With such a negative outcome for the outfit, we decided to put together a list of the things that you as a music fan can do for free to help your favourite up and coming artists in their difficult rise to prominence.
Lets face it, the road to music glory is no easy path, and if there’s any way that we as music fans can help out our talented friends that doesn’t cost us a thing, why the hell wouldn’t we?
Social Media Is King
Social media is, for all intents and purposes, everything. Even the lowest of lo-fi artists do their damnedest to maintain an online presence, launching Facebook pages, official websites, YouTube channels, Twitter feeds, and more.
The great thing about social media is that not only does keep fans up to date with all of their favourite acts’ goings-on, but gives them a chance to get involved in a big way by spreading the word amongst their own social circles. In short: like, share, and comment until your fingers hurt.
Photograph Gigs and Post Pics
If you’ve got a camera, or even a very basic smart phone, you’ve got the ability to instantly raise the profile of a band or artist. By simply taking some photos of a band at ripping gig, or fans donned in merch instantaneously raises their profile and generates more ability for the performing group to be seen.
Don’t use the excuse that “you’re not a photographer”, you’ve more than likely posted XX amounts of pics on Instagram already, so start chucking groovy filters over the top of local musos.
Word of Mouth
Before there was social media, word of mouth was one of the principal ways that bands not supported by mass radio play were discovered. Ask the bands themselves, some of the most legendary figures in the game, from The Ramones, to Guns N’ Roses, admit to getting big simply because the people who liked them would talk about them.
Most of the time this was done in record stores, but with physical music retail spots dwindling, it’s even more important that you take any opportunity you can to get the word out there, literally.
Create Their First Wikipedia Page
When you first have a listen to a band that you’re interested in, where is one of the first places you go for more info? Good ole’ Wikipedia. If your favourite local artist doesn’t have a Wikipedia page – you can start one for them. All that’s required is some basic info, hell you can even rip it from their Facebook or Bandcamp and within minutes you’ve created a great new access avenue for potential new fans.
Blog About It
Got a blog? Use it. Even if you don’t that many followers, the good folks over at Google are pretty good at keeping track of things that are happening on the internet and the more results your favourite band or artist has, the better off they are. I
f you do happen to have a well-established presence in the blogosphere, there’s no telling just what impact your say could have on the careers of your favourite acts. The list of contemporary bands to get big thanks to the work of diligent bloggers gets bigger every day.
Be A Merch Rep
This has got to be one of the age-old and easiest ways to represent a band for free, wear a piece of clothing that has their name, faces or song titles or lyrics, it’s not hard to slap on a t-shirt or pin a badge onto a piece of clothing.
Yes, we understand in this instance you may not be able to afford band merch and that’s alright. Either bother a mate’s piece of merch or get into the DIY spirit and create your own representative merchandise (just be sure the band is fine with this first.)
Shazam Their Tracks
Just because the track you totally dig has made its way onto radio don’t mean the artist has made it yet. It’s a little sneaky, but next time you hear your favourite local track played, whip out your phone and Shazam/Pandora the track.
These apps keep track of how many times songs are Shazam’d or Pandora’d and the more hits a band gains, the greater chance they will be seen by music fans checking out acts with a buzz.
Join A Street Team
Though street teams seem to be less and less popular these days, some switched-on bands are still into the idea of rallying their respective troops. If any of your beloved acts happen to have a street team, sign up now. For those unfamiliar with the whole street team concept, when you sign up, the band will provide you with various tools and materials to get the band out there in the public. This could be everything from print-out posters and iron-on t-shirt transfers, to graffiti stencils.
Put Their CD At The Front Of Every JB Hi-Fi Shelf
Alright, this one is a little cheeky, but we’re all about it. Next time you’re in a music store, find your favourite local artists’ CDs and put them at the very front of each shelf. Hell, if you think acts like Lorde and U2 have had enough album sales, just slip the CDs under their name. We understand this is perhaps not the most ethical free thing you can do, but just ignore your mother’s voice at the back of your head and go ahead and do it.
Start A Crowd-Funding Campaign
All you need for this one is a lot of heart and determination. If there are some musos that you are digging that are on the other side of the country and you are desperate to see them live, start a campaign to pay for their tour or to release a CD. This of course means that you need to get your campaign out to people who do have some spare cash, but surely you’ve got some like-minded friends who a little more on the richer side than you?
Make A Request In The Club
If you’re a DJ, we’ll apologise in advanced for this. When you’re next at a pal’s party or at a local bar or club, either hijack the decks or pester the shit out of whoever is in control of the sounds and force them to play a track or two from a producer or band. Once again, this costs you nothing but five minutes of your best convincing time, and soon after you’ll have plenty of people asking “who is this?” and the conversation and fandom begins from there.
…And On Radio Too
This one is a no-brainer. Call up local radio companies and hassle the hell out of them to play some great new music that you’ve got your hands on. Making it to radio is a giant step forward for any emerging artists, however it can’t go ahead without some push from fans.
If you’re so broke that you can’t make calls off your phone, slip the station a copy of the CD and hit them up via social media requesting the track. There’s a myriad of ways one can tracks onto radio.
Make A Video Testimonial
If you haven’t checked the internet recently, it may surprise you to know that MSN Messenger is no longer a thing and YouTube, to put it conservatively, is no longer just a repository for cat videos, but a serious tool for making the public aware of new bands and artists.
While artists are busy doing their own thing, filming increasingly creative music videos to take advantage for the awesome might of online virality, you can help out by switching on your webcam and making a vlog or a video review of your favourite artist.
Get Creative On Social Media
Liking, sharing, and commenting can only take you and your favourite artist so far. If you really want to pique the interest of the music-consuming public, it’s a good idea to get creative with the way you use your own social media presence. In addition to the standard liking and sharing, you can also do things like changing your public avatar, cover image, or theme, or come up with a creative, band-related hashtag.
The possibilities are more or less endless and the more you put your imagination and personal creative streak to work, the more interest you’ll generate.
Start A Fansite
Broke, but have a computer with internet access? Good. Not into blogs? Not a worry. If you’re not much into the idea of keeping an online journal or diary, you can make something tailored just for your favourite bands by starting a fan site. No time to keep a website up to date? Let other fans do all the handiwork by launching a fan forum.
Once again, the possibilities are endless. You can start a Facebook fan page or organise a Reddit section dedicated to the band or bands that you’re looking to promote.
Stay Up To Date
While street teams may not be as popular as they once were, bands are always keeping busy and trying to keep their fans busy too. After you’ve liked or followed your favourite band on social media, make sure to stay up to date with any current campaigns that they may be running. Are they trying to accrue votes for a prestigious poll, like the DJ Mag Top 100? Get in there! Do they have a competition running? Submit! Some kind of online scavenger hunt happening a la Nine Inch Nails? Get involved!
There’s A Whole Internet Out There
As important as it is, social media is really just the start. It may come as a shock to some, but while you’re doing your daily Facebook data entry, there’s a whole internet out there just buzzing away and waiting for your contribution.
What’s most exciting is there are now outlets that specifically exist to share interesting content and have users visiting for just that reason. You can do your bit on this front by logging onto sites like Reddit and Stumbleupon to share content from your favourite musos.
