One of the biggest parts of being a successful recording artist is to gain a core audience and nurture them. If you always remember them, they will always be grateful and give you a base you can start building on.
Having a solid and loyal core audience is also the secret to longevity, and what allows artists to continue making money way after their career is past its peak. This is why you have to take the steps necessary to reach out to your audience whenever you can. Thankfully, there’s more than one way to do it. Here are few ways musicians can stay in touch with their audience.
Start a Podcast
One of the things you could consider is starting a podcast. This will allow people to see another side of you, and maybe make them realize that you have talents besides music. You could ask your subscribers if they have questions, or have special gifts for loyal fans. Patreon allows you to do this easily and it’s a great way to get your biggest fans even more involved.
Have Pop Up Shows
Surprise shows are also a great way to meet your fans. You can try to survey your audience to see where they come from. You’ll soon realize that you’re more popular in some other areas, or you might start a cult base somewhere else. Simply letting people know on Twitter that you’ll be in a well-known location in that area could be enough to draw a crowd. You’ll then have the chance to kick it with the fans and build on that.
Get Involved in Music Communities
You should also try to get involved in some musical communities. People often remember when popular artists used to participate in certain communities, and making random apparitions can stir a frenzy. Some artists post on Reddit and let people ask them anything. There are plenty of outlets where you can make friends and find new music, so try to get active, and make sure that they know that it’s actually you.
Hold Live Streams
Live streaming is another great way to keep in touch with your fans. YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are all great for this. Some might prefer to keep their mystique and have live streams from time to time, while others prefer to do some quick daily stories. It all depends on your style, your brand, the rapport you have with your fans, and their demographic.
Post Often
While you may want to limit your live streaming, you want to post as often as possible. You want to stay on top of your audience’s mind. This is especially important if you don’t have any project at the moment. You don’t have to post every day, but you have to be consistent with your posting and have a clear schedule.
Speaking of schedule, you could reserve certain days and time of the week to post a certain type of content. Maybe you could release mashups every Saturday at 7pm. This will give your audience something to look forward to and keep them coming back.
Acknowledge Your Fans
The most important thing is to have real interactions with your fans. One of the best ways that you can do that is to retweet some of their content. You could also ask questions directly to some of your biggest fans. Just answering a few fans will get you the appreciation of your core audience, who will see it as a sign of you actually caring. This could go a very long way when it comes to a musical career, so don’t take this for granted.
These are just some of the methods you can use to build a closer rapport with your audience. Make sure that you make them feel appreciated, and try to be consistent if you don’t want to get ignored, replaced, and forgotten.
