10 Best Email Marketing Tools for Musicians
By Tazmeen
An email marketing relationship is a direct line to your fans. Email marketing is a powerful tool to turn a casual listener into a lifelong superfan. With so many options out there, it can be tricky to choose the right platform, especially if you are searching for something affordable, easy to use, and with lots of features that are tailored to the unique needs of an artist.
The 10 Best Email Marketing Tools for Musicians
We’ve broken down the best options to help you build your fanbase, one email at a time. Here’s the top 10 best email marketing platforms for music enthusiasts
1. Mailmodo
Mailmodo is an AI-driven email marketing platform that empowers businesses to harness artificial intelligence for their email campaigns. The platform uses AI to create compelling emails, build sophisticated customer journeys, automate complex campaigns, and deliver intelligent performance reports.
Core Strengths
Interactive Features: Embed features like polls, surveys, quizzes, and even mini-games right in the email that encourage activities.
High Deliverability: Focused on ensuring your interactive and transactional emails land in the primary inbox
AMP Technology: Provides moving AMP components, allowing for real-time content updates, like a countdown timer or live tour date availability.
High-Impact Campaigns: Ideal for using rich images to announce album launches, merch drops, and VIP experiences that grab attention fast
Best for: Musicians who want to create interactive, app-like email experiences that drive high engagement and conversions.
Takeaway
Unparalleled ability to create captivating, interactive email experiences.
Increased click-through and conversion rates due to lowered friction.
Perfect for major announcements when you want to maximize impact and get fan engagement.
The platform of choice for an artist looking to market utilizing innovative technology.
2. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the best-known names in email marketing for a reason. It is a powerful and flexible platform that will work for almost any business—and yours too! Mailchimp's marketing platform page highlights its suite of tools to "build your brand and sell more stuff."
Core Strengths
Creative Campaign Builder: Create visually impressive emails that fit into your established brand with its emphatic drag-and-drop editor.
Audience Segmentation: Group your fans by location, engagement, or where they signed up to send only that group messages (e.g., only send out tour announcements to your fans in that city).
Automation: Set up a welcome series for new subscribers, or follow-up emails to fans who have purchased your merch.
Integrations: Integrates and works with other tools, including your website, social media, e-commerce, etc.
Best For: Bands and solo artists already comfortable with the platform and need strong general features.
Takeaway
Overall, a trusted and feature-rich platform for the majority of musicians.
The free plan is a solid starting point to build your first list.
The plans can get very expensive when you expand your fan base.
3. ConvertKit
ConvertKit recognizes that your email list is your most valuable online asset. Powerful automation in simple functions without the many complexities. Simply, you need to run email campaigns, develop funnels, and monetize your audience.
Core Strengths
Visual Automation Builder: Create complex, multi-email sequences (e.g, a 5-day lead-in for a single release) easily. Everything would be planned out in a clear visual flowchart.
Designed for Creators Saves Time: Equipped with easy-to-use forms, landing pages, and the ability to sell digital products (beat packs, exclusive tracks, sheet music, etc.) directly.
Tagging & Segmentation: An incredibly intuitive way to segment your subscribers based on interests and actions.
Best For: Solo musicians and songwriters who simply want to send emails, have powerful automation, and sell digital products.
Takeaway
A no-brainer for automation and segmenting an engaged fanbase.
The interface is clean and basic, which makes it easy to use while also utilizing powerful functions.
It's perfect for musicians who also teach or produce for other musicians or have subscribers for paid budget content.
In the higher end for pricing, but worth it for the tools it has to cater to creators.
4. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign Email marketing, automation, CRM, and even machine learning technology come together to deliver incredibly individualized interactions for your subscribers.
Core Strengths
Advanced Automation: Build out detailed “if-this-then-that” rules based on fan behavior (ex, tag the fan and send them your jazz-influenced tracks if a fan clicks on the link to the “jazz” playlist).
Site Tracking: Track what fans view on your website and trigger emails based on what they viewed (ex, send the fan an offer if the fan views the tour page on your new website but didn’t buy a ticket).
CRM Integration: Engage with your fan relationships more strategically,l ike a sales pipeline, which can enhance collaborations and partnerships
Best For: Bands and artists with an advanced marketing approach looking to deliver deep and personalized fan journeys.
Takeaway
The most powerful automation platform on this list.
More of a learning curve, but worth the investment for experience.
Overkill for the artist just starting, but an absolute gem for growing, professional bands and acts.
5. Brevo
Brevo has it all, with a no-nonsense plan that supports unlimited contacts (albeit with a daily sending limitation) and a strong set of marketing tools aside from email; it is a great choice for developing artists on a budget.
Core Strengths
Free plan: Send 300 emails per day to unlimited subscribers, which is an excellent starting plan.
SMS marketing: Integrated SMS can be sent to fans to notify them of important alerts, such as last-minute shows or limited drops of merch.
Transactional emails: Send automated emails, like purchase confirmation emails for your merch store orders.
