Be A Music Fan

Every musician I have met is also a music fan. Most are really intense music fans. They know a lot about the history of various bands, how the instruments are made, what happened during iconic recording sessions, etc. And they can talk about these topics for hours.

But then when it comes to creating content for their social media channels, they just duplicate the gimmicks and fluff they have seen others put out. They don't like it, but “that's what others have done.” Thus brilliant musicians are suddenly posting the kind of material you would expect from a small child. “I don't really like grapefruit.”

But it's better to keep the perspective of a music fan. When I first delved into social media, bands were not talking about their music. Most still aren't. They were doing little contests, posting pictures of the burrito they ordered, etc. One thing I started doing was collecting and posting stories behind specific songs. There was no special study that said this gets good numbers. It certainly wasn't trendy. I just did it because, as a music fan, I like reading those stories. And while nothing is a certainty, I figured that if I liked those stories, maybe some other people did too.

And it turns out other people do. When I set up those posts with clients, they usually do well. They get a lot of attention. They spark conversations. People share those stories with their friends. 

If you are a music fan offline, be a music fan online.