No band signs up for social media and says, “eh, I’ll Tweet once a month, I don’t want to be too spammy.”
Then eight times a day they’ll post tour posters, YouTube links, and whatever else that capture on their smart phone.
Okay, you might not want to send eight emails a day to your fans, but you should probably send more than once a month.
See, the problem is we all get 14 emails everyday from companies and we get mad.
Don’t do that and you’re gold. It’s a low bar, but you can manage that.
But if you send BUY BUY BUY to your fans once a week that’s gonna get old real quick.
If you send a weekly email of the photos that usually post on Instagram (that most of your fans don’t see), or the song snippets you post on Twitter (that most of your fans don’t see), or the tour posters on Facebook (THAT MOST OF YOUR FANS DON’T SEE), then you’re not just coming off as a desperate retailer, or a needy politician.
You’re sharing what you do with people who probably don’t see your stuff anyways! There’s nothing spammy about that at all.
“Do the dance on socials, drive people to your email list, then regularly connect with your fans with stories, photos, exclusive looks, and the occasional link to a record or photo print,” from my post SELL YOUR DAMN JOURNEY
Pop star Olivia Rodrigo included this photo in her recent email (with a hand written note):
I mean, that’s an Instagram photo basically, right? And with algorithms, maybe 20% of her fans would see it anyways.
And not all of her fans follow on Instagram.
And someday she might get randomly locked out of her account, because that’s what Instagram does!
Start an email list. Yes, in 2022.
It’s your most direct connection to your fans. Your supporters. Your customers.
Building your entire brand on social media is like building a house on quicksand - someday it’s all gonna fall down.
HASHTAGS = SHIT*
Good thread. I’ve about had it with social media these days (if you couldn’t tell), and it’s why I’m so adamant about moving your social media audience to your email list as fast as you can.
* All hail Slipknot
MUSIC PEOPLE DOING EMAIL
“I’m not supporting myself entirely with Substack by any means, but it earns plenty for me to feel great about investing so much time into it.”
If you missed it last week, I interviewed Ryan J. Downey of the Stream N’ Destroy newsletter, which is in the top 20 music newsletters on Substack.
Other interviews I’ve done:
”A lot of people will tell me that they can’t keep up, and the newsletter helps them do that," from my talk with artist / musician Joan Pope.
“The whole time I'm doing that, I'm back to thinking ‘what will our fans like?’ Which is exactly the head space I want to be in,” says Professor Pizza of Axe Slasher, on writing newsletters for his fans. Read it here.
“Email list is good for the real diehards, especially when it comes to new releases and big announcements like shows,” said Jeff Gretz of Zao.
RIP, TAYLOR HAWKINS
Absolutely horrible news to wake up to on a Saturday. Hug your friends, support the bands you love, turn up the music this weekend.
As always - get in touch with me at seth@heavymetal.email. Let’s sell some records.