HOW TO BUILD AN ONLINE FANBASE

posted in: Music News

os_howto_061009The advent of the digital age made a lot of things easier for musicians (i.e. recording, distributing and promoting material). But there are still a couple of areas that require some good,  ol’ fashioned elbow grease. Like, say, building an online fanbase.

Since there’s no magical application that can comb through cyberspace to locate the ideal fans for you (though some 13-year-old computer genius is probably working on it as we speak), you’re going to have to dedicate some time to crafting the art of making friends. But before you go crazy sending out friend requests, we have a couple of suggestions …

¢    Don’t spread yourself too thin. There are countless social networking sites out there, and you may be tempted to create as many profiles as humaly possible. Remember, you have to update your profile with news, tour dates, MP3s, videos and the like on a continual basis. We recommend you limit yourself to three or four sites that you know you can maintain.

¢    Find common ground. The best way to build your fanbase is to reach out to the friends and fans of similar-sounding musicians. Our advice: be practical, not aspirational.  You may aspire to draw all of U2’s fans but chances are good that these followers won’t be interested in you if your sound is more like Miley Cyrus.  So start with artists within your genre who share the same influences, are well-established or garnering buzz. In other words, focus on someone you could feasibly open for without getting booed off the stage by their fans.

¢    Don’t sound spammy. Once you’ve done your research and located fans who you truly believe would appreciate your music, send them a friend/fan request accompanied by either a personal email or comment on their profile. Be sincere and conversational. Write something like Hey, I noticed you’re into Mary J. You’d probably like my music too. Give it a listen when you have a second and tell me what you think, but make sure you use your own voice. The more you sound like you’re speaking to each fan one-on-one, the better the chances you’ll get a positive response.

¢    Communicate. Every fan you make is a new relationship and, just like with friends or family members, fans require attention and communication. This means updating your profile with news and blog posts as well as uploading new songs, videos and photos are absolute necessities.  But the single most important thing you can do is respond to your fans when they send you a message or comment. It’s a small investment of your time that will” not to freak you out” take your “relationship” to the next level.

Look, until Steve Jobs or Bill Gates invents bionic fans that can be programmed and set to autopilot, you’re just going to have to settle for the human variety. Yes, they are a little more high maintenance, but trust us, they probably sound a lot better screaming the lyrics to your songs.

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