Best For: Emerging artists on a budget looking for a solid mix of email and SMS marketing.
Takeaway
Incredible value, especially as you are figuring things out.
Email and SMS on the same platform are a solid combination.
A functional, heavy-duty item that does not rely on fancy design.
The best option is if you are price-sensitive and do not want to lose important features.
6. AWeber
AWeber has been a trusted name in the email marketing space for more than two decades. It may not have state-of-the-art features, but it provides a solid foundation for building and keeping your fan list, with a long track record of deliverability.
Core Strengths
Usability: An easy-to-navigate platform, move quickly from signup to sending your first broadcast.
Broadcast Focus: Fantastic for the artist who sends, primarily, newsletter-style updates and does not need too complicated automated options.
Templates: Extensive library of tested, mobile-responsive email templates.
Reliability: A history of successful deliverability, ensuring your emails land in the inbox, not in the junk/sussy folder.
Best For: Musicians who want an easy-to-use, dependable platform with a good, long-standing deliverability track record.
Takeaway
A tried and true option that gets the job done.
Great for the musician who likes the mentality of "set it and forget it". Easy to use compared to something like ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, etc.
The reliable workhorse, with regular fan communication.
7. GetResponse
GetResponse has transitioned from an email tool to a full marketing platform. If you are running live-streamed concerts, Q&A sessions, or online lessons, the included webinar feature is a huge benefit.
Core Strengths:
Integrated Webinar Functionality: You can host and manage live-stream events and automate post-event emails for everyone who attended or did not attend.
Website & Funnel Builder: You can create your landing pages for your new single or complete web pages without needing another app.
Marketing automation: Has a visual automation builder to rival other much larger subscriptions.
Best For: Artists who want to manage everything online-email, webinars, and landing pages-from the same dashboard.
Takeaway
The best tool for musicians who use live streaming and webinars regularly.
Great way to reduce the number of subscriptions by combining features.
Can feel bloated with features if you are only looking for standard email marketing.
A strong all-in-one tool for the artist-entrepreneur.
8. HubSpot
HubSpot is well known for its free CRM, and its marketing tools are built on top. This allows you to see and analyze a complete and deep view of your fan and all interactions with you, for free.
Core Strengths
Free Forever Plan: HubSpot includes a complementary, powerful contact management and email marketing function that will be enough for many artists.
Deep Views into Fans: You can see anything and everything to do with every email, website visit, and any interaction a fan has with your links.
Easy to Scale: As your career develops, you can upgrade into more advanced marketing, sales, and service tools all in the same platform.
Best For: Artists and managers who are serious about building their fanbase into a business and leveraging a free, powerful CRM.
Takeaway
The best free plan for someone who wants serious CRM capabilities.
Great for data-driven artists who want to monitor fans and engagement in detail.
The free email marketing is more basic than Brevo or Mailchimp.
Great for building an ultimate professional and scalable fan management system on day 1.
9. Omnisend
Omnisend is a secret weapon for ANY musician who markets physical products. Its automation is designed to sell and connect with customers along their purchasing journey.
Core Strengths
E-commerce Automation: Available pre-built workflows for abandoned cart recuperation, a welcome series activation for new customers, and post-purchase follow-up.
Direct Many Channels Campaigns: Combine email with SMS, push notifications, and more in a single automation workflow.
Product Pickers: Dynamically displaying your merch directly in the email has never been easier with product blocks.
Best For: Artists and bands with a well-established online merchandise store who wish to recover abandoned carts and generate more revenue.
Takeaway
If the primary goal of your email marketing is to sell merchandise, you cannot bet on another platform.
Nothing generates DIRECT REVENUE from your email list like Omnisend.
Note: It is less useful if you do not have a dedicated online store. But if that isn't an issue, it turns your fan list into a direct sales channel.
10. Moosend
Moosend bills itself as a more straightforward and affordable option that competes directly with Mailchimp and ConvertKit. Moosend's clean interface, sophisticated automation, and competitive pricing make it a solid offering.
Core Strengths
Landing Pages & Forms: Create attractive signup forms and landing pages with relative ease to grow your lists.
Visual Automation Builder: A "what you see is what you get" workflow editor that simplifies creating and operating these behavior-based email sequences.
Best For: Musicians looking for a nobody's nickel option, a simple alternative to Mailchimp with modern-day features & easy automation.
Takeaway
A great "sweet spot" between pricing and power.
Easier to use than ActiveCampaign, but has more powerful automation than AWeber.
Great alternative if you feel limited or priced out of Mailchimp.
Modern, lean, and effective platform for growing artists.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the "best" platform is the one you will consistently use to engage with your audience. It’s the platform that feels natural to your workflow and will allow you to nurture casual followers into a community of devoted followers. Don't get stuck focusing on features; the true power is not as much in the software itself, but in your willingness to share your journey. Your most authentic connections are developed through that direct relationship, so select a partner who keeps you in touch or builds a relationship. And, build your stage, one email at a time.