Chase Your Fans
Some advice for artists: don’t chase the music industry, chase your fans.
A lot of folks get caught up in knowing all the people about town. They have coffee with every publisher at every company every once in a while. They attend writer’s nights to bump elbows with the new kids on the block. They try to worm their way into Spotify Holiday parties and sus out who is in charge of curating those damned playlists. And, guess what, those are all important things that - unfortunately - could provide a turning point in your career.
THAT SAID, if you want to be an artist, all of that will be for nought if you aren’t developing relationships with your fans. If you have a finger on the pulse of pop music, then you know that fan armies rule the world. BTS Stans can get anything trending. Taylor Swift’s Swifties and Nicki Mina’s Barbs can do the same. These fan armies are rewarded for their trials and tribulations with steady streams of high quality art and fan engagement.
While you may not have a fan base as large as these megastars, you can still make sure that your audience is getting proper attention. Releasing music regularly is your most essential activity. But there other ways of making your fans feel appreciated: send them a personalized IG message if they pre-save a song, host a get together before or after a concert, reply to messages that fans send you, or host live streams where you play music or video games or just talk. All these are free to you, the artist. For the low budget of you time, you can create relationships with your fans that guarantee their continued investment in your art and you as a human.
Look, the biggest artists in the world have meaningful relationships - both real and parasocial - with their fans. As you’re getting your foot in the door, focus on your fans. Make it a worthwhile experience for them to engage with your work and you’ll build a proper crowd in no time.
