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Social media is the artists game. It’s how they are building a name for themselves on the online world. What I’ve noticed is more artists are invested in building a massive social media following. They’ll do anything to make themselves look more popular than what they really are. Artists will spend all this money on buying followers and/or paying someone to manage their social media accounts. But is it really helping their career? Having a massive following might give you a nice presence on social media, but how much is it really benefiting you, when only 5 people out of 50,000 followers are showing up to your gigs? Yes, I understand that not everyone, who follows you is from the same area that you play at. But lets say you’re a Nashville artist, playing local gigs around the area. About 5,000 out of 50,000 are from Nashville. 10 people out of 5,000 actually show up to your gig. There’s obviously something that is not working. How can you change followers into real fans? Today, I'm going to share my social media plan that I think will benefit you, and be able turn those followers into fans. 1. Value Are you bringing value to your followers? Why should they follow you? What are they benefiting from your content? What I have noticed, people seem to be more invested in content that they can personally relate. If I can relate and feel like I’m apart of their “community,” I want to invest more time in getting to know this artist. I’m more likely to show up to see them play, when their content on social media is bringing value to my feed. You already know, what attracts to your eye the most on social media. Bring what you would want to see in your feed to your page. 2. Don’t rush the game Once you start worrying about how many likes and followers you have, you already lost the game. Yeah, a number might make you look cool for a little bit, but the number eventually gets you exposed. People will start to catch on that you’re really not that big. The difference is, buying followers gets you a number to look at. Slowly building a real, legit following, builds a fan base. You can’t worry about the amount of followers and likes someone else is getting. Just focus on your game. 3. Be social! They don’t call it social media for nothing. You have to be social. As I have mentioned before, interaction is important. If you’re communicating with your followers, they are more likely to become fans of yours. When you are interacting with them, they will feel like they are connected with you on a personal level. When Taylor Swift first started out, she began building a fan base on MySpace. I think why she was so successful was because she got to know her fans, while they got to know her. She wasn’t just posting her music or a pic, but actually going the extra mile for them. She answered back to messages. Her fans felt like they were Taylor’s friend than just a fan. I think when you are able to make your fans friends on social media, the more success you will have. Think about in real life. When your friend does something and needs your support, you’re there for them, without even questioning it. If they built a business, selling items, or even if your friend was an artist themselves, you’re going to buy their stuff and/or show up to their shows. When your fans become friends, they will begin to do the same. 4. Tell your story You’re an artist, you tell stories all the time through songs. What makes that any different than social media? Same thing, just in a different way. With a song, an artist is creating a sound with words to tell their story; whereas, social media, you are able to create a visual for your followers. What’s your story? How are you going to tell it? The accounts that have always stood out to me, they had a balance between showing the artist side, but also a little bit of what they do outside of playing gigs and music. Now I’m not saying document your whole life. You have to somehow find a way of showing both sides here and there. It gives a personal touch. Your followers will feel invited in your life. Create content that will make them feel as though, they know you on a personal level. I have said it time and time again, in the end, it’s all about creating a community through social media. Thanks for reading this weeks blog post. Stay tuned for more! Xo Brittany

