickly build your number of Twitter followers. And the more people who follow you, the greater your reach in getting the word out.
• It can virally spread awareness of a new album or special event -- as long as you make posting messages about you part of the contest.

Therefore, here are five Twitter Music Contest ideas to consider when planning future promotions ...

1) The Retweet Song or Album Giveaway

With this contest, you simply ask your followers to RT a certain tweet. You can give away a song download to everyone who RTs, or choose 1 or 3 or however many winners randomly.

Here's how Mike Turner of @CrashKarma did this:

CD Giveaway / Crash Karma - RT this by 8 AM tomorrow to win a copy!

2) The Concert Ticket Giveaway

Same concept as above, only the winner (or winners) get no-cost access to your live show. See how the band Skillet did this for it's "Awake Tonight Tour" Twitter Contest.

3) The 'Help Us Write a Song' Contest

Last summer the band O.A.R. promoted a Twitter Songwriting Contest. According to a Billboard article, fans could "submit their lyrics, 140 characters at a time, to O.A.R.'s page at twitter.com/ofarevolution. The band will then pick three winning verses, a chorus, and a bridge that will make up the lyrics of the song."

Now that's a very creative use of Twitter.

4) The 'Tell Us Your Favorite Song' Contest

With this one, you post streaming (but not downloadable) links to a collection of your songs. Then ask fans to listen and tweet their favorite tracks. You can send everyone who does (or a limited number of people) the full CD or album download.

5) The 'Help Us Spread the Word" Contest

This could be an effective way to built your Twitter presence quickly. You send an email to your fan list and ask them to A) start following you on Twitter, and B) to post a specific update that you supply, such as

Check out @KushMusicCanada It's feel-good, downtempo music for the mind, body & soul. You'll love it!

Then offer a prize to everyone who follows you and posts the message, or offer something cool to the first 10 people who do.

Ready to present your own Twitter music contest idea? If so, let me know about it in the comments section below.

-Bob

P.S. Also check out my Twitter Music Promotion & Marketing Guide page.