Where Can Potential Fans Find Your Music?

I was out at an artist showcase last night in downtown LA at The Resident. A great night with a variety of artist and bands from all over the Country. Some artist were very seasoned and other artists were very new to the scene. All in all, it was a great night meeting new people, hearing new music, sharing information on a personal level, and business level.

There was one thing that was constantly said throughout the night that I could not stop thinking about. "Hey everybody, my name is blank, and you can check my music out on Spotify." I think it's great that people are using services and platforms that the majority of music listeners use, but there is something seriously wrong with this statement. The sad thing is most of the artist opened there set with this statement.

Why would you work so hard on a project, invest money for mixing and mastering, and then when its all done and ready to be heard, you direct potential fans and followers to a platform you don't own? If I'm ever in a position to tell people where they can find my music, it will always be a direct platform I own, my website. There's a number of reasons why this is important, especially as an independent artist. Here's a few reasons why.

Direct communication with potential fans.

This is powerful. This allows those potential fans too subscribe, follow, and stay up to date on future events and campaigns you may have going on. This can be a direct contact to your potential fan, which can enhance engagement.

Monetization

Depending on what platform you use to stream, it can take 751-1500 streams to make one dollar. If you could send a potential fan to your personal website to download your single or full project, that 751-1500 stream transaction could be done with less then one download. Not only a potential fan purchasing directly from your website and you receiving 99 percent of the sale, you can also set up different campaigns where your fans can donate to help towards future projects, or just invest in you.

Ticketed Events

There's many platforms that host ticket sales for events that you may have. In order for these services to come on board and partner with you, they usually take a percentage off the top. What if you could host your own ticket sales?

Other platforms are great and respectable but don't be afraid to drive traffic to your personal platform, this is where you can receive the most benefit.