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You say being an artist, you don’t need the labels to be successful, because you have the access with technology to build an audience. Which is true. The difference is major labels control the big radio stations. That’s why it’s extremely hard for an independent artist to make it to that next level. It just depends what you want to do. You have to distinguish yourself as an artist. Are you a cover band, just want to play writers rounds, or are you trying to be the next big star. You can make a decent living off making music, by doing it on your own. But most of these gigs that artist play at, can only play cover songs and not original music. Writers rounds, they don’t typically get paid. In my opinion, you need to do both, if you want to be taken serious as an artist. You say you need technology to make it in music. Yeah, it’s a very helpful tool. Especially, in the music industry. That’s how artists promote themselves. But how do you get random people, who follow you to download, stream, and come out to gigs? Since the major labels control the big radio stations, their artists are already on the best playlists. Whereas, a new artist has a hard time getting enough streams, and if they end up on these playlist, it doesn’t usually last very long. I’ve noticed by living in Nashville, the ones who are very personable with people in person and online, are the ones who have been successful. They were the ones who were able to make it on the charts for a little bit. I think a lot had to do with interaction. It’s key in this business. A lot of people follow others, who have some kind mutual connection. I believe you need a real interaction, and you have to be very personable to get yourself out there. Many artists that I’ve met, may have 50,000 followers, but not even half are true ones. Either they bought followers or follow just to unfollow. To me that’s an automatic turn off. A lot of these artists that I’ve encountered are entitled. They believe the fans owe them something in some manner. These artist if and when they interact with fans and/or followers, they only like or comment emojis with them. That’s not interacting. That says to me, they don’t care about their fans. I think when a new artist, who’s trying to build an audience, it doesn’t help them if they are not making genuine connections online with others. Some have mentioned, how it all depends on the market. What I’ve experienced in Nashville, these artists come to try and make it. They have pitched to major labels and got turned down. That just means the market isn’t there with what they are producing. If it was, they wouldn’t even consider pitching to a label, because their songs have made it without their help. I think a lot has to do with artists, writing songs just to try and find that one hit that will make them; instead of writing what truly means a lot to them. Many are writing for fame, and not doing it because they love it. I think the ones who love what they do, and produce material that comes from the heart, I believe they are the ones who truly are successful in the music industry. Xo Brittany

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Stop looking at everyone as your competition! You are only wasting all that time and energy in complaining, why someone else is doing better in their career. They aren’t your competition, you are. The only way to continue on moving forward in your career is to work on YOUR craft. Not worry about what someone else is doing. Time is your best friend. Just because things happen to be moving faster for someone else, doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong. It just means there’s things that need to be worked on. Instead of worrying about what someone else is doing, maybe you should work on making yourself better. The worst thing to do in this type of business is to be jealous of someone else. You should want to work with this person. You can learn from them, as much as they can learn from you. Being jealous of someone else isn’t making you any better. You complain why someone is where you want to be instead of actually doing. Don’t worry about what they are doing. The only person you should focus on is YOU. Xo Brittany

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You could have all the connections in the world, but that doesn’t always mean it’s a good thing. If they know you as that person who has a bad attitude, doesn’t show up on time, has too much of an ego, too high maintenance, ignorant to others, etc. The word gets around when you’re that type of person. Many will not want to work and/or invest their time with a person who acts like this. I’ve met so many artists living in Nashville. There’s many that I’ve become good friends with, and I have lots of good things to say about them. Then there’s others, who I have met that are a complete turn off. When they have a bad attitude, this instantly turns me away from investing any time in this artist. They might have all the talent in the world, but if they have a bad attitude, I don’t want to take the time in dealing with extra unnecessary work. The way you treat others, tells a lot about a person. This could be whether you get the job or not. If you let your ego get in the way, you’re going to waste your talent. You’re going to be stuck in the same place, and have a hard time going any further in your career. No one wants to deal with someone, who has a big head before they even made it. If you’re wondering why no one wants you, maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror, because you might be the one thing that is holding you back. But when you make it big, are you going to follow this advice? That’s the hard part. Xo Brittany

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Money can get you the best PR company, management team, good gigs, etc. What it can’t buy you is talent. You either have it, or you don’t. The people are the ones who decide. That doesn’t mean you should give up, it just means there’s things that need to be worked on. You could have all the money in the world, pay for all these lessons for your kid, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to get accepted to Juilliard. It comes down to dedication and hard work. Talent doesn’t come natural. It takes a lot of practice to get there. If you don’t practice, you’re never going to get better and reach your full potential. Practice and repeat.

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Make Time Not Excuses!

If you put more time into your career, as you do scrolling through social media, things might start to fall into place. Use that time to put out more content, write more songs, go out and play more gigs, meet other writers to collaborate with. Don’t complain why you’re not where you want to be, when you’re only putting half the effort into your career. Stop sitting around and making excuses, just make it happen. xo Brittany

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It’s a No!

