CONNECTING MUSIC INDUSTRY + MUSIC EDUCATION
Knowledge Bank: Build Fanbase
Frontline artists need to find an audience and build a fanbase to develop a successful business and career around their music-making.
Artists usually begin this process themselves during the DIY Phase of their career, before they have any music industry business partners on board. At this stage, fanbase building usually involves a combination of live activity, digital activity and collaborations.
LIVE ACTIVITY
Although gigging and touring is obviously an important revenue stream for many frontline artists, during the DIY Phase it is also a key way to get the fanbase building process underway, and to find and engage with an initial audience.
Artists need to look for opportunities to play to potential new fans, including open mic nights, regular club and gig nights, guest spots and support slots. As momentum builds, festivals also become a great way to play in front of new audiences.
DIGITAL ACTIVITY
Artists need to have a presence on the key streaming and social media platforms. That means having some music (it can few tracks or an EP) available to play via streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music, and other content, including visuals and video, on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Ideally artists will have a profile on most of the social platforms, but they will usually use different platforms in different ways. Most artists post regularly on one or two of the social platforms, and then use the others for more occasional content or simple announcements.
Which platforms an artist should prioritise will depend very much on them and their fanbase. Creating and posting regular content to keep these platforms refreshed is a challenge, though there are various digital platforms that can help with content creation.
In addition to social media, artists should also look into setting up a simple website and an email mailing list, and give fans an opportunity to spend money via things like merch, memberships and donations. There are various digital platforms that can be used to monetise the fan relationship.
COLLABORATION
Collaboration is also key at this stage. Aspiring frontline artists should seek to collaborate with other DIY Phase music-makers and creators, including on making content to share on social platforms and possibly on staging live events too. Artists and creators who collaborate in this way can share the workload, utilise each other’s skills, and – crucially – access each other’s audiences.
DATA
All the digital platforms artists use provide data about the fanbase. This can be used to better understand who an artist’s fans are, to monitor the success of each marketing campaign, and to more generally track the artist’s journey through the DIY Phase. CMU worked with the MMF on a ‘Fan Data Guide’ that runs through the key kinds of fan data – access it at: cmulibrary.com/fandataguide
Pathways Into Music has also undertaken research to help use this data to track the DIY Phase artist’s journey and set goals for each fanbase building project.
FANBASE BUILDING TIPS
Pathways Into Music asked a team of music industry experts for practical advice on fanbase building. Here is a selection of their responses…
| “What’s your story? With so many artists releasing so much music, having a great story is a good way to stand out from the crowd. Think about your brand, your identity and your vision”. |
| “As you start to build a fanbase for your music, think of that fanbase like a community. Interact with your community and talk to your community – that way they will become your biggest champions and supporters”. |
| “Look at ‘content pillars’ outside of your music and artist identity – which is to say, what are your other passions and interests that you could post about? This makes it easier to keep your digital channels refreshed and your fans engaged”. |
| “Work out which digital channels work best for you and your fanbase – learn what kinds of content and posts work best on each channel – and find a good rhythm in terms of regularity of content and posting”. |
| “Build your music-maker and wider creator network. Collaboration is key for making great music, but it’s also important for growing your fanbase. All the other creators you collaborate with have their own fanbases – make sure you champion each other’s work to your respective audiences”. |
| “Use your analytics – from the streaming services, your distributor and social media. Cross-reference the different sets of data to see what kinds of content and posts get the best response – and result in more streams. Learn from that and adjust your future content and posts accordingly”. |
| “Start building a mailing list – so encourage fans to give you an email address and permission to email them. You will still talk to your fans more frequently on social media, but every so often send your core fanbase some extra content by email”. |
| “As momentum builds, start reaching out to industry and media contacts too. Don’t be too pushy, but occasional personalised emails updating key people on your activities and asking for support and advice can be really beneficial”. |
RESOURCES
In addition to the streaming and social media platforms, there are an assortment of digital tools and platforms that can assist in the fanbase building process. These include…
| EMAIL MAILING LIST MANAGEMENT including Brevo | Constant Contact | Mailchimp | MailerLite | Sendy |
| FAN ENGAGEMENT PLATFORMS including AmplifyWorld | FanCircles | Fanpad | Fave For Fans | VoxFeed |
| CONTENT CREATION (IMAGE) including Adobe Creative Cloud | Canva | Pixabay | Pixlr | Snapseed |
| D2F SALES PLATFORMS including Bandcamp | Bandzoogle | Big Cartel | Ochre | Shopify |
| MERCH CREATION including Canva | Merchly | Printful | Printify | Spreadshop |
We are compiling a more extensive list of these platforms which will appear here soon.