Artist Digital Toolkit
so you can focus more on the music and less on the admin!
In an industry rife with gatekeepers, grey areas and no right or wrong answers, we firmly believe that sharing is caring, especially when it comes to tips, tricks and resources that make our lives a little bit easier. I’m here with some of my favourite online tools/resources that I use as an artist, in the hope that they’re useful for other artists! Whether these platforms are new to you or not, we hope this list becomes a toolkit you can revisit, whenever you need it.
Canva
When it comes to socials, branding and all-things visual, Canva is your best friend. If you’re stuck for ideas and need a little inspiration, there are loads of images, graphics and templates to get you started. There’s a lot you can do with the free version alone, but there’s much more flexibility and useful tools with Canva Pro, such as ‘remove background’ and the full array of fonts, images, templates and graphics. If you’re familiar with Canva already, I recommend giving the free trial a whirl and experimenting with it, or activating it when you’re working on a new release.
Photopea
Sometimes, we need a slight step-up from Canva (believe it or not, it does have its limitations). Photopea is essentially a free, web version of Photoshop without the hefty price tag. This is particularly great if you ever get asked to provide layered/editable PSD files for tour/gig posters (booking agents or promoters might request this to make it easier for editing on their end), ordering new merch and designing artwork for physical versions of your music, such as CD and vinyl sleeves, disc on-bodys etc.. I often use Canva as a starting point and drag/open the design into Photopea when I need to create a PSD version.
Soundcloud
My go-to platform for housing demos and music in the works. In my opinion, SoundCloud’s Pro membership is well-worth the investment (available monthly or annually), if you can make it work. The demo bank graveyard is real and you can make playlists ‘til your heart’s content, but my favourite pro feature is the ability to ‘replace’ tracks: i.e. instead of having ‘song demo’, ‘song V2’, ‘song V3’ etc., you can simply replace the audio file of a track as you’re working on it and save the build-up of multiple versions - particularly useful when you’re in the recording stages of working on new music!
Linktree
A great way to create a one-stop shop for your music. Linktree is essentially a landing page and provides you with a single link that you can add to your bio on pretty much any social media platform. Linktree is super easy to set up, use and edit once you’re up and running, and I really enjoy the ability to edit on desktop, as well as mobile. You can see click traffic, preview YouTube videos, add a separate section for merch under ‘shop’ AND the free version has plenty of options for customisation, meaning you can make it feel personal/aligned with your branding without parting with a penny. If you’re new to this, I highly, highly recommend setting one up!
Pinterest
A staple for a reason. Pinterest is my go-to when I’m gearing up to release new music, having a re-brand and/or planning those all-important visuals (such as artwork, press shots, tour posters, merch etc.). If you’re a lover of mood boards and visual inspiration, this is a great space to brainstorm and find aesthetics you like.
CapCut
Think Canva, but for video editing. Whether it’s short-form or long-form, video content is a great way to connect and engage with fans of your music. On CapCut, there are loads of templates to get you started (and have a nosey through as a source of inspiration!) and plenty of ways to edit so it aligns with your branding/socials feed.
Google Drive
A super-easy way to get all of your files in one place. As artists, we often have an abundance of different files and information to cover every aspect of what we do (creative AND admin). Google Drive is my personal go-to, but Dropbox and OneDrive also serve the same purpose. They enable you to not only organise your files, but also create sharable links, so you can give promoters, bookers, anyone who needs access, access, and add folder links to press releases, for example. Google Drive is my favourite, as you can create Google Sheets or Google Docs (their equivalents to Microsoft Excel and Word) documents from Drive or quickly add them to your chosen folder.
That should do it for now! We hope there’s something new for everyone in this list, or if not, that it simply becomes a go-to list of resources for whenever you need them. Are there any tools/apps you reach for that aren’t listed here? Drop it in the comments!