When you live in a city like Nashville, everyone is trying to do the same exact thing. Trying to be the next country “superstar.” Why do some breakthrough and others don’t? Well, first off, I just like to say, “I’m going to fake it until I make it” isn’t getting you anywhere, but drunk tourists thinking you’re the next Luke Bryan. You should never want to be the next someone. I think that’s the wrong mindset. You always want to be yourself. Once you start trying to be someone else, you just look like a bad copy of them. A lot of artists tend to think, what’s popular at the moment on the radio, is what people want to hear. What’s popular on the radio now, has already been done. You need to be different. If you start writing songs similar to other successful artists, it will just sound like something that didn’t make the cut off their album. There’s so many artists just putting out songs for the hell of it. There’s one thing when you’re Blake Shelton, you can release anything you want, and people are going to love it. Why? Because he’s Blake Shelton. But when you’re a new artist, you’re still making your bones in the industry. When you’re rushing to put out a song, you’re basically degrading yourself. You need to put out songs, but it needs to be good and original. Otherwise, it sounds like a 13 year old wrote a song, found an instrumental on YouTube, and decided to record it. You never want to rush anything. Fans would rather wait to hear a song that’s memorable than an unfinished product. If you’re going to copy someone else, at least make it look good and not sound half finished. It’s almost like an insult to the artist that you’re trying to copy. I’m sorry to say this, but it’s a no from me.

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Living in Nashville, I’ve been to many different shows from writers rounds, open mics, Broadway, you name it. There’s many talented artists, who live in this city. They’re all trying to make a name for themselves. Many of these artists are extremely talented, but how can you distinguish when someone is ready to take that next step. When I’m at a show, the one thing I’m always looking at, do they know the lyrics, or are they just looking at a device to perform the song. For instance, say you’re an artist playing on Broadway. You have played the same requested songs over and over. You should know the lyrics and how to play the song by now. You shouldn’t have to look at a device at this point. Bottom line, If you don’t know the lyrics to the song, you’re not ready to perform the song. To me that shows, the dedication is not there yet to take the next step. And I already know what many of you will say, “well, we get requests from so many different people.” There’s one thing when you get a rare request and you have to pull out your phone. That usually happens once in a blue moon. There’s still many artists down there, who are playing the same songs and still needing to look at the lyrics. If you’re trying to make a name for yourself as a serious artist, you have to know the words. Period. I mentioned this before when I talked about stage presence. You never really know, who’s going to show up. If someone who works for a major label sees a device on stage, the first thing they might think is, “they don’t know the lyrics to a cover song. How will we know they won’t forget the words to their own songs at a concert?” To me this says, you don’t want it bad enough. Someone who lives and breathes music, they will do whatever it takes. There’s artists that I’ve seen do it. Name them a song, they can play it. No device. Nothing. There was obviously a lot of practice involved to get to that point. But that’s what it takes. A lot of DEDICATION. The ones who don’t need to look at anything, are the ones who are confident on stage. They know the songs, and they can put on a better show because of it. You’re able to work the crowd hemore when you know the songs, instead of worrying about forgetting the words on stage. My advice for you, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. xo Brittany That’s all I have for you for this weeks post. Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more weekly insight on the music industry.

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🎼Let’s talk about building a fan base. If you’re an artist, this is an important factor in your career. The fans make you. They buy your records, come to your shows, buy your merchandise, etc. As a new artist, where do you start? First and foremost, you need to get out and play. Whether that’s an open mic, writers round, etc. Building a fan base takes more than just a lot of followers on social media. You need to make real life connections with real people. Not just the people commenting how cute you are or how great they think your voice is. That only goes so far. If you want people to go the extra mile, you have to get out there. If you’re playing a writers round, you should go around to all the people who showed up and introduce yourself. People like interaction. The more you interact with the people who come to your shows, or happen to stroll into the bar that you are playing at, they will be more likely to come back again. It will just continue to build, until one day the place is packed with people coming to see you perform. Another piece of advice on building an audience, COLLABORATE!!! Admit it, every artist wants to steal each others fans. The more you collaborate with other artists, the more potential fans you will gain. It doesn’t matter whether you are new or a little more establish. Working together makes things happen. Fans of other artists, if they see another artist working with one of their favorites, this will make them want to follow them. Why? Because if their favorite artist is working/playing at a show with them, if that artist likes them then they should too, right? It helps both in the long run. The point I’m trying to make is, make connections but be genuine about it. You need to get out there and play constantly. Get to know the people who come out to the shows. Go out and meet other artists to collaborate with. You’ll be surprised, how having a real connection with someone and working together helps build an audience. Thanks for reading my tips. If you have any questions or topics to discuss, comment below or shoot me a dm. xx Brittany

