When a musician or band make music they dream, and they usually dream quite big. They hope on some level that everyone will like their music, or at the very least respect it; and I am here to tell you that that isn’t going to happen. Make one move in this world and you accidently step on another, create one song from the heart and you shine a light on someone’s secret, there is no way to make everyone a fan, and whether you like it or not, someone is going to hate what you do.
The good thing about knowing that you cannot please everyone is the freedom of knowing that you do not need to please anyone. I know this sounds a bit preachy, but follow me on this one. Of course you want to please people, and you want your fans to feel appreciated, but the important part is that you know that no matter what you do, you won’t win them all.
The real trick is to find “your people”, and to engage that audience in a proper way. Your people are the ones that like your genre of music, the ones that have supported other bands like yours, and the ones that share a similar outlook. To explain this simply: Behemoth would not do well to promote themselves to a largely fundamental Christian fan base, just as Kayne West wouldn’t be smart to promote himself to all the metal-heads out there. This sounds obvious, but the truth is, many bands and musicians focus their attention on “everyone”, and that means they find a less engaged audience, even though they might have expanded their audience a bit more.
Your efforts must be focused when it comes to self promotion. You must send emails to the people that get your music, understand your message, and want to support you as an artist. Build a network around helping people, and they will in return help you. If you are a folk singer, support other folk singers; this is art, not a sport, and competition is an illusion. Talk to venues that work with your style of music, promote their venue on your site and have them promote you on theirs; far too many people want something for nothing, and more often than not, this is the very thing that hurts their PR efforts badly
So get to know your neighbor, shake hands with your true fans, and develop a healthy habit of supporting people so they will want to support you. The point is to get them talking, and no one wants to support something they don’t like, or someone that does not want to offer something in return; so make your music and find your people.
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