Recently I was in a discussion about Communicating With Fans, as part of the Halifax Pop Explosion and Music Matters Conference (thanks so much to everyone involved in the conference for having me!) and while I was there a musician asked me something… I’m paraphrasing, but basically he said “you talk often about engaging with current fans, but what about getting new fans?  What about trying to get places like Exclaim to write about you, and that kind of thing…  Isn’t that still important?”

It’s a great question, and sure it’s important, but the best way to get media outlets interested in you, and beyond that, the best way to get new fans interested in you is by engaging the current ones.  Too often it seems that musicians spend a lot of effort and time on spreading the word to potential new fans, and much less effort communicating with the fans they already have.  As an independent musician, you don’t have a staff supporting you, creating marketing campaigns, securing interviews and press coverage, and getting radio stations to interview you or play your music.  Those are some of the tactics that labels and marketing companies will use to generate enough media impressions so that it creates familiarity with your band and music, and the idea is that by reaching a very wide group of people, some of them will like you enough to purchase something.  But as I said, you don’t have access to those people or those methods.

What you do have, is your current fans.  People who have already stated (either verbally, or by voting with their dollars and attention) that they like and wish to consume your music.  And the thing about music is that people LOVE to tell other people about the music they’re excited about.  So respect your current fans, don’t look past them hoping for new ones.  Reward them and inspire them, and give them every reason to be excited about you and your music, and help them spread the word to their friends about you.  Engaging your current fans to spread the word is the best way to find your new fans.  And as the word spreads, the media outlets will want to talk to you, and radio will want to play you, etc. and the cycle will continue.

Sure it’s not a quick process, it’s an organic growth, but it’s effective, cost-efficient, and the best part about it is you don’t need to rely on anyone else’s help to get started.  You don’t need to hire a publicist, or a radio tracker, or get a manager or label before you can begin… you have control over this right now.

So what are you waiting for?

Sadly, this is not some sort of sinister comic-book style supervillain threat… it’s just the truth.  When you’re in a developing band, and you’re trying to get people out to shows, or trying to sell the first few shirts/download cards/CDs/what-have-you, you’ll most likely start by telling your close friends.  When you do, please keep something in mind… your friends will all ask you to get in to the show for free, to be on the guestlist, to have a free copy of the record, free shirt, etc.  But the truth of the matter is, if your friends are supportive of you and your efforts, they should be the first ones willing to reach into their pockets to pay your asking price.  They, of all people, should know how much hard work you’ve put into your music, and everything that goes along with it, because they’ve most likely been with you through it all.  So there really shouldn’t be an issue for them to pay a few dollars to support you.  Let your friends know that you need to keep the limited number of free spots/discs/etc. open so you can use them on potential business partners who you might be interested in working with instead.  They’ll understand.

Of course, it should be mentioned that you shouldn’t be milking your friends either… they shouldn’t be expected to show up for every single gig, or buy every single new merch-item you release, but if and when they want something, or want to come out to support, don’t be guilted into letting them have it for free, simply because they’re your friend.

Just make sure they know how very much their support means to you.

Lets face it… if you’re a musician, you like the music you make.  You know it, you live with it, it swims around in your head all day long.  Other people don’t know your music at all.  I’m going to assume your goal is to try and change that fact.

The problem is, people (your target fans) are so inundated with things thrust at them, in hopes they’ll buy it, they have their guard up, and getting them to let down their guard is what you need to do in order to get them to pay attention to your music.  And make no mistake, the odds are against you.  I mean, can you pinpoint why you like any one particular artist’s music?  There might be some reasons, like a certain genre is more to your taste, or whatever, but for the most part, it’s a very instinctual thing.  You either like it, or you don’t.  Once you’ve found where the people who are most likely pre-disposed to liking the type of music you make, you need to go there, and try to sell them on yours.

Now, there’s three forms of currency that you want from people, in exchange for your music.  The first, is attention.  You need to get their attention, before you can get anything else.  The second currency, is conversation.  You want them to have conversations about your music, with their friends.  And thirdly, the last and final currency, is… well… currency.  Money.  Ultimately, the idea of supporting your lifestyle through music, is going to involve selling it (or ancillary products based around your music) for financial gain.

Now that we know what we want from our fans, attention, conversation, and money, and we know what we’re offering up in exchange for those things, our music, and our ancillary products, we can formulate a transaction.  The trick is, to ask for the right currency, at the right time, in exchange for the right item.  You’re not going to be very successful selling your products for money, if the customer has never even paid you attention yet.  So first, try to get people to pay you with attention.  What if you devise products specifically to sell in exchange for attention?  ”Free” samplers, “free” downloads, busking, rooftop concerts… these are all previous ways that musicians have tried to get people to pay attention.  Can you think of something else?  If you’re the first person to try something, you’ll get even more attention paid to you for it.

Even though people are inundated with marketing messages blasted at them all day, they still do want to give their attention to things that interest them, so make sure you’re offering is interesting.  And the people are still more willing to pay for something with their attention than they are with their money.  It might even be easier to get someone to have a conversation with their friends about you, than to get them to cross that hugest of hurdles and reach into their wallet to give you their money.

So keep in mind that when you’re trying to peddle your wares, put some products out there that people can buy with just their attention… if those products are interesting, you might get paid extra with conversations…. and finally, after they’ve bought everything they can get with those two currencies… then and only then will you be able to sell them what you’ve got up your sleeve that costs money.  But by then, they’ll be ready and willing to pay you for it.

So what’s the secret fourth currency?  Not so secret really… if you manage to get someone to cross that chasm to give you money for your wares, make sure you don’t let them get away without leaving you a way to stay in touch with them.  Contact information, and permission for you to communicate with them on an ongoing basis… that’s the fourth currency.  And quite possibly it’s the most valuable of all.  Get it whenever you can, treat it with the value and respect of diamonds or gold, and don’t ever misuse or abuse it.

