Building A Fanbase

The goal of every artist should be to make the greatest impact they can with their art. How do you make impact? You need fans. Fans are the currency artists live on. Fans allow artists to have leveraging power, measurable success, and monetization. Influence equals money in the music industry.

There are many ways to build a fan base in the digital music industry. Some are easier than others, but the overall sentiment is hard work and time will make the greatest impact.

1. Getting in the right mindset

Artists that want to build a fanbase need to have the right mindset. It’s not as simple as getting people to like you. It won’t work and you’ll leave feeling pretty disappointed. The right mindset is to “find fans.” By this, we mean, find the people that like your music, instead of wasting your time convincing people to like it. This means, going out and learning who your fan base is, what they look like, what their lifestyle looks like, etc… It’s going to take some digging deep and understanding of others. A key trait you should develop is fan empathy.

In the marketing world, theres this term called “critical mass.” Essentially its the number of people needed to make something go viral, or popular: its the tipping point. When you find enough fans, this critical mass can propel your career forward in ways you cannot imagine. Thing of it as progress on an exponential graph. Once you hit critical mass, your progress will grow.

Most of the work in the music world, is simply weathering the storms of the ups and downs of a music career. Having the right mindset can make your mission stand out from the rest.

2. Leverage Social Media