Discord Music Bots - Level up Your Music Marketing Strategy

Launched in 2015, Discord has become a central hub for community building. At the time of writing this article, they have over 850 billion messages sent every day, and 150 million active users. For those that haven’t heard of the platform before, Discord is a voice, video and text chat app used by millions of users daily to talk, plan and communicate with each other. It is used for a variety of things, from fan groups and art projects, to mental health support and general banter.

A Discord bot is a tool that can automate various tasks on a Discord Server, such as moderating comments or managing roles. A Discord Music Bot more specifically automated music tasks, such as playing music. In this article we're going to deep dive into Discord Music Bots, what they are, how to use them, and even make some useful suggestions to help level up your music marketing on Discord.

But before we do let's briefly take a step back for anyone that's new to Discord...

What Are Discord Servers?

Most discord channels (usually called servers) are set to private - meaning they’re invite only. These spaces become an ideal place for likeminded individuals to spend time together online, especially if it's centered around a niche hobby. There are larger open server communities that center themselves around more specific mainstream topics. For example, there are thousands of servers dedicated to video games, like Minecraft, Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone.

Discord servers have become places where people can meet others that share their interests, many of whom ventured from mutual group chat apps such as WhatsApp, that are hard to maintain when over 10 users are involved. But with Discord, that changes, as the interface scales nicely for large amounts of users, and most importantly, it's free!

The channels are broken into text and voice. Text channels give server owners the ability to create multiple channels for a variety of topics such as general chat, videos, music or gaming. Those channels are organized giving everyone plenty of room to discuss different topics. Voice channels on the other hand allow users to hang out over voice and video. No calling or ringing, you just jump into the voice channel and start chatting.

What Are the Functions and Benefits of Bots on Discord?

Every artist should be looking at different ways of reaching out to new and current fans, and building off of that. Discord provides a new edge to that by giving you the ability to create your own unique server where you can build your community of fans and collaborate with other artists.

A couple of weeks ago we published an article on how to incorporate TikTok into your social media music marketing strategy. But unlike TikTok, Facebook or Instagram, which prioritize one-way communication, Discord allows you to take advantage of two-way communications where you can announce news to your fans in real time and converse with multiple fans at the same time, creating meaningful conversations. Because of this difference, we need to think differently about marketing on platforms like Discord, and automation with bots is a great place to start.

Now, if you went and created a private channel, made several different topics to connect with your fans about, the question arises - how do I manage that channel? Most often this is done by assigning moderators. These are individuals in your circle that you trust to look over your channel while you’re not attending to it. As with everything online, it is easy for a random person to cause trouble very fast. In most cases this happens due to a lack of vetting. Moderators help remedy that.

Discrod music bots are a great way to being a little more excitement to your Discord server. It's a valuable tool that lets you share your favorite tunes and discover new music with your friends and followers. With a wide range of features, including the ability to create playlists, skip songs, and even take requests, a music bot can help you build a lively and engaged community on Discord.

Whether you're hosting a gaming session or just hanging out with friends, a music bot lets you create the perfect soundtrack for your event. You can stream music from a wide range of sources, including YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify, play music from your own personal library, and easily switch between tracks, adjust the volume, and even add special effects like reverb and echo.

Another benefit of a music bot is the ability to take requests from your followers. This is a great way to get your community involved and engaged with your content. You can create a channel where followers can submit song requests, and then use the bot to play those songs in real-time. This helps to build a sense of community around your server and encourages your followers to participate in your events. Whether you're a gamer, a musician, or just someone who loves to share music with others, a music bot is an essential tool that can take your Discord server to the next level.

