Written by Jacob Ezra
We as independent artists are always in need of clever and practical paths to navigate the industry on our own. With the bloating of social media with content and the saturation of the music market, it has become more necessary than ever to seek new alternatives that differ from old models. In order to do that it can be important to re-frame our thinking around what success looks like in the creative industry.
A method that directly reaches a group of people, focuses on their needs and interests, and eventually cultivates togetherness in a community, is a useful approach in today’s landscape. This differs fundamentally from the more traditional path of seeking accolades, co-signs, and streaming numbers. It’s not that those things don’t matter, it’s just that as artists operating independently we have a finite amount of energy- and focusing our energy in a different way is likely to yield more useful results at a ground level. That is to focus on finding like-minded individuals and creating a sense of commonality and community around your music and art. This might not bring about big streaming numbers, major co-signs, and the like- but it is likely to build true fans that will support you consistently, provide a quicker path to earning from your creativity, and allow artists to operate with greater freedom.
Let’s talk about effective ways to create community. It doesn’t have to centered around anything too grandiose, as these communities typically build slowly and methodically through consistency. It first involves establishing your identity, which can be done through telling your personal story, showing vulnerability, and letting people into your world. Creating emotional bonds with listeners is the first step to creating community, as they will be able to feel this commonality, and as if they are a part of something.
As this is being established through consistency, give people avenues to join your community. Starting a discord, group chat, mailing list, and cultivating this community through communication on social media are great foundations. Through authentically speaking with this community, providing them with relatable content, and providing incentives, you can strengthen your community bit by bit. Some examples of incentives you can provide could include discord events, contests, behind the scenes content, personalized merchandise, concert giveaways, a patreon, and more. The idea is to have people feel like they know you personally, to establish a relationship with them where they feel seen, and to give them ways to connect with other like-minded individuals in your community.
ROUNDHOUSE MUSIC 