Artist Networking

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/3-areas-of-networking-that-successful-artists-master.html

BY: BRANDON WAARDENBURG | POST A COMMENT | PRINT ARTICLE

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

You’ve heard this worn out cliché before.

Now, I won’t disagree (that much) with it, but I will say that we give waaaay too much credence to the last half of the phrase and exactly zero to the first half.

If I changed it to suit my purposes it would be “It’s not what you know, it’s what you know about who you know.”

I realize this sounds creepy - like ‘sitting-in-a-tree-watching-through-someone’s-windows’ creepy - but before you get all weirded out, come up in the tree for a moment and see what it looks like from my perspective.

You see, I believe the original phrase neglects the fact that knowing someone is really hard work.  It takes years of interest, dedication and follow-through to get to know someone, especially…

• What their interests are
• Where they spend their time
• What groups/institutions they belong to
• Their phone number even
• The names of their spouse, girlfriends or kids
• What makes them tick

We see the “it’s who you know” and immediately fill ourselves with excuses.  We say about the guy who got the private gig we didn’t, “He cheated, he knew the business owner.”

We scream, “I’ve been robbed!” when a band hires their friend to play drums for the tour instead of choosing you - even if you were a long shot.

But this is EXACTLY what networking in music is about; building friendships with a purpose.

This might be hard to hear but the people who got what you wanted simply played the game a little bit better than you.

That’s not a reason to be angry.

It’s a reason to take notes and be motivated.

So, in that vein, I’m going to show you 3 areas that successful independent artists need to master and then I’m going to give you an opportunity to see a behind the scenes video on the system I use to manage my contacts.  Make sure you read all the way to the end.

Networking with Venues

For indie artists, venues are initially the most fruitful connection…

1. They’re good for getting you a gig on a regular basis, which helps you build a fan base and credibility.
2. They become an opportunity for ‘trust builders’ with other artists.  This helps you build relationships with artists, which we’ll get into later in this post.

I also generally throw booking agents and promoters in with venues on this one - basically anyone in a professional music capacity that means they spend a lot of time out at shows. These people are great to have in your back pocket as they have a long list of contacts themselves and a long list of potential opportunities flowing their way. Truthfully the more people you have who book and schedule shows in your contacts the more opportunities you’ll have as a result.

Using your venue contacts to line up a gig for another band is single-handedly the best way to build relationships with other artists.  When I look back at the work I’ve done with artists, I see the following flow time and time again…

1. Venue needs 1 or more artists for an upcoming gig
2. Venue reaches out to me
3. I can’t do the show but I specifically mention someone that I know who would be a great fit
4. Venue/promoter/etc. wants to save time and almost always takes recommendations
5. The artist plays the show and then returns the favour later down the road

Use your venue contacts to build relationships with other independent artists.

Lastly, building relations with venues opens up the door for the “we need an artist pronto!” emergency. The ones where you can shine by jumping into the line-up at a moment’s notice.  We’ve all heard of big acts rolling through town and the opener comes down with larengitis, gout or something equally gross , forcing the promoter into an immediate frenzy.  They rifle through their Rolodex looking for a replacement.

Wouldn’t it be great if you were top-of-mind in this scenario?

Networking with Artists

Some artists treat music as a competition…

• Who can get the most fans
• Who can 1-up your last show
• Who can sell more albums

It’s either arrogance or fear that drive these misguided people.  Successful artists recognize that collaboration will get you muuuuuch further than competition.

Those that treat the space as collaborative…

1. are happier people and better spoken about in the scene,
2. are more successful at landing gigs,
3. are able to efficiently reach the right fans,
4.  and have less body fat and a more active libido.*

*this one isn’t real. 

Think of it this way; who do you want to share a bill with? Generally it’s…

• Someone famous
• If not someone famous, then someone you know well

Build your network of artists and you’ll have a lot of friends to share bills with. This means you’ll have more people calling you to play with them - increased exposure to paying gigs - and more people to call when it’s your turn to set up a gig.

So how do you fill your contacts with artists?

1. Be intentional about building relationships with bands by meeting at least 1 person from each band you play with - Get to know the people who are playing the same sized venues and to roughly the same crowds as you.  These are your “peers.”

2. Make a list of bands/artists that are at the next level above you and create ways to network with them - Starting in your home town, make a list of artists that are playing at the next level and creatively find ways to network with them.  One of the best ways I’ve found is to work with a venue to set up a gig and offer to line up the artists.  Reach out to big names on your list and invite them to headline, then throw your band on as an opener.

