Oh, definitely.
Ok, question time. Which comes first?
a) Writing, producing, and releasing your music
b) Building an audience
Now, think of the answer in your head. It should be pretty obvious, right?
Right?
Of course, your music comes before your audience. If not, what will your audience listen to?
Well, let me ask you then. If your music comes first, then who will listen to it once you’re done?
If it’s one thing I learned in marketing and building a business it’s this:
The obvious answer is often not the only way, or even the best way.
My mentor once said this,
When everyone zigs, you zag.
Eg. When everyone is reading the same book, read a different one.
Everyone will be following the same “playbook”, but you, you have the opportunity to create your own game.
And this has been something that I truly believe in when it comes to business and even life in general. Especially coming from someone who has helped built several million dollar businesses in Singapore, and is on his way to building something even bigger.
That’s why, I believe that in order to become a successful musician, you have to build an audience first.
See, over the last few years, I’ve spoken to a lot of musicians and I see the same thing happen over and over again.
They spend months writing songs, then they practice it over and over again. Then they spend a few more months in the recording studio.
All these while, no one knows what they’re up to. Maybe there’s the sporadic update here and there, but there’s no hype, anticipation, or engagement built.
And finally, when they finally have the final product (their album or EP), that’s when they suddenly announce it out of the blue expecting people to care. (Hard truth: no one will)
Maybe a few friends and family will support them. But that’s it. And they are left with stacks of CDs that no one listens to.
And worse, they missed a huge opportunity to build a fan base.
Seeing this happen not once, not twice, but to almost every “launch” I’ve seen so far, got me thinking.
What if you could build a fanbase before you even have any music put out. Is it possible? And how.
In a previous article, I talked about how the pre-launch is so very important. That is a key stage of a successful launch that almost everyone ignores.
Yet, it’s arguably the most important stage.
So, right now you’re probably thinking. “How do I build an audience if I have no music put out?”
That’s exactly what I will share in this article. The 3 ways you can do it, without releasing a single song. Starting with…
Step 1. Release Consistent Content
No original songs? Record covers during your practice sessions in the jamming studio.
Use an iPhone to record it. Or, you can invest in better equipment like a Zoom Handy Recorder.
It doesn’t have to be the best quality, it just has to be audible.
Put it up on YouTube, or do 1-minute covers and post it on Instagram.
But that’s not all.
If you post it on Instagram, do some hashtag research.
Most people just spam hashtags or use them ironically. Don’t do that… yet.
As a relatively unknown musician, every hashtag is valuable. Once you’re bigger, then you can use hashtag as memes.
For now, however, proper hashtag research is important to reach the right audience.
Also, don’t just go for all the popular hashtags. You may get a lot of likes (from bots) in the short term, but it’ll quickly get buried by other posts in literal seconds!
We use a step-by-step guide to proper hashtag usage to maximize organic post reach on Instagram to the right target audience.
And for YouTube? Well, it’s not just uploading your videos and then hoping and praying that people view your content.
With proper keywords and content planning, you can capitalize on trends and put your music in front of what people are actively searching for.
That way, people can consume your content and hear about your band before you record or even release a single track.
“Is that it?” I bet you’re thinking that. I don’t want to be a YouTube cover band.
And that tip isn’t even anything new. Most people upload tons of videos on their social media but don’t get any traction at all.
Which brings us to…
Step 2. Build Anticipation For What You’re Working On
Just wrote a song with your band? Take a photo of your notes or a short clip of your songwriting session and post it on your social media.
Then add engaging and curiosity-driven captions that get people interested.
By leaving cliffhangers in your social media posts, you’re leaving your audience sitting at the edge of their seats, waiting for what you’re going to post next.
You can even post an announcement for an announcement. For example, “We’re going to announce ____ tomorrow night, stay tuned!”
Most people “wrap up” their content very nicely, without leaving a bit of curiosity that leads to the next step.
What I mean is, musicians post their music online, and at the end of the video, they just end it very nicely with the root chord and fade to black.
Then nothing. No call-to-action. No announcements. Nothing.
Just putting a simple call-to-action for people to follow or subscribe to your channels has been shown to increase audience engagement by at least 2x.
If you watch most YouTubers, you’ll realize that this is a common pattern.
They’ll ask you to Like, Subscribe, and click to the next video.
The point is, tell people what you’re doing, but don’t tell them everything. Give them a bit of info just to get them curious, but not enough to give everything away.
Then get them to take an action (like, follow, comment) to find out what’s coming up. And lastly…
Step 3. Talk To Your Audience
The last step, now that you have built an audience that is “subscribed” to you, is to engage with them.
And I don’t mean that you have to reply to every comment on your posts.
There are many ways that you can engage your audience, without manually replying and thanking everyone.
First, you can talk to them vlog style. A vlog is a video log where you record yourself talking to your fans.
You’re not actually talking to them per se, but it helps engage your audience.
You can conduct AMAs (Ask Me Anything), and pick the top few questions for your vlog.
Or, you can just share some funny stories with them.
The thing is, unless you’re Madonna, chances are that inaccessible, arrogant artist persona won’t work to win you fans.
In the age of the Internet, fan engagement is most important. And you don’t even need to release any music yet.
You can talk about music in your vlogs. You can ask them to share their favorite songs. Or, suggest a song for your next cover.
Whatever it is, fan engagement is key. All this while you’re writing and producing your original music.
So that when it is finally ready, you have a ready, excited, and most importantly TARGETED audience who will support your work.
Your shows won’t be just filled with family and friends and people who happened to be there. You’ll have actual fans who want to go down to see and support you.
And that’s how you build a fan base without releasing a single song.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. It’s too much effort and you don’t have time to post everything, while still producing and practicing your music.
That’s why Get You Heard was started. To help musicians like yourself focus on what you do best, while we handle the “boring business” side of things.
Want to find out more about how we can help you,
click here.
