When you’re a fan of something, it becomes a part of your identity. It’s a thrilling experience to surround yourself with like-minded individuals, all resonating with the same emotional connection.
It’s certainly true with online fandom as well. The internet has given us novel ways to express our admiration for artists. We can share memes, artwork, fanfic, songs, etc. We can participate in discords and online communities that share our interests and connect us with unified people from around the world.
When you’re a growing musician, you definitely need to understand the importance of crafting not only your online persona but the substance of your social media presence. This week, musicbyLUKAS discusses a few valuable tips on how to grow your fanbase as an artist.
Let’s get into it.
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Showcase Your Talents
What makes you stand out? Do you play an instrument? Have a specific style that you’re particularly good at? These are all unique talents that you can showcase on your social media channels and help to connect you with an audience.
Some producers mistakenly think all of their posts should be detailed how-tos and tutorials, taking you through a thorough step-by-step process. It doesn’t have to be this exacting. Instead, show us something that will simply deliver a vibe–your vibe. Throw your phone up on a tripod, or even just lean it against something. Record yourself performing a simple refrain on the guitar or piano or a short melody you just came up with. These short videos showcase what you do best and help to create those valuable connections with fans.
It’s also fun, even if you’re just practicing or trying out something new. Set your phone up, hit record, and forget that it’s there. You might record something you’d like to use or expand on later. You can even edit the recording to create little 15-second clips for later, which are perfect for short-form video content like TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram reels.
And if you’re not super comfortable in front of the camera, put your back to it instead. The point is that you’re physically there, and fans can see you doing what you do best: creating. It helps people to connect with you and see you as a real person.
These can go even deeper when shared as Instagram stories. These are viewed by people who already follow you, so some BTS looks into your process will be exciting and can help them know you even better. You can also see what they’re most interested in learning about, which is great data to factor into how to grow your fanbase as an artist.
Remixes & Mashups
This is another great opportunity for short-form content, perfect for TikTok and Instagram reels. It’s simple because instead of producing a full-scale remix, you could instead just do a remix of a drop or a small portion of a song.
So, you could potentially remix a drop and show your audience a short BTS segment on how you made it. Or, you could film yourself at your DJ booth and DJ the mix. Think of location too. Maybe poolside? Maybe just in your bedroom? You could also record yourself playing at a show. The choice is yours.
Don’t worry about it sounding super professional, either. You can take old tracks that were never released or even remix something you worked on a long time ago. You can still breathe a little new life into your old material.
If one of your short remixes starts getting a lot of attention on social channels, that could be your cue to actually finish the complete track and release it. Let their comments and natural curiosity play a part in your own marketing campaign. Once you release it in full, maybe even for a free download on YouTube, that could gain even more traction for you organically.
You could even offer the download to newsletter subscribers, or you could have them follow you in exchange for the remix. You can even send it out to DJs and see what they think. As you can see, there’s so much you can do with these remixes and mashups.
This also works great with a song that’s already trending since people are already searching for it. With its organic popularity, they may run across your remix, and then BOOM, instant new fan. They’ll listen to a few more tracks and get to know your style.
Turn Anything Into A Video (How to grow your fanbase as an artist)
As you may have noticed in the last couple of years, video content is now heavily favored, especially on platforms like TikTok, which have exploded in popularity recently. You’ve even been seeing changes on Instagram to favor video, too, so it’s high time we embrace it, for better or for worse. As they say, adapt or die.
Since we’re so used to taking photos, the trick is to simply use the same opportunity for a short video. Don’t overcomplicate it. After all, it can be just a few seconds long if you choose.
For example, if you’re in a cool location and would normally pose a certain way for a photo, just do the same but in a short video. That’s pretty much it. Except this is actually another good opportunity for you to show the world your unique talents. If you’re on vacation somewhere, maybe bring your DJ board with you to shoot a couple of videos.
If you’re a piano player, look for one of the public pianos you occasionally see and film yourself playing, and make sure to highlight some of the reactions you get from the passersby. There are a lot of different situations where you have the opportunity to change up the setting while simultaneously showing us your talents, and that’s the key idea from Tip #1.
Focus on setting up your phone to film yourself in different ways. No need to make it a big deal. Just document your creative life and let people see the cool stuff you have to offer. Make filming part of your normal routine instead of blocking out strict periods of time to record. Make it casual and free-flowing.
Do a timelapse, add some FX, sound effects, or some creative editing. It’s really up to you how creative you want to get with it.
Also, think about it as a way of documenting your process. If you’re filming yourself coming up with a song from scratch, and that song turns out to be a huge hit, then how cool would it be to have documentation of you actually creating that magic? Imagine seeing Chuck Berry come up with ‘Johnny B. Good’ or John Lennon compose ‘Across the Universe.’ Priceless.