3. Please, for the love of all that is good, follow up with your contacts - I’m pretty sure this is the cardinal rule of networking.  If you don’t actually maintain relationships with your contacts, then what good is having them?

And don’t forget the little tip from above: the fastest way to build relationships is to set someone up with a sweet gig.

Networking Via Self-Promotion

In all my experience I’ve never understood why independent artists don’t see self-promotion as a networking tool.

Think about it this way; networking with venues and artists is active networking while self-promotion is passive networking.  Self-promotion is a way for potential contacts to find you.

Maybe the reason most of us don’t promote ourselves well is that we’re taking the humble route (or maybe it’s just because you’re Canadian like me) and we’re bread to think that self-promotion is arrogant.  Or perhaps you’re the opposite and see self-promotion as a weakness.

But when done right, it’s a very effective networking tool.

I think of self promotion as raising my hand and saying “I’m here.”

So, how do you promote yourself for better networking opportunities?

A lot of this is tied to how you promote yourself as an artist to fans and the way you use your social media and your website.

• Communicate that you are open to opportunities on your social media pages
• Start an artist networking group for your town on Facebook
• Offer to teach other artists something you’ve learned
• Do something consistently that showcases your abilities and post it to social media

Here’s an excellent example:  One person that I’m coaching had the simple idea  - that is also proving to be incredibly effective - of posting 15 seconds of video to his Instagram feed EVERY DAY of him playing a different beat on the drums.

It shows a) how awesome of a drummer he is and b) how seriously he takes his profession.  After only a couple weeks doing it, he has added 100 followers to his account.  It’s simply a matter of time before some interesting opportunities pop up because of this little consistent action.  (I haven’t asked him permission to link to it yet, but I will and if he says yes I’ll link to it here).

Provide Value

In all aspects, networking is about providing value.  If you can consistently provide value to other artists and venues while looking valuable in your self-promotion your network will blow up in no time.

How to network better

Alright.  You’ve read this far and it was a lot of information.  You must be one of those unicorns that takes networking seriously.

 Here are the bonuses I’ve put together for you:

1. A video walk-though showing my system for storing and managing contacts (a system that is free and anyone can use)
2. A networking check list that takes this post and makes it hyper-practical

The key to the Artist-Fan connection? Owning the conversation

Whatever the platform - from The Grateful Dead's letters to fans to Facebook Custom Audiences - make sure the relationship belongs to you

by PATRICK ROSS on MAY 18, 2016  0 COMMENTS

The Key to Artist Connection ..... Owning the Fans 

bPATRICK ROSS on MAY 18, 2016

Whatever the platform - from The Grateful Dead's letters to fans to Facebook Custom Audiences - Make sure the RELATIONSHIP belongs to you ......................make sure the relationship belongs to you

b

I made my start in the music business mainly working with social media; something I called “web presence management.” A fresh-faced university graduate, recently arrived in London from Nashville, with a BBA focused on the music business under my arm. I was ready to talk about revenue streams, royalty splits, performing rights, mechanicals and a whole host of other topics covered in business school. But when I started at my first position with Nettwerk Records I was asked the question, “That’s great, but what can you do?”

I once again rattled off the list of music business courses and the knowledge I had gained about the industry. My boss at that time, Mike McNally, stopped me and asked again, “Right, but what can you do for us?” Puzzled I thought through my arsenal of knowledge and limited experience and landed on, “Well, I know some HTML, used to build websites, and I have a US Facebook account so I can book ads there.” (Bearing in mind that at this time you could book ads globally, but only if you had a US registered account.)

His eyes lit up, and we were off. I spent the next months customising MySpace pages, making digital banners of all shapes and sizes, and most importantly began using Facebook ads as a tool to find new fans for artists.

The idea was simple: a cohesive and well-designed web presence that quickly allowed any fan to dig deeper into an artist while encouraging new fans to take a journey of discovery. A “tiered interaction process” I called it, with clear calls to action throughout. One of the first steps in this journey was always connection. On MySpace there were friends, but it was difficult to communicate to them en masse, so we’d always be sure to install some kind of mailing list signup widget, sometimes for a free download, as front and centre as possible. The same was true for an artist’s website, and it was even my advice for bands on tour. “Get out there with a clipboard and sign people up!”

