How to Sell More Merchandise by Opening Up to Your Fans

If you’ve put in the effort to release music at a professional level, you’ve already come to the realization that acquiring new fans can be tough. Keeping those fans and converting them into diehard fans who are willing to buy your merchandise and other products can prove to be even more challenging.

For many of us, there’s one artist we would steal candy from a baby for (if they asked). We also find ourselves buying tickets to to their shows in a heartbeat, given the opportunity. There’s a good chance that it’s because something about that artist resonates with us on a personal level, beyond the satisfaction that listening to their music provides.

Releasing quality music is central in helping artists acquire new fans, but nurturing these fans can turn them into the kinds of diehard fans who are willing to miss a month’s rent payment to buy tickets to a show.

The artist Lights pictured in 2017. Photo by Matt Barnes

One of my favorite examples of an artist who has a diehard fanbase is the Canadian artist Lights. Her music is dynamic and diverse, ranging from acoustic covers of Drake songs to radio-friendly pop tracks.

On top of being a phenomenal songwriter, Lights is continually engaging with her fans online, sharing information about her personal life and things she’s interested in, from comic books to video games and beyond.

She provides exclusive content to her fans through social media in the form of live streams that feature her singing and playing guitar, and on top of all this, she posts behind-the-scenes photos of herself at shows and hanging out with her (seemingly very cool) family via Instagram and Facebook. All of these things build a connection between her and her fans at a personal level.

Building a connection with fans in the same way as Lights can be scary, because it opens you up to a lot of criticism, and you have to put yourself in a very vulnerable position. The more people know about you, the more they may hate you or love you; this may be an unavoidable tradeoff. Generally speaking, artists that have a lot of “haters” also tend to have a lot of diehard fans that love them, and vice versa. There’s usually something about these artists, beyond just their music, that invokes a strong emotional response in their listeners.

In this vein, Michael Hahn from LANDR suggests “5 Things You Should Share With Your Fans Besides Your Music” that will help you build a solid bond with them. His list includes: why you make music, your studio set up, your influences, other creative projects you’re a part of, and other artists in your community. I highly recommend reading Hahn’s full article for an in-depth look at how you can leverage these five types of personal information to convert ordinary fans into diehard fans who are willing to buy your merchandise and tickets to your shows.

Charles Hoffman is a Mixing and Mastering Engineer at Black Ghost Audio. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with an English degree, Charles completed his education at Icon Collective in Los Angeles, CA.

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