"How much does it cost?" is the first question most artists ask about promotion. The honest answer is that there is no single price, because a song campaign is a bundle of different jobs. Here are the questions that make the cost conversation useful.
What are you actually buying?
Separate the jobs before you look at numbers:
- Content and assets (artwork sizes, clips, captions, landing pages).
- Pitching (playlists, press, radio, podcasts, creators).
- Paid media (ads on platforms you choose).
- Coordination (someone keeping dates, people and follow-ups in one place).
A quote that mixes these without saying which is which is hard to compare.
What already exists?
If you already have strong artwork, a clear story, an updated bio and a small but active audience, you spend less on setup and more on outreach. If those pieces are missing, part of any budget goes to getting ready. That is not a scam; it is prep work that every campaign needs.
What time window are you funding?
A two-week burst and a ten-week plan are different products. Shorter campaigns cost less up front but leave less room to adjust. Longer ones need more content and more follow-up. Decide the window before you compare quotes.
What should you ignore?
Ignore anyone who prices by "guaranteed streams" or "guaranteed playlist adds." Those offers usually mean paid placement or inflated numbers. Price the work: hours, channels, reporting and the people involved.
A practical way to decide
Pick the channels that fit this release, write a one-page brief, and ask two or three teams for a scope against that brief. Compare apples to apples. MusicPromoToday's explainer on what it costs to promote a song walks through the same logic in more detail, and the broader music promotion overview shows how the pieces fit together.