Alright so basically I don't have much experience with making a fanbase, etc. and I am a rapper that mixes Rock,Rap, & dubstep. I have posted like 4 songs up on youtube and they are getting a decent amount of views, but most of my fans on facebook are my friends. What are some things I should do to create a real fanbase & actually promote my music?
What should I do?
- Thread starter Crysiq
- Start date
Steve Henningsgard
New member
Pick out some of the best up & coming artists in town, go to their shows, and tell them you like their music and want to mix a single, a demo, an EP, anything for them for free. Then, bust your ass and do a fucking fantastic job. If you can't do a fantastic job, learn to by recording anybody and everybody for next-to-nothing until you learn your chops. Mix under a fake name if you don't want your name on bullshit.
Do a fantastic job with great artists' music and everything else will be easier.
Do a fantastic job with great artists' music and everything else will be easier.
The fanbase is simple. Make music that people want to hear. There's a point in which you have to make a decision though: do you want fans, or do you want to be yourself as an artist? Chances are you can't have both.
Steve Henningsgard
New member
I disagree, personally. If there's one thing the public has made clear, it's that the music itself doesn't matter. People buy the (perceived) image, and/or (perceived) attitude, and/or the (perceived) emotional content, and/or (perceived) honesty. If you make great music that you love, and take the time to package yourself in a way that makes a strong, obvious statement of who you are and what your music is saying, people will attach to that. This goes for bubblegum pop as well as struggling 'real' artists.
It's being boring that people don't give a shit about and won't pay for.
Nope. The streets of musical history are littered with honest musicians that stuck to their guns and were left empty handed and unloved. The music listening masses are a stupid and fickle bunch. I personally think the change happened some time in the early 90's. Grunge might have been the last legitimate musical movement. It quickly got gobbled up by mainstream america and the shift of power from artist to corporation/consumer took hold. Luck is all that matters with musical success now. The landscape is way over-saturated with "honest" bands. You don't have to be good or unique or honest or anything - you just have to be lucky.
I know this is unpopular logic, but I think it's delusional and dumb for musicians to think that anyone should like their music, and it's even more pointless to worry about it.
Steve Henningsgard
New member
"Honest" and "great" aren't synonyms, of course. There are millions of honest musicians who make shit music that they love, and that *they* think is great. I'm saying you have to make actually-great music, and I would argue that it's as much a science as it is an art, and has as much to do with sociology as it does with your own expression. If you write a great book, people will buy it if you do everything in your power to get it in front of them. Same with music. It's just that many people use what music they listen to as a form of self-expression, which is where non-musical aspects of an artist come into play.
I very much agree that it's delusional and dumb for musicians to think that anyone should like their music. I disagree that luck has much of anything to do with anyone's careers or success, with the important and obvious exception of Major Label acts. I'm not talking Major Label millionaire status. When I'm talking about fans, I'm talking potentially a thousand people in most major cities in your area coming to see you play. That has more to do with great music, hard work, and a solid image than luck.
You keep throwing out empty terms like "great" like it's some clear-cut definable commodity. lol @ making "actually-great" music! Great to who? What you think is "great music" I'd probably think is total shit, and vice-versa. No one agrees on what "great music" is. You have a very naive and idealistic view on how things actually work on the local level gigging scene. Good luck getting 1000 people to a gig as a local nothing scene band. I'm not talking about playing in front of 1000 people as an opening act for some bigger national band. I'm talking about drawing 1000 of your own fans at the local level. Aint gonna happen. That means you need to have about 5000+ actual fans because not every one of your fans is gonna come see you play. No one's doing that unless they're lucky.
Steve Henningsgard
New member
A fair point, and I certainly wouldn't presume to be an authority on what is and isn't great. However, I put it to you that, were you and I to go see 100 different bands, we would likely agree more often than not on which ones are good and which aren't, and possibly even on which ones were "great". The difficult thing when it comes to judging music is that people measure it based on different scales dependent on what music does for them individually. Some judge it purely based on perceived 'honesty', others on technical proficiency; some on perceived originality, others simply on if it's fun to dance to; and dozens more individual scales. Yet, to suggest that these scales don't exist and that success is based purely on 'luck' is a jaded view at best. Yes, the general masses generally judge music on scales that most respectable musicians would consider 'superficial'. Yes, if you want to be a millionaire in music, luck has a lot to do with it, partially because you are largely judged on looks, which you can't really control. But for every millionaire Major Label artist, there are many who at least make enough to continue making music, which I would argue is a modest version of success, and one which I would be happy to achieve (and am on my way to doing so).
I wouldn't presume to know what experiences you've had, but I have quite a bit of personal experience with gigging locally, nationally, and internationally, and have seen several good friends of mine tour the world and sell hundreds of thousands of records, as well as a few others tour well into their 30's with little-to-nothing to show for it. Please don't assume that I don't know what I'm talking about, simply because our opinions differ, or because I'm perhaps a younger man than yourself.
That said, it would appear that it is my attitude itself that you have a problem with, and as such I'm having a hard time seeing this conversation continuing in any useful way. Unless you think we could both learn something?
Steve Henningsgard
New member
Discussing is different from arguing. I thought we were discussing man. I'm sorry your experiences have been more negative than mine with regards to local gigging. My experiences have been more positive, I guess.
Enjoy the game.
PDP
There once was a note
Yup, hard work and talent doesnt get you into any business these days like it used to in the US. Hopefully that will change.
Steve Henningsgard
New member
I saw that, nice!
And pure dumb luck. Don't forget that.