Discord Music Promotion

Think of your Discord channel as one big hangout spot. You could easily have any amount of fans in the service online at the same time (imagine a room full of people for a small gig!). How do you do that? Well, by using Discord music bots in your server - here’s a few reasons why it can help you promote your music: 

1. Play music in your channel in real time - The largest feature of a Discord music bot is the ability to provide your fanbase to listen to the same music at the same time. They’re able to find songs on YouTube, Spotify, or other platforms and play the song in a Discord voice channel.
2. Automated Promotion - The music bots can be programmed to automatically post updates about your music, such as new releases or upcoming shows that you have to keep your fanbase informed and excited.
3. Automated Social Media - The music bots can be used to automatically post content updates for you about your music to social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. This way you’re able to fully focus on your music whilst the Discord music bot is able to take care of your social media marketing promotions. For a full encompassing social media strategy, make sure to read our article on creating a successful social media marketing campaign, as well as our articles on individual platforms like Facebook or TikTok.
4. Increase Engagement - Discord music bots can easily increase engagement within your fanbase by creating interactive ways to discover and listen to your music. For example, a bot can be programmed to allow users to vote on their favourite song from your discography to play next.
5. Community Building - Discord music bots can help creating a sense of a community space around your music by providing a place for likeminded fans to connect and interact with each other.

Yes! There are Spotify music bots available for Discord that allow users to play music directly from Spotify in their Discord channels. 

Spotify, the Swedish audio streaming provider has become one of the world's leading digital music services, providing users access to millions of songs from creators all over the world. Due to its popularity, there are numerous music streaming bots with Spotify integration, including Rhythm, Groovy, and FredBoat which we discuss below in this article.

However, some bots may require users to have a Spotify Premium subscription and it's important to read the terms and conditions before using third-party bots on your Discord server.

Yes again! There are also Youtube music bots available for Discord that allow users to play music from Youtube directly in their Discord channels.

Owned by Google, YouTube is the global online leader in video sharing, and the second most visited website on the internet, after Google Search. Bots can be added to a Discord server and used to stream music, create playlists, and manage music playback. Much like Spotify, there are no shortage of Discord music bots with YouTube integration which we also discuss below in this article.

To use music bot commands, you'll first need to have the bot installed and set up in your server. Once you have that taken care of, using the commands is a breeze. Thankfully, there are pre-built Discord bots that can be used with the proper permissions (in some cases, a small monthly fee of as little as $2.99). Your fans will be able to interact with the bots by sending commands through the Discord interface. 

To play music using your Discord music bot, you'll typically need to use a command such as !play or !p, followed by the name of the song or a link to the song on a supported music streaming service such as YouTube or Spotify. Once you enter the command, the bot will join the voice channel and begin playing the requested song. From there, you can use other commands such as !skip to skip the current song, !stop to stop playback altogether, and !volume to adjust the volume of the bot's audio output.

It's worth noting that different Discord music bots may have slightly different commands and syntax. Be sure to check the documentation for your specific bot to learn more about the commands it supports and how to use them. With a little practice, you'll soon be using music bot commands to create a lively and engaging atmosphere in your Discord server.

If you're a developer or a musician looking to add some extra flair to your Discord server, you might be interested in creating a Discord music bot. But how exactly do you go about coding one?

First, you'll need to choose a programming language and a library to use for your bot. Some popular options include JavaScript with the Discord.js library, Python with the Discord.py library, and C# with the Discord.Net library. Each library offers its own unique features and syntax, so be sure to choose the one that works best for you.

Once you've chosen your language and library, you'll need to set up your development environment and create a bot application on the Discord developer portal. From there, you can use the library's documentation and examples to start coding your bot's functionality. This includes playing music, skipping songs, creating playlists, and responding to user commands. You'll also need to integrate your bot with a music streaming service such as YouTube or Spotify, using APIs provided by those services to access their music libraries and stream songs in your Discord server.

While creating a Discord music bot can be a complex process, there are many resources available to help you along the way. Online communities such as Reddit and Discord itself have active developer communities with tutorials, guides, and code snippets that can assist you in the process. Additionally, there are pre-built bot templates available that you can customize and use without having to write your own code. With some patience and dedication, you can create a unique and engaging Discord music bot that will take your server to the next level.

