Building A Local Buzz For Your Cover Band (When You Have No Fanbase)
First, we want to be sure we remind you that every single band, artist, and musician started out somewhere (and it usually was pretty lowly). We wanted to write this blog for those who are just beginning, with no fanbase or connections to get an audience.
At this point, we know that social media is where it's at, so step one is making sure you hop on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube and set-up accounts specifically for staying in touch with your new connections and fans.
Next, support the scene that you are in.
If you are in Atlanta, support other up-and-coming artists in Atlanta, do not use this space to hype yourself, but genuinely give them love. Go to their shows, share their posts, tag them in potential gigs, do everything in your power to promote them and their brand, resulting in your name coming up in conversation when they look at the content you post on social media.
As you keep doing this with more and more bands and artists, you will eventually find that they will regularly ask you to play shows with them! But don't forget to still give them love and attend their shows, so you can support them and intermingle with their audience.
Third, spend some time perfecting your brand image and what kind of content you can consistently put out on social media to showcase what you can do and, most importantly, HOW YOU SOUND!
A simple checklist for those just starting out:
Create a logo that is easy to read on paper and merch
Pick a primary font that is readable
Record 10 full-length videos of songs you love to play and cut them up into 30-second snippets to share on social media
Write short stories about you and your band
Put up a website or social site to list your upcoming gigs
Make it easy for people to contact you for bookings
Let the world know what you can play
Lastly, GIG SUPER HARD, BUT SMART!
Consistently showing up to open mic nights will set you up well to create a local buzz for your music, but don't get complacent there! For obvious reasons, we would never discourage you from playing live as often as you can to build a fanbase, but make sure you prioritize your gigs to make the best connections and attract new audience members.
A good way to make sure you don't tire out an audience is to spread your gigs out geographically. Yes, building a fanbase for your music takes a lot of travel, but it will pay off!
Once you are all set-up and have the marketing and gigs lined up, read our blog on Fanbase Growth and Income For Musicians.