red fans

In my last post, I discussed being clear on what your music means and then overdelivering to your customers so they’ll come back and buy more music, attend more gigs and recommend more people. The key to that is building trust with your fans through developing the community around you, the artist.

As the internet changes in it’s principles of connectedness, the effect it’s having is rubbing off on the independent music industry and if you don’t take notice and adapt with it, you’re going to fall behind. As independent musicians we’ve got to be open and keep up with the rest of the internet world, because whether we like it or not, the fast changes are affecting how we work as independent music business owners.

We’re challenged by the new way of positioning ourselves as artists. Rather than stepping out as the iconic figure that some signed artists make out to be, we need to become more connected with our fans on a very personal basis. Our openness requires a lot more discipline and skills as we’re taking on more responsibility than just musicians. We’re music business owners, or what I call, musopreneurs.

Instead of having control in our music industry, we’re having to build trust. Trust is one of the multiple new currencies to succeed in the music industry. Trust with your fans and trust with your business partners. The world is networked, and especially on the internet your reputation can make or break and spread like wildfire within just a few hours. Building trust requires dedication and discipline.

When we’re transparent with our audiences, when we allow ourselves to show them who we truly are and when we connect with them on a personal level, we immediately allow ourselves to have that inherent connection with them and develop a sense of trust that makes them feel that what they’re buying into, not your music, but you the artist, will be worth it.

And with the millions of musicians trying to build a good community they’ll feel that spending their money on you is better than the next person because they’ve developed a sense of closeness to you. 

But that’s not all… when you gain someone’s trust, in their eyes you develop into an authority figure – someone who they’ll believe in and someone who you can influence. They’ll listen to your every word, they’ll listen to your every song and they’ll get hooked on you as the artist. They become the true fan.

So how do you build trust?

Building trust comes from sparking a two-way conversation. In the “old model” of the music industries, conversations used to be just one-way. The artist says something at their website, on the radio or in their newsletter and the fans just listen.

The “newer model” requires a discussion. It requires interactivity between you and your fans. They want to know you’re here to listen to them. They want to know you’re real and you’ll be transparent in your communication. When you do this, you build trust. Your ratings go up. Information about you spreads by word of mouth. As the Media Futurist Gerd Leonard says, the key to your music’s future is not protection, it’s permission.

You’re not just working to get sales for your music, you’re working to get attention. The more you keep people hooked on your work, the more you’ll develop trust towards you.

Tags: , ,

About the Author

Kavit Haria

adminKavit Haria is the founder of InsiderMusicBusiness.com. He writes and speaks on the topics of music promotion, music business strategy and music entrepreneurship. He's also a Tabla player.

8 Responses to “Building Trust”

  1. Building relationships is what it is all about for me. I enjoy getting emails from fans giving feedback on my blog or asking questions about the music industry. In a way I act as a mentor, a sort of life coach, as I share my creative journey with others.

  2. This will backfire for musicians who are actually arsehole’s in real life; I think the key to being successful in this industry and basically all businesses is to be a good people person. Something I’m sure we are all aware of already, but I agree that making friends through gigs and the internet is probably one of the most useful things you can do as an independent musician, especially in the early stages.

  3. Building a relationship with people is definitely what it’s all about. We are lucky to live in a time where it is so easy for fans and artists to communicate with each other. Fans expect more interaction with artists now. The principles of permission marketing as outlined by Seth Godin apply to anyone who wants to make a living a professional musician.

  4. This can be looked at as a), a burden that we have to keep up with/adapt to, or an opportunity to reflect on our art and what it is we’re exactly trying to say and do. I think once we get clearer on that, we’ll feel more confident about it and want to share it with people, and feel comfortable with a dialog about it. I think the mythic aloof musician thing sometimes comes from a certain core insecurity about the work or the self.

  5. Yes, I understand, that community to fans is great. But it is quite difficult for me it’s at first, accustom themselves to communicate on the Internet, in forums and blogs. It is quite another, then just talking with a friend, or write letters by e-mail. This is similar to the ability to speak publicly, and here requires a some skill.

  6. I am now starting to enjoy sharing my story, my thoughts and I guess my struggle to be heard. You have to do a few things wrong before you can get one thing right. I’ve followed Kavit’s advice and already I’ve made headway and my headless chicken approach has ended. We want fans and we need fans and the web let’s us communicate and music fans can decide. I’m always honest with whoever contacts me. I’m not so sure about the “give the impression you are really happening” works.
    Let’s enjoy learning these skills together and sharing our music with The World.
    Really appreciating peoples comments here.
    Love and music.
    Al.

  7. Kavit Haria
    May 10th, 2008
    7:11 am
    Kavit Haria

    @Tom, well said. You’re right. You’ve got to be the real person otherwise it’s just going to shine through that you’re a complete liar.

    @Paul, thanks for sharing Seth’s book. I’ve read it. It’s great, and I recommend it everyone else.

    @Oleg, it is difficult but it pays off. The more you do it, the more you’ll train your audience to follow your ways. For example, in some ways, you could think of this blog as my medium to you, my fans/friends and as I write more you’ll read it and if it sits well with you, you’ll probably comment. The more that happens, the more you get into it. I think training your audience is an interesting subject. I’ve put it as a heading on my blog writing list for whenever I get creativity on that idea. Thanks.

    @Al, thanks. Keep me posted with your path forward. Being a headless chicken won’t get you anywhere productivity-wise.

    Thanks,
    Kavit

  8. [...] people to your fan funnel (concept discussed in this free e-book) and nurturing is all about building trust, training your audience, and getting people on a journey on your [...]

Leave a Reply