So you’re looking to add a music Discord bot to your Discord channel? There are a plethora of Discord bot sites to choose from! But it is advisable to keep your ear to the ground in case there are any sudden market changes, as seen with Google’s cease and desist to Rhythm in 2021. Rhythm, the largest music bot provider at the time, was being used by 20% of Discord’s user base, which came as a huge blow to the community. 

With that said, we made sure to recommend only the best current Discord music bots available on the market, which you can see below:

Jockie Music

With an easy to use dashboard, Jockie Music bot provides users an easy way to integrate Discord music bots to their servers. Not only that, but it also has a huge command list for your fans to play around with! Below are the pros and cons of using the Jockie Music Discord bot:

Pros:

• It’s free! (With an option to donate)
• Thousands of hours of development (over 3 years)
• Provide volume controls, autoplay, save custom playlists, all for free
• Can load and play 100 tracks in one go
• 24/7 support

Cons:

• May have lag issues
• Does not support YouTube
• Need to go premium for 24/7 command

Hydra

The Hydra Discord music bot advertises themselves as the only Discord bot you’ll ever need! Similar to Jockie Music, the Hydra web dashboard allows you to comfortably customise the Discord bot on the web without having to remember any of the technical knowhow. Below are the pros and cons of using the Hydra Discord music bot:

Pros:

• Sophisticated web dashboard
• Reaction roles for assigning members
• Message builder that allows fancy custom messages
• Offers a feature-rich command list
• Multilingual with 20+ languages
• Provides you with a unique song request channel
• Uses industry standard infrastructure to ensure 99.9% availability

Cons:

• Audio may be lagging/sound glitchy at times if internet is patchy
• Does not support YouTube
• Premium requires monthly payment
• 24/7 command is only available for premium users

FredBoat

Used by over 6 million discord servers, FredBoat Discord music bot provides its users with a variety of features, but most importantly provides you the ability to play high quality music in your Discord server for free! Below are the pros and cons of using the FredBoat Discord music bot:

Pros:

• Can play music from a variety of platforms, and it also supports playlists and livestreams
• Users can simply type in the name of your song and let FredBoat find it for you
• Provides users with a games room whilst listening to music
• Supports Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Deezer, Vimeo, and Twitch

Cons:

• Small list of bot commands
• May stutter if the bot is under very heavy load, especially around weekends
• FredBoat is hosted in the US, so any videos that a service provider blocks in the US are unavailable
• The bot may leave your channel if left unused for too long
• Does not support YouTube and Spotify

Vexera

Vexera advertises themselves as the best free multipurpose Discord bot, currently serving over 2 million servers. It provides a variety of features for free, such as its powerful moderation tools. It provides its users a smooth and lag-free experience. See below the pros and cons of using the Vexera Discord music bot:

Pros:

• Sophisticated moderation tools that allow you to easily kick, ban and voice mute your server members.
• An advanced permissions system which allows you to choose who’s allowed to do what in the server
• Automated greeting command to welcome new users or provide them with a sad farewell
• Supports Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Twitch and Vimeo

Cons:

• You need to get Vexera Premium to use the Spotify integration
• Does not support albums, yet
• Does not support YouTube

While there are a multitude of other Discord music bots available to use, those listed above are widely accepted as the best on the market. Our goal is to help you grow as a musician, so if there are an Bots we missed that you think should be included or any related topics you'd like us to write about, drop us a message to let us know!

Final Thoughts

Incorporating a music bot into your Discord server is a great way to enhance the experience for your fans and followers. Not only can you play music in real-time, but you can also automate promotions, post content updates on social media, increase engagement, and build a sense of community around your music. By using a music bot, you can take your Discord server to the next level and connect with your fans in new and exciting ways.

At Band Pioneer, we offer a wealth of resources to help you build your music career and connect with your fans. Whether you're looking for advice on social media marketing, live performance, or just increasing your music revenue, our team has the knowledge and experience to help you succeed. So keep reading and sharing, and start taking your music career to the next level!