Most bands dream of walking out onstage to a packed audience, full of excited fans, screaming and clapping. That is the dream. But what is the path to get to that point? How do you go from playing in a pub to gaining the attention of the fans and the music industry? It happens all the time, bands gradually build a following and then eventually they are playing to large audiences across the world. The problem is that the path to success is different for every band. Often the things that you think will be a big break, like a play on the radio or a placement on a film, don’t have the effect you think they will and bands get frustrated and split up.
So what you need to do is put your band in a position so that you can begin to grow this audience. The hard bit isn’t getting the 10,000 fans, the hard bit is getting the first 5 or 10. It is a slow process, you need to get the first few fans really on your side, give them access to you and the band and treat them as friends, say thank you and spend time with them. The early stages of your career are not the time to be aloof. You need to get those first few fans, build a relationship and get them to tell their friends. The word of mouth will take you on, you never know who your fans will be friends with.
The way it normally happens is you play some gigs and you start to build a following. Then through playing live you start to meet people on your local scene for the type of music you are playing. Often these people will know everyone else on the same scene, from bloggers to promoters to people in the radio. The key is to build a relationship with these people. Don’t try and spam everyone on the scene with random emails, it is all about building real relationships with people and hanging out in the right places. Don’t try and sell yourself all the time, just make friends. Once you get to know people doors will open for support slots and press coverage. Once you start to get support slots and press you will start to build a fan base. Once you have a fan base you will start to get offers from the industry. Remember that you don’t have to accept everything you are offered and be very careful who you trust. Always check anything you sign with a lawyer.
Obviously it goes without saying that you do need to work hard, have an amazing live show and music and have the social skills to be able to network like crazy (or someone to do it on your behalf). If you read through the previous posts on this blog all the information is there, it is all about building the relationships with the fans and the industry to the point where you can effectively monetize that audience to make a living from music.
It takes time and it’s not easy and maybe your music will never be commercial enough to be able to sustain the audience to achieve the lifestyle you want. Sometimes making weird odd and esoteric music can be an advantage, it is far easier to get people talking that way. The only way to find out is to work hard and see what happens, although you can base your predictions on the level of success of similar acts. The problem is that because each act is different it is very hard to estimate how popular they can become.
So if you want to play to an audience of thousands start by building an audience of 5 people, then 10 then 20 then 100 and a thousand. You will often find that your audience jumps in size due to a combination of things, perhaps a blog and a radio play and some sort of marketing, it is rarely one thing that makes a difference, usually some sort of combination. The marketing people say that for an audience to remember who you are that they have to see your name nine times, so the more places you are the more chance you have of standing out among all the other bands out there.
Make use of all the amazing tools available to you now, from Live Unsigned listings to social media to UStream. If you want to build the audience faster, work harder, get to know the right people and invest more money in PR and marketing. Make sure you know exactly who your fans are before spending any money. Test this by playing some gigs and see what type of people like what you do, then focus on finding more people like them if you want to do what you do and make a living from it.
The music industry is largely still all about who you know (and how hard you are prepared to work), it only takes building a relationship with a few key people to know everyone you need to connect with, it just takes time. Tools like Twitter and other social media have made it easier than ever to build these relationships, even if you don’t live in a city where there is a big scene for your style of music. Remember to do every piece of publicity you can, from the web radio show with a few hundred listeners to the blog with twenty readers. You never know who is reading or listening, perhaps they may know someone who can open the door that changes your life forever.
Every person you meet on your journey can have an effect on your career, from the barman whose partner is a top journalist to the person who looks crazy but has 10,000 followers on Twitter. The path for your band to gain an audience is different to that of every other band, the only way is to make a start and start building that audience one person at a time and see what happens.
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Tags: DIY Musicians, fans, How to, playing live, promoters, roadies, touring
