Social media offers numerous benefits for musicians, helping them connect with fans, promote their music and build a strong online presence. If you compose, arrange or produce music, this is a bandwagon you should most certainly hop on if you want to reach potential customers.
What Social Media Platforms Should a Musician Use?
As a musician, you should consider using social media platforms that best suit your target audience and align with your content strategy. Here are some popular platforms musicians often use:
- Facebook. Currently the most popular social media network in the world, Facebook is useful for sharing updates, event information and longer-form content like articles or blog post snippets. Facebook Live is also great for streaming performances and interacting with fans in real-time.
- Instagram. Instagram is ideal for sharing visually appealing content like photos and short videos. Long videos can also be posted too! This platform is great for building a visual brand and engaging with fans through stories and live streams.
- YouTube. Perfect for sharing music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, tutorials and live performances. It’s the world’s largest video platform and can help reach a wide audience.
- TikTok. In recent years, TikTok has skyrocketed in popularity, especially among younger audiences. Musicians can create short, engaging videos showcasing their music or participating in trending challenges to increase visibility.
- SoundCloud. Soundcloud is ideal for sharing original music and connecting with other artists and listeners within the music community. It’s a platform dedicated to music streaming and discovery.
- X (Twitter). Now called X, this platform is effective in sharing quick updates, thoughts and engaging in conversations with fans and other artists. Hashtags can help increase visibility and reach a broader audience.
- Threads. Threads, newly established and similar to Twitter, allows users to string together multiple tweets to form a cohesive narrative or discussion on a particular topic. This is a great way to connect with fellow artists and fans and have interesting conversations.
- LinkedIn. LinkedIn is useful for those looking to network with music professionals, share career updates and showcase their expertise in music-related fields. A good LinkedIn profile may lead to an excellent job opportunity!
- Twitch. Twitch is popular among gamers, but is also gaining traction in the music community for live streaming performances, songwriting sessions and interactive Q&A sessions with fans.
- Snapchat. Known for its disappearing content, Snapchat can be used to share behind-the-scenes moments, exclusive content and engage with a younger audience.
- Discord. Discord is a user-friendly platform where a musician can showcase video content and initiate interactive discussions.
HOT TIP: As a musician, you may think that you have to create new content on all of these platforms to gain traction, but this is not the case!
Start with a few platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok) and republish the same or similar content on all of them. This way you only need to create one piece of content (e.g. a video) and it will cover all of your selected platforms. Notice what works and what doesn’t. Perhaps you get around 100 likes when you post a short and entertaining video but only 15 when you post an inspirational quote. Just learn as you go and you’ll soon discover what your music audience loves to see.
How Does Social Media Benefit Musicians?
Social media can benefit you and your business in numerous ways:
Fan engagement
You can respond to comments, share updates and interact with your followers on social media. This creates a sense of community and helps build a loyal fan base.
Promotion and visibility
Social media provides a powerful platform to announce events
such as music releases and upcoming shows. You can share music videos, live
performances, behind-the-scenes content and other creative material to reach a
broader audience and increase visibility.
Networking and collaboration
By using social media as a musician, you can connect and collaborate with other artists and producers. It provides opportunities for networking, finding potential collaborators and expanding musical horizons.
Direct marketing
Your music business can use social media to market and sell music directly to fans. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter offer features for promoting music, creating targeted ads and driving traffic to online stores or streaming platforms.
Real-time feedback
Social media provides a platform for musicians to receive instant feedback on their music. You can gain insights into fan preferences through polls and votes, track engagement metrics and make data-driven decisions to improve the music you offer.
Brand building
Social media enables you as an artist to develop and maintain your brand identity. Showcase your unique personality, share your story and create a consistent visual and tonal aesthetic that resonates with your musical audience.
Do Followers Measure the Success of a Business Social Media Account?
No. More followers ≠ a successful online business. Here’s the reason why:
Followers alone don’t guarantee sales, and ultimately, the main goal of any business is to generate revenue and turn a profit, isn’t it?
Let’s say that John produces and teaches how to produce lofi music, and has a business Instagram account.
His goal from the beginning was to gain a large following, and through posting a mix of entertaining and educational content for over two years, he has totalled 75,000 followers. Now, he’s a musician, but after he realised that a random video review on his new barbecue went viral, he continued posting spontaneous, slightly less musical content. As a result of these interesting reviews and funny videos, he suddenly started gaining thousands of followers – much more than he had gained when he posted musical content. John continued posting memes and other viral content, and at the end of the year, his Instagram account had led to $10,000 in music business sales.
On the other hand, Peter, also a lofi producer and educator, took a different approach with his Instagram account.
Unlike John, Peter remained steadfast in his focus on music and engaged with his followers through comments and messages and by posting interactive polls. He also asked his followers what they were interested in seeing and he delivered. Occasionally, he would post a slightly more ‘irrelevant’ video or photo (e.g. a holiday greeting or other snippet of his daily life) but not enough to push away his musical fans. All of his videos were to-the-point, educational and entertaining, and several of them went viral. Followers liked to comment and share his content with other musical friends.
While Peter’s follower count didn’t skyrocket overnight like John’s did, his dedication paid off in a different way. His loyal fan base appreciated his authenticity and remained engaged with his content. Many of them bought his lofi production course when it was released and recommended it to their friends. His followers were interested in what his business had to offer.
This support led to a steady stream of income for Peter, the account ultimately bringing in $35,000 of revenue that year. Over two years, Peter amassed a respectable following of 40,000 people who were genuinely interested in his music.
In the end, while Peter may not have reached the same large follower count as John, his focused approach to building a genuine connection with his audience translated into tangible success for his music business.
To wrap up, followers alone will not guarantee business success but high-quality, relevant, helpful and engaging content will. Utilise as many social media platforms as you can, connect with your followers and stick to your brand. Good luck!