Social Media and Music

Social Media for Independent Musicians

It seems cliche, but it bears repeating: in this day and age, you can’t afford to overlook social media. But what does that mean? In an era where everything from multinational conglomerates to rodent fanciers has a social media presence, what’s an independent musician to do?

Short version? Be smart about your brand, stay active, and don’t be a nuisance.

Less short version? Let’s break it down.

Be Smart About Your Brand

As an independent musician, you’re not just in charge of the product, but the marketing as well. Without a sales and advertising team behind you, you’ve got to do the heavy lifting yourself. Working on a new track? Let people know. Got a show coming up? Get the word out.

Additionally, just blasting out the occasional tweet with your itinerary is fine, but it’s not going to set the world on fire. Instead, interact with people. Let another artist know you dug the bass on their latest single, and you’re going for a similar vibe in the studio right now. Ask local musicians and fans (if you’ve got’em) about good places to get lunch, coffee, etc., where you’re having your next show.

Make it personal.

Stay Active

Okay, so you’ve tweeted about your upcoming show, and you’ve updated your Facebook schedule. Job well done, right?

Nope. Not even close.

Think about your social media timelines. In the flood of messages, how easy is it for something to get buried, where you’ll never see it? The best messages in the world are worthless if nobody ever reads them; that means hustle on your part.

If you’ve got a show coming up, you’ll want to be increasingly active in the days leading up to show time. The day of, you’ve got a great opportunity to get people hyped as you warm up.

Stay on it.

Don’t Be A Nuisance

The downside of this, is it’s easy to become an irritant. Everybody gets spam, and nobody likes it; so how do you keep from ticking off your audience?

Once again, it comes down to hustle; you’re going to want to keep it personal.

Someone who tweets “show on the 12, tix $10 click link so LIT” ten times a day is going to get blocked right quick. Talk about the show; your plans, the other acts. Give’m something new, and people will pay attention.

Real recognizes real, but everybody recognizes fake.

About the Author: CDinser