Crowdsourcing: Musicians and Fans

The new relationships talent are forging with their fans are truly invaluable – and essential.

Music (and Art in general) is a natural fit for social media promotion. A fan who feels that he is an essential component of a group/artist is more motivated to truly champion his favorite.

With social media, the fans have become an integral part of the process, involved in funding (e.g. Sellaband ) – as well as organically participating in marketing/promotion (they are logically a “viral host” naturally passing on music they enjoy to their friends and networks).

They may even play a part in where the bands perform (I’m not sure what (if anything) is currently happening with ALiveCrowd – but it could prove to be an excellent use of the fan base as well).

The record label structure, rather than uniting the musician with their fan base, has become a type of beefy bodyguard, keeping the two entities from any real contact.

The new module (whether it be a self-promotion through social media or platforms like Sellaband) means that musicians are also able to show their gratitude and respect for the people who are sincerely involved in their success (“without you fans, we are nothing, man”), and the fans feel that they are a legitimate part of the process.

At a recent event (Bridging Media) Darren Barefoot mentioned Kevin Kelly’s excellent piece 1,000 True fans which makes the claim that a musician need only have 1000 true fans to make their career feasible (and financially sustainable).

Kelly’s theory makes good sense…

My friend Suzka is a phenomenal musician (violinist & singer).

When Myspace came around, she began actively promoting herself on the site and establishing contact with her fans. Supporters enthusiastically forwarded her page to others, recognizing that they had come across real talent, and her fan base increased exponentially. She now has 2523 friends on Myspace alone. Not a bad number on one site alone to promote her tracks, albums and shows to…

Any thoughts on how performers promote themselves efficiently though the new mediums? I am considering writing a series on Art and Social Media and welcome any suggestions and interesting sites/social media tactics from my readers…