Do you have a favorite band that you think is the bees knees, but they don’t get the attention you think they deserve and you’d like to help them rise to fame but you’re not sure how? Perhaps you saw them at a club opening for another well-known band you love, or you saw them at a local show playing right after your friends band. Maybe you heard them on a local radio show, or your friend turned you onto them and you’ve been trying to spread the gospel ever since. It’s not surprising; these days, because there are so many choices of what to listen to on platforms like Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody, iTunes, etc., it’s difficult to figure out who the great bands out there are. Make no mistake that there are legions of great bands and artists out there that most of us haven’t heard of, and chances are pretty good you’ve got at least one in mind that you love.
A lot of us are under the impression that bands are just “found” somehow, and then turned into stars overnight by some industry big whig that loves what they do, because that’s the glamorized story that the big 4 corporate record labels (Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner) want you to believe. While that is certainly the case for some artists, the vast majority go through a much longer and laborious process on their way up the ladder of fame. Behind most artists that achieve national and international recognition is what is and has always been the most important aspect of an artist’s career: an army of motivated and ravenous fans that are adamant about the artist receiving recognition from those in the industry. These fans will often stop at nothing to make sure that the wider world pays attention to their favorite artists, and they have a few tricks up their sleeves that they use to get it done.
Remember, if you’re totally turned on by this artist, chances are that there are others out there that feel the same way and are doing the same types of things to bring the artist to prominence. Together, you can do it! With that being said, it’s time to jump to action with some simple and quick ways to get your favorite artists seen and heard by the masses!
- Call up your local college, community or commercial radio station and request that they play the artists’ music. This is something you can do as many times as you want, and the more you request it the more likely they are to find it and check it out, if they don’t know it already, and play it on their station.
- Post about the artists you love on other music blogs, like the one you’re reading right now! People who love music read music blogs and the people that write music blogs check out the artists that people talk about on their blogs. Just adding their name to the conversation goes a long way towards moving them into the American musical psyche, and chances are that someone will see your post, check the artist out, and then tell someone else who will in turn tell someone else.
- Mention the artist on facebook, twitter, or other social networking platforms you are on. This is super easy and quick and not only lets others know about the band through a conversation on social networking, it also increases the bands visibility on the internet in general. The more a band is discussed on social media, the more they show up in search results when people search for topics that relate to music and artists like the ones you love, and the more they show up in other people’s social media posts.
- Play the artists music on streaming music platforms you use to listen to other, mainstream music. Search for the artist on Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody, or where ever else you stream music and if they have music available to stream, play it often. Admittedly, if you pay for the service then this one is not technically free, however, you don’t have to pay anything additional out of pocket over what you pay to listen to all of the other music on that platform. In addition to getting a little compensation for your spin, the band also raises their visibility profile on that streaming music site and will come up in searches for music in their genres. If they get enough spins, they may even get a feature on the sites featured music list, or in another highly visible area on their website somewhere.
- Tell your other friends who love music about the artist during casual conversation! I know this one seems obvious, but a lot of people forget to tell their friends when they are excited about an artist they’ve recently discovered. Face-to-face word of mouth is still the one of the best ways to start a groundswell of recognition of an up-and-coming artist, and many bands still become famous largely because people talked about them around the water cooler.
You may already be a seasoned and dedicated music fan that has been a part of a movement that has brought one of your favorite bands to the fore (and you may not even know it!). If you have ever done one of these things and can share your experience, or if you have some tricks up your sleeve that aren’t on this list that you want to share with other music fans so they can help their favorite artist move to that next level in the American musical lexicon, we want to hear from you! Feel free to share your advice, experiences, failures, and just plain old great stories about supporting your favorite artists.
