GAINING FANS WITHOUT GIVING AWAY THE FARM

Here are some ideas for gaining fans for your music without giving it away.
 
Get involved with social media. If you want to sell 500,000 songs, the best way to do it is to have 2,000,000 friends. Your friends won’t always buy your music. Connect with people on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Follow them and ask them for their support for your page and your posts. Investing in other people and their careers will encourage them to do the same for you. Comment back to anyone who comments about you. The more you interact, the more friends you get. 

Tweet your own horn. About three years ago, I ran into an old friend and publisher of mine at a restaurant. He said “Where have you been, man? I thought you fell off the face of the earth.” Not what someone in my position wants to hear. The truth was, I had more going on at that time with my music than I had ever had at one time. I just wasn’t letting people know about it. I started posting about all of the songs I had out. I bragged a little about winning song of the year in Iran. The next time I saw him, he said “Man, you are on fire!”. Reality had not changed. Perception had. In this business, perception is almost as important as reality. If you have something going on with your music – let the world know!
 
Playing live shows. I don’t recommend a lot of live shows for writers. I think it can become a huge distraction. But, if you do play live shows, have something to sell. There needs to be a purpose for playing. You are not likely to be “discovered” while playing a writer’s night, but you might make some new fans who would buy your music right on the spot if you have it. Be ready to interact with people after the show and sell your CD or other merch if you have it, even maybe thumb drives containing your music
 
Use teasers. Make a funny video to post on Instagram, YouTube or Facebook. In the video, talk about your music. Talk about how much blood, sweat and tears you have put into it. Play a little piece of one of your songs live on the video. Then, offer people a special price on your music if they buy it after watching the video.
 
Give something away with a purchase. People love to feel like they are getting something extra. So, give them a little something to reward them for buying your music. It can be a “bonus track” song they get to download for free, an autographed picture. Anything to show appreciation for their purchase. Those are some ideas to get you thinking. If you have tried something different that worked to attract fans who will buy your music, share it with the group in the comment section below!

Author

Hangi Tavakoli is our in-house established and professional music producer with more than 14 years of experience in music production, mix and mastering, recording engineering, live sound designing/engineering, lyrics writing and music arrangement. He has produced more than 1000 and written more than 3000 published songs to-date, including some major hits in international scale. ​​​