BlogWe’re living in a bizarre time in music where it’s completely possible for an artist to be streamed thousands of times a day without having any true fans. Meaningful engagement between musicians and audiences has never been more important in the age of playlists and streaming, but it’s not always easy to tell when or how audiences are showing genuine enthusiasm about your music. Here are five signs that show that someone is becoming more than just a casual listener of your music.
5 Signs Fans Are Meaningfully Engaging With Your Music
The Dos & Don’ts Of Music Promotion
Late 2017, I received a social media friend request from someone who played in a band I had grown up knowing about. I thought it was pretty cool until he messaged me and mentioned that we were both members of the Christian punk & spirit filled hardcore social media group, and asked if I had ever seen certain popular bands in that genre live in concert. I told him I had not, but that I knew of his band from a compilation I had stashed away at my parents’ house. It turns out that’s what he wanted to talk about. It wasn’t long before I discovered that he was contacting multiple people in many punk and hardcore affiliated social media groups with the same questions and the same copy-and-paste responses he had sent to me. What’s worse is that he was doing this so often he was getting on people’s nerves.
The last time this guy reached out to me, I told him very kindly that people were getting annoyed by his requests and he should probably cut back. One of the next messages he sent me was a copy-and-paste response to a question he’d sent me several messages earlier and that I had already answered. It wasn’t long after, that I asked him to stop contacting me all together.
This is not the best way to promote via social media. To avoid alienating your target audience, here are some examples of good promotion vs. bad promotion.
Do You Need Social Media As An Artist?
In today’s day and age, it’s not enough to just make music and release it. While it is not impossible to just release music, go viral, and jump-start your career, it’s becoming increasingly harder to do so.
The entry level for producers to create a professional sounding track is very low because of how affordable professional grade equipment is. The result of this is an overwhelming amount of music being released every day. This makes it more and more difficult for artists to stand out and build a career.
The playing fields have been leveled for music producers all over the world making social media an absolute necessity for artists.
3 Ways To Connect With Your Audience
Unless you’re a musician who never releases music and writes songs that only you hear, building a strong connection with your listeners is something that should be on the top of your priority list. Making music that resonates with your fans is one thing, but there’s plenty of other ways to make an impact on the people who listen to your music the most. Here are three ways to help you better connect with your audience:
What To Post On Social Media As A Musician
Though bands have had the ability to share anything and everything with their fans in real time for years now, many of them still haven’t figured out what’s worth posting and what should be held back. Some bands adopt a philosophy of complete openness and transparency when it comes to what they share. If they feel, think, and experience it, it’s worth telling their fans about. Others take the opposite approach and hold everything back save for music-related information like new music and shows. Both extremes are bad for most bands which means a balance needs to happen to get the most out of communicating with fans. Here are some guidelines on what to post on social media.
How to Contact Music Journalists on Social Media
Social media is both a blessing and a curse. This shouldn’t be news. These days, it’s easier than ever to connect with friends, fans, and total strangers. For musicians, it opens new portals to press opportunities and even lucrative contracts, but as with everything, there’s a certain level of finesse for each and every action.
Unfortunately, as anyone who’s ever tried online dating will tell you, a certain level of decorum disappears when people are protected by the internet’s veil of anonymity. That’s why it’s more important than ever to retain dignity and treat others, particularly music industry professionals you’d like to work with in some capacity, with the same respect you’d show total strangers in real life
As a music journalist in the digital age, my inbox is literally bombarded with cold calls and requests for coverage from artists and publicists alike. That’s to be expected and while it’s somewhat annoying when the requests obviously aren’t genuine or were mass sent, the real frustration comes when my social channels are bogged down with insistent, even aggressive, messages. And, like online dating, there’s barely a, “Hi! How are you?” before the sender explains what he or she wants in explicit detail.
This isn’t to say that you should never try to connect via social media. On the contrary, if done properly, it’s a great entre onto a writer’s radar. Here are a few tips to contact music journalists on social media.
How to Use Instagram Pods to Get More Fans
In social media, we’re always chasing the algorithm, figuring out a way to beat it and rise above the eternal shuffling of what platforms think we want to see. As a musician, it’s frustrating to announce an exciting new tour or album release, only to watch your post sink slowly down your feed until it disappears. But a new Instagram technique called Instagram pods can help save your photos from fading into oblivion – and it might just strengthen your bond with your fans, too.
How to Give Other Artists Genuine Music Feedback Online and Build Valuable Relationships
In a world full of spammers and unapologetic super-promoters, cutting through the clutter with sincere, genuine, and thoughtful music feedback will greatly increase your odds of building valuable relationships with other artists. Ask yourself: Would you rather have someone give you thoughtful insight with actual proof that they listened to your work, or just a two-word comment and an emoji?
If you want to really learn how to provide strong feedback online that can develop into authentic relationships, try putting the following tips into action.