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There’s a lot of great artists out there, you wonder why hasn’t anyone signed them yet? There could be many reasons. If you’re going to pitch yourself to a major label, you got to be ready. You might have written a few decent songs but what else do you got? The major labels will be looking at whether this artist is worth investing in. Can they produce or can’t they? If you’re an artist coming out with only a few songs every year or two, the first thing they’re going to think is this artist can barely produce a 4 - 6 song ep in two years. How are we going to rely on this artist producing a 10 song album every year or two, and going on tours. You won’t look reliable and/or able to produce enough material. They want an artist who’s going to continue to produce. They’re going to invest in someone they feel will bring value to the company. For example, Florida Georgia Line came prepared. They showed up to Big Machine with a shit ton of songs and the rest is history. Another thing to note, the majors labels aren’t going to come to you. They don’t know you. You got to go to them and show them why you have what it takes than the next person in line. My advice is: 1. Continue to work on your craft/skills, stage presence, etc. 2. Write! Write! Write! 3. And continue to build an audience on social media.

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I can’t stress enough how important this is for artists out there. Stage presence is key to building a solid audience. I see so many artists lack stage presence when it comes to a smaller show that they are playing at. They only really show up when it’s a packed venue, rather than showing up and putting on the same show to 10-20 people in the room that they typically would to a packed house. This really shows to the audience that you don’t want to be there. This can make the them automatically tune you out. They will be more focused on drinking and talking to their friends than paying attention to you on the stage. You need to play every show like it’s your last. If you give the same energy to a packed show to a smaller one, the more people are going to pay attention and want to know who you are. They will be more likely to stick around and tell their friends about you. Which makes it more likely for them to come back, and maybe even get more friends to come out next time. Sometimes the smaller shows are more important to come with your A game, because you never really know who’s going to show up. If you look like you don’t want to be there for a smaller show, how will someone who would want to invest in you want you, if they don’t even know if you’re going to show up to play or not? This sounds like a no brainer, but I see so many artists who get caught up playing Broadway to thousands of people a night and look down on playing writers rounds, because what 10-20 people typically show up to these shows? Those 10-20 people could be the ones who change your life. It sounds ridiculous to say that artists look down on shows where they play their OWN music, but there are people who do. My advice is to give it 💯 percent every time you hit the stage. Give the same show that you would to 1000 to 10 people. Work hard, play hard 🎶 Thanks for reading my tips! If you ever have questions or topics you’d like for me to discuss, comment or shoot me a dm.

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#TipsForNewArtist: This is a topic I wanted to discuss. I’m sure a lot of fellow journalists and bloggers would agree on.... Please don’t bombard us with automated messages of your new single! Every time someone sends a message about their new single to check out, which you can clearly tell they copied and paste to several other people. It’s not getting my attention, nor does it make me want to cover it. Nobody wants to get a dm or email that sounds like you sent the exact same message to everyone else. What always attracted me to cover an artist is whether they were personal or not. If you’re personal with others, the more people you are likely to attract. My recommendation would be to personalize a message and/or email. By personalizing a message, it will help you stand out and more likely for us not to overlook you. Another thing to note, if someone covers your music, share it on social media. If we give you the time of day to take time to cover your music on our websites/platforms, the least you can do is share it on your page. By doing something as simple as sharing what we covered, it will stick to the back of our minds to keep up with you and your career. We will be more likely to cover you again on our sites and promote you on our platforms. Thanks for reading my tips! If any of you have any questions or topics you’d like for me to discuss on here, you can comment below or shoot me a dm. I would be glad to give you advice on the music business. 🎶