Facebook, however, was a new beast. With its self-serve ads platform, and the ability to target people based on the music they liked (which pretty much everyone gave up freely) we’d hit a communication gold mine. Hitting “like” had much less friction that typing in an email, and those likes were meaningful. Your fans on Facebook would then get pretty much all your updates, whether it be about an upcoming tour, new song or video, or just a general sharing of what was going on.

For the first time there was an easy way to find new fans based on similar interests, send them to a BandPage tab on Facebook, and offer them exclusive content for a like or an email signup.

Like all good things, of course, it didn’t last. As the platform matured, the amount of content multiplied, and soon we all found ourselves limited by “reach”. Now likes didn’t mean nearly as much, as you’d only ever reach a percentage of fans organically. It was a natural progression of course, with only so many posts a person could see per day, and more and more of those being taken up by friends and family alongside those willing and able to pay to reach an audience.

We found ourselves back to a place where email was gold, while tweets drift by and Facebook posts barely peek out of their pages into fans’ news feeds. But the long and short of it was“communication”. The ability for artists to communicate with fans who have put their hand up, so to speak, and said I want to be kept informed. Gmail did make this a bit more difficult with its promotions tab, losing many artist’s newsletters out of people’s main inbox, and yet it remains the most reliable tool for communication.

Of course, this artist-fan communication is not a new thing. The Grateful Dead communicated with their fans via mail, like many artists of the 60’s and 70’s. By signing up to the mailing list, fans got first access to tickets and news about the band. This direct communication allowed them to move away from their label, to their own imprint, and keep fans in the loop by simply posting them a letter. This “direct to fan” approach allowed them to sell out tours and release charting records with just the cost of some stamps.

The real lesson here is owning that communication. As new platforms open promising to streamline this connection, we must remember the Facebook conundrum: building an audience on someone else’s platform. The key is to own the relationship, so that no matter what happens to the social media and other connection platforms in the not so distant future, artists will maintain the ability to connect with fans.

Services like Hive.co allow you to connect all these dots, creating a fan profile across social networks, and even incorporating phone numbers and email address, as well as messaging services like Snapchat. (Which are a whole new area of communication themselves.) Facebook is not a lost cause either, although you do have to pay to reach people, and it can be money well spent (bear in mind that when you get beyond about 500 email addresses, you’ll have to pay to reach them too). There’s also the social features of Spotify, Apple Music and other digital music services that allow you to share playlists and releases with fans who follow you there. Even YouTube is rumored to be improving the ability for musicians and creators to communicate with fans. But the key to all of this is owning the conversation, and making it easy for fans to connect. Building a base of core fans, who want all the updates and news an artist has to share, is building a client base that can carry you through a long career.

I would even consider advertising as a fanbase communication tool these days, especially with technologies like retargeting. This allows you to build a list of people who visit your website, click on links you share, or interact with you on YouTube. It used to be a tool only available to the professionals, but with services like Found.ee and companies like Gupta Media, artists are able to take advantage of this and serve highly targeted ads to people who actually want to see them.

With so many avenues to chose from, which is right for you? Email is still of great importance, as we still see some of the highest conversion rates there. As for other platforms, it’s about being where your fans are and doing what’s comfortable to you as an artist. But always bear in mind that if you can own that relationship a bit more directly, then that’s the place to be. Beware of new platforms popping up that attempt to own the relationship, and always encourage fans to follow, like and connect where they can (sometimes you can even do this with incentives like free downloads, exclusive streams, or a chance to win some special merch).

As this connection and communication matures, it allows us to communicate smarter. And as new tools and technologies emerge, messaging can become more targeted, and the amount of noise is reduced. By segmenting your fans you’ll then be able to communicate with them more effectively. Targeting offers, releases, and live events to those most likely to respond.

Custom Audiences on Facebook are a great example of this, allowing you to segment fans based on their behaviour elsewhere. Have they been to your website in the past week? Then you probably don’t need to tell them about the release that came out 2 weeks ago. The same can be done on YouTube with AdWords retargeting lists, ensuring you promote your new video to all people who watched previous ones, but leaving out the folks that have already watched it. The combinations go on and on, but making use of clever communication not only saves in wasted spend but ensures you don’t wear your audience thin with untargeted messaging.

So keep your fans close, and keep the communication flowing. In music we have the unique position that fans generally want the content we have to offer, it’s just a case of effectively communicating that to them. As new tools come on the scene, like many that will be taking part in this year’s Midem, seek out the ones that are the best fit for you and your audience, allowing for low friction / high impact messaging to fan and super-fan alike.