5 Top Strategies to Grow Your Fanbase for Independent Musicians in 2025
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For independent music artists, building a loyal fanbase is the number one ticket to success.
In 2025, with countless tools and platforms available, standing out requires creativity and strategy. Let’s explore five effective ways to grow your audience:
Great Music
To really grow your audience, you want to create music that they want.
In New York we have a saying “when you see a line get in it.” That’s because with a million options, New Yorkers will tell you what is worthwhile.
It’s no different with music. The elemental reason some songs take off is not because they got on some playlist (but probably did), but because they were that good to make people want to play again and again.
The truth is, people love great music. They flock to it, play it on repeat, and share it with their friends.
Your number one job to grow your fanbase is to make great music. Read that again and let it sink in. Without that, your efforts will not be as successful as you’d like.
As Rick Rubin says: “The minute you’ve made something you like, it’s a success”.
Make the music you want to hear.
If your music is not spreading like wildfire, it may not be there yet. Or you may be a really bad marketer and don’t know how to spread the word, and/or your emotional energy is blocking success from coming to you.
To free your mindset with Module 2: TITLE Click here to learn more about the Step Up to the Spotlight Artist Development Program.
Compelling Content People Want
One of the greatest opportunities artists have is to build their following online—but really only when that following is converted into true fans (see #3 below).
All musicians are creators which includes creating content surrounding your music that catches people’s attention online.
Creating compelling content people want is the first step in the funnel.
PICTURE OF FUNNEL The tricky part is creating content you like
For instance if you are a designer, you’ll make beautiful images. If you are a great copywriter, you’ll write great posts and captions. But it’s easy to get lost in what YOU like (which is important to be authentic), but also that people like. They will tell you by likes, saves and shares.
This gives you an opportunity to tweak and refine your content until it is truly speaking to the people!
Little tip in marketing: Visuals stop the scroll, and copy converts. Try this:
The Holy Grail: Growing Your Own List
The other day I was working with a client who out of the blue had her Instagram and Facebook (Meta profiles) taken down. She is a music, painter and healer. She was only posting art and conversations about being an artist and healer. Nothing controversial. She got no explanation. That was it. One day she was communicating to thousands of followers all over the world— the next day gone.
Think about this for a minute. Your followers on social media are not yours. They belong to the platform, not to you. Should you lose your profile for any reason, your ability to communicate with them is gone. You don’t have their email addresses or any way to contact them.
Another client was getting ready for her album release. She had over 20,000 followers on her Facebook page.
领英推荐
The most important thing that you do is to grow your list – your email list.
Use social media to invite them to join your email list with a juicy offer. Something they can’t refuse.
For more information about how to build your list and content that grows your followers, check out our monthly membership for musicians where you can browse through over 100+ hours of time-saving resources to build your fanbase. Click here to learn more about the Artist Sanctuary Membership for Musicians!
The Power of Collaborations
As the industry becomes more interconnected, collaborations and cross-promotions between artists will become increasingly important.
With collaborations, musicians can reach new audiences, share resources, and create innovative music.
Collaborating with artists from different genres, backgrounds, and cultures can also help musicians grow and develop their sound. This will not only make their music more diverse and appealing to a wider audience but also enable them to learn new techniques and gain fresh perspectives.
Try this:
Finding Ready-Made Audiences
One strategy I always include for growing an audience is looking for ready-made audiences. Whether that artist is local or expanding to regional or international audiences, the key is finding pockets of people that are already gathered to expose that artist to.
One of the toughest things about growing an audience is the heavy lift of trying to get people down to shows constantly. It becomes a constant hustle that can easily burn you out. Look for ready-made audiences to pepper into your performance schedule to get exposure to new audiences and grow yours more quickly.
Try this:
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About Cari Cole
Cari Cole is the CEO / Founder of caricole.com and CCVM: Label Without Walls. She is a Holistic Vocal Coach, Artist Development Expert, A&R Director, and Songwriter based in New York City helping artists for the past 38 years. She is a mentor for Women in Music and The Association of Independent Music Publishers. Her latest venture, CCVM a label services company, provides artists with a seamless path from creation to completion. After 30+ years of observing the overwhelm and challenges that artists face, Cari pulled together the best top creative professionals and designed a new approach to supporting our artists.