“The most important thing
for a new artist or band is to perfect their skills as musicians and singers,
write great songs and learn the art of giving great live performances.” David Stopps
- Understand that all the communication with fans is about managing the experience they get with your persona.
- Perform live as much as possible.
- Invite audience members to comment on your performance on your facebook and/or twitter pages.
- Create a database or mailing list, constantly update it and aim for higher numbers all the time. If you have 1000 fans, you have a good number to make a living from.
- Respect and care for your fans.
- Identify your hardcore fans and give them extra benefits because they make it their life's mission to spread the word about your music. They are invaluable.
- Free music, interviews with the artist, audiovisual footage of the artist and podcasts should be a feature of the artist's website.
- Let fans download your music for free on condition that they submit their contact details.
- Use analytics on facebook and twitter to track where your fans are.
- Let fans comment on 3 new tracks and ask them to rate them and make comments. This makes them feel like they are part of your community.
- Send your music to genre specific media and blogs and run remix competitions. Prizes could be sitting at the side of the stage at the live show or attending an after-party. Some artists run competitions wherein fans submit artwork for the next EP or album cover.
- If you are unable to invest all the energy, thought and time into updating your online communication, employ someone who will do it on a daily basis in a way that is compatible with the artist.
