Don’t be surprised. Your fans talk to each other. Conversations between your fan base happen whether you like it or not. Can you control what kind of conversation develops? Maybe.
Imagine you played a gig. You had a healthy audience of 100 people who at least had five close friends each. That means, potentially, 500 more people could know of you. And of course, their friends would get told too. Based on how your music sits with your fifty audience members, those 500 people will shape their view of you. If the gig went really bad, word spreads. If the gig went really well, the word spreads.
Regardless, the word is going to spread.
And because of that, I believe you can direct the conversation. Everything starts with you, the artist and music business leader.
Good music, good marketing and good communities encourage better conversation amongst your fans. Music in web 2.0 world is all about building interactive communities where you engage with your fans. When you grow a community around you and your music, you keep people’s attention. You stimulate conversation. You engage fans by asking questions. You share your thoughts honestly and allow them to share theirs too.
Building communities is no longer a one-way thing. It’s two way with a focus on relationship building. How can you do that? Here are some ideas:-
Start microblogging with Twitter. Grow your Facebook fan page. Write a proper blog. Start a local meetup around your type of music and meet people. Do what your fans do and hang out with them.
There are so many ideas in the web 2.0 world for building communities – but don’t do them all. The idea is to pick one or two and start really using them. Do too much and you will dilute your fan base.
For example, I currently prefer to just use Twitter and LinkedIn in addition to this blog. The Facebook page is something that grows on its own and I haven’t really focused on it. Not because it’s not good enough, but there’s just too many ways.
Your fans talk to each other. What do you do to instigate positive buzz?
Tags: microblogging, Music Business, music fans, music marketing
About the Author
Kavit Haria
Kavit 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.
Last 5 posts by Kavit Haria
- What It Takes To Be A Successful Musician And Songwriter - July 17th, 2010
- Quick Question - What Are Music Teacher's Most Pressing Problems? - May 25th, 2010
- Seven Steps To Musopreneurship - April 16th, 2010
- Holiday Message From Kavit Haria - December 22nd, 2009
- Myspace Versus Facebook - Which Is Best For Musicians? - December 19th, 2009
June 18th, 2008
1:55 pm
How do I get started with blogging? I do the marketing for my husband’s band and wonder how to get this going. Any ideas? July is the biggest month he has ever had with gigs at house of blues and some other local clubs. Should I just write something fresh after gigs when the energy is still buzzing or should I blog a history of the big events of the past?
June 19th, 2008
7:46 am
Great advice Kavit – thanks!
I’ve recently started using Twitter & LinkedIn and am not only enjoying it & meeting loads of fun & interesting people but I’m also learning tons from the advice and experiences of other musicians I meet along the way.
Thanks again for the headsup on getting to know these web 2.0 sites! I’m already seeing lots of new traffic across my music websites!
Best wishes & looking forward to learning more!
Jules
http://www.JulieYount.com
http://www.myspace.com/JulieYount