Many bands and musicians are chasing a goal that is intangible at best, and perpetually unattainable at worst.  They want to “get big.”  There’s this unspoken definition of “making it big” and just by saying those three words, people think they have a general understanding of what that means, and that it’s what they want.  The fact this “making it big” has become an actual goal for people shocks me.  It’s vague, its a moving target, and there are no specific steps you can take that are guaranteed to help you achieve it.  That doesn’t really sound like something I’d want to spend my life trying to attain.  How about you?

In contrast, take the goal that’s the bane of many young musicians… and something people might hear from pressuring parents…. becoming a doctor… It might be the last thing you want to hear from your parents, but the truth is that’s an attainable goal.  Maybe not for everyone, but at least it’s specific, there’s a definite finish-line, you KNOW when you’ve achieved it, and with a little research you could probably figure out what steps need to be taken in order to achieve it.  There’d be some years of schooling, specific courses, some tests, and an internship at least.  Then, if you pass all those obstacles, you could become a doctor, and achieve the goal.

“Making it big” is a sentiment, not a goal.  Keeping with the doctor example, imagine you’re a kid in high-school who does want to become a doctor (a very noble profession for people who want to pursue it) and when someone asks you that dreaded question, what do you want to do with your life, you reply “I want to save people.”  That’s not a goal, it’s an emotional sentiment, and a noble aspiration, but it’s the same as saying “I want to make it big.”  It doesn’t really say anything specific.  There’s a billion ways to “save people.”  Becoming a doctor is one of them.  But it’s a quantifiable, and attainable goal.  Not necessarily easy, but that’s why not everyone who goes to med-school actually become doctors, and it’s why not every band is going to become successful, regardless your definition.

Try to think in more quantifiable terms and apply that to your music career… don’t just grasp at straws, and don’t chase intangibles.  Set new goals for yourself.  There’s long-term goals… I want to have a song I write become a hit song played all over the radio.  I want to get nominated for a Grammy.  I want to sell-out a concert at my hometown arena.  Those are very difficult, long term goals, but at least you’d know when you’ve achieved them!  But also consider that future doctors also have in-between goals… like passing midterms, or landing internships at their hospital of choice.  So as a band, set in-between goals for yourself too… things like… I want to play 50 shows in 25 states by the end of next year.  Or, I want to sell 5,000 downloads of my song.  I want to create a mailing list of 10,000 fans.  (note I said 10,000 FANS, not 10,000 people…. big difference).  I want to double my merch-dollars-per-head in the next six months.

Quantifiable goals will help focus your efforts, plus give you some satisfaction of accomplishments along the way, which will only motivate you further, to set more goals, and accomplish more things!

I was recently watching a fascinating documentary called “Connected: The Power Of Six Degrees”  that focuses on a growing field of science called Network Theory.  It’s origins stem from the celebrity-game “Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon” that challenges people to connect two seemingly random actors through the movies they’ve been in and via their co-stars.  The documentary focuses on how the world is much smaller and more connected than we ever thought it was.  They even perform an experiment on the doc, where 40 random people around the world are given the task of getting a package delivered to a specific Harvard University Professor, the caveat being you can only send the package to someone you know, who you think can help you get the package closer to the target recipient.  Then that person has to send it on to someone they know, and repeat the process until the package arrives at the intended person.  In the documentary, four of the 40 packages mailed, actually end up arriving at the Harvard professor’s office, including one that originated from a random woman living in a small village in Africa.  The documentary delves into how network theory can potentially help the world accomplish such widespread goals as combat terrorism, prevent viral pandemics, cure cancer, and more.  It’s a really fascinating documentary and I highly recommend everyone watch it any way possible.

Relating the topic of the documentary to the subject matter of this blog, it’s easy to see how the network theory principles outlined and demonstrated in the documentary can be applied to music marketing.  The package experiment truly proves that by spreading something organically, step-by-step throughout your network, it is very possible to reach a great number of people.  By travelling along a bridge that exists between you and your contact, then hopping onto a bridge that exists between them and their next contact, and continuing that process repeatedly, along these pre-existing bridges, it seems that it’s possible to reach almost anyone and everyone in the world.  Given that, it would seem that focusing on the network to which you’re already connected (friends, family, co-workers and fans), and creating something they then feel compelled to share with each of their networks is a very effective method of spreading your message.  It would seem to be far more efficient to strengthen and utilize the network connections that already exist, than to try and build new network connections where ones didn’t already exist.

It may seem obvious, but why not try spending your energy creating something remarkable that your current network truly wants to spread, and then help motivate them to do so?

Excitement about your music starts with you, so be excited about it.

Your band, your music, your live shows, your recordings, your websites… everything about your music-making endeavours should make you excited.  It should be exactly the way you want it to be, because it reflects who you are and helps other people to percieve you the way you want to be percieved.

True, you should feel as though making your music is what you were always meant to be doing, but on the other hand, no one is forcing you to do it.  You’re doing it because you love it.  (or at least you should be.)  So in everything you do, that relates to your band/music, be excited about it.  Don’t just “let” others feel your excitement, MAKE them feel your undeniable excitement!  Be passionate about the work you’re putting out into the world, because it’s YOUR work.  Don’t put it out there until you get it right, and then when you do, be proud of it.  Be excited for it, be excited BY it!  When presenting your music to others, don’t be sheepish, embarassed, shy, or nervous.  Show people how much your music means to you… be passionate, vibrant, and enthusiastic.

People want to get excited about music, but you need to help them realize that your music is worth getting excited about.  That has to start with you, because if your music isn’t exciting to you, why should you expect it to be exciting to anyone else?