Introduction
If you wish to develop your fanbase and increase your music earnings, you’ve most likely heard the time period superfans. These are the die-hard followers who purchase your merch, attend your exhibits, and stream your tracks on repeat. They’re essentially the most invaluable phase of your viewers and the music trade is aware of it.
In keeping with the 2025 Goldman Sachs “Music within the Air” Report, superfans are projected to generate an additional $4.3 billion yearly by 2026.
Spotify’s newest information supplies additional insights that superfans:
- Drive 18%+ of month-to-month streams
- Account for 50% of an artist’s ticket gross sales from spotify
- Are 9x extra more likely to share your music with pals
- Stream your music 20 instances greater than a mean programmed listener
However superfans comprise solely two p.c of a mean artist’s month-to-month listeners. Regardless of this phase’s worth and visibility, artists can’t afford to focus solely on them.
That’s why fan engagement knowledgeable Dan Goldberg says artists ought to cease chasing superfans and begin creating them. That begins with specializing in what Goldberg calls “the sides of your fanbase,” your informal listeners, and understanding the journeys they take: from discovering your music to turning into loyal followers.
Right here’s what he shared in an unique Q&A session with CD Child.
Diagnosing the issue
Q: What are right this moment’s artists getting mistaken about their advertising and marketing methods?
“A standard mistake that I see is over-investing in current superfans as in the event that they’re an limitless renewable useful resource. This usually then, in flip, means neglecting informal listeners who’re the precise supply of future superfans. Fandom is fluid; you’ll be able to’t simply double down on the prime.”
Q: How are superfans each the “holy grail” and a harmful distraction?
“To me, superfans could be a distraction as a result of they’re the best ones to determine and attain. We stay in a zero-sum world of time and finances, and I like to recommend spending extra time and funding in figuring out informal followers, changing them to identified, engaged listeners and hopefully ultimately into superfans versus completely short-term concentrate on excessive priced, restricted choices for the tremendous followers. It’s a distraction and received’t result in artist improvement or progress. However, it would result in stagnation.”
Q: You referred to as artist improvement “a misplaced artwork.” How have we gotten right here, and what are core tenets of scalable artist improvement?
“I’m a really analytical and data-driven particular person by nature and formed by training, so I like how a lot the trade has embraced this focus. Nevertheless, one of many downsides of that is that we count on fast hit information metrics and short-term advertising and marketing wins due to our over reliance on information. Storytelling, world constructing, and artist improvement, in sharp distinction to the above is about being affected person and in some circumstances adaptive. That is the way you guarantee sustainable progress. Gradual. Intentional. Strategic.”
Key takeaways:
- Shift your advertising and marketing focus to informal listeners by constructing out extra avenues for discovery and retention. Play publicity exhibits, develop and nurture an e-mail record, and pitch journalists and playlist curators to share your music with new listeners.
- Prioritize storytelling and branding to offer a robust and resonant basis for brand spanking new followers to latch onto by way of updating your EPK, nailing down your artist story and what units you aside, and publishing a bio in your web site and streaming platforms. Then thread these themes, aesthetics, and concepts by way of your advertising and marketing to lend it cohesion.
- Keep away from stagnation by persevering with to construct your catalog (releasing new music) and taking part in stay routinely. That maximizes probabilities for discovery and supplies followers a motive to remain engaged.
Creating Your Fan Funnel
Q: You’ve mentioned, “followers don’t magically seem—they must be cultivated.” What early indicators ought to artists search for when figuring out informal followers?
“There aren’t arduous and quick guidelines, however there are indicators. Take note of them. Which listeners are including a observe to a private playlist? Who’s commenting, in a considerate means, on socials. Actions sign curiosity. Curiosity might be cultivated with dialogue. Dialogue turns into invested fandom.”
Q: Are you able to share examples of intentional pathways from “lean-back listeners” into group members?
“So many tried and true techniques work. Content material in trade for e-mail, from there you’ll be able to invite these informal followers right into a digital hang around, possibly a Q&A. It’s not straightforward to scale these however create your base, and allow them to inform the story. Reply to feedback on social, contain your viewers – this transforms passivity into lively conservation.”
Q: Any suggestions for figuring out followers’ first contact factors and constructing momentum?
“I’d begin by assembly followers the place they’re and prioritize which platform is driving essentially the most natural interactions, not essentially the best numbers. Artists don’t must be in all places however ought to, ideally, have a deep understanding of some channels the place their followers are connecting, genuinely. That is the place you double down. Create customized, tailor-made content material that exhibits respect to how followers are participating on that platform. This creates authenticity. Authenticity creates momentum, and in flip belief which is essential for engagement.”
Key Takeaways:
- Meet followers the place they’re by specializing in platforms the place you see the strongest engagement and really feel your most genuine.
- Have interaction new followers by noting indicators corresponding to playlist saves, social media engagements, and in-person connections. Construct relationships with these followers by personally reaching out, resharing and shouting them out over social media, and demonstrating appreciation.
- Retain new followers by creating unique or invaluable content material that connects. Examples embody working a month-to-month e-newsletter, behind the scenes footage, or internet hosting AMAs on Instagram or Reddit.
Constructing a Model and Neighborhood
Q: You talked about model ought to precede product pushes. How can rising artists solidify their model?
“Being your self, however cohesive[ly]. Outline your voice, and story from the start. Followers gravitate in direction of consistency, and storytelling. Cohesion, surprisingly, is a differentiator as a result of many aren’t doing it.”
Q: How can artists construct group authentically but scalably, particularly on their very own?
“Authenticity at scale isn’t straightforward, but it surely comes from making a tradition of tribalism in your fandom, and rituals corresponding to curated content material sequence, member pushed discord teams, and extra. Should you empower your greatest followers as admins/moderators, they may inform your story for you.”
Q: You emphasize community-building philosophy over tech as the actual driver of loyalty. Core tenets artists ought to observe?
“To be clear, I’m very professional expertise. However, expertise received’t resolve philosophical issues.”
Key principals
- Connection earlier than Transaction/Monetization
- Two-way conversations: Listening along with talking
- Followers love vulnerability and transparency (or at least the notion of it). This creates authenticity, and imperfections resonate deeply
“This creates a really deep human connection that lasts. Perhaps good life recommendation too, not only for music.”
Key Takeaways:
- Be constant together with your branding such that followers can determine together with your music. Your photoshoots, posts, movies, cowl artwork, and sound ought to cohere right into a sequence of statements and emotions.
- Put connections earlier than monetization by constructing a group round your music. That appears like listening events, organizing exhibits with pals, and creating two-way conversations on-line.
- Be clear as a path towards authenticity. Although it’s a considerably exhausted phrase within the trade, authenticity cuts by way of the noise. Should you share trustworthy insights to your inventive course of and challenges, inform honest tales behind songs, and market your music in ways in which align together with your skills, you’ll discover an viewers.
Conclusion
Superfans ought to be your advertising and marketing technique aim, however not the principle goal. Assessment the important thing takeaways above and create an motion plan to start implementing them into your advertising and marketing technique.
Listed here are a couple of tricks to get began.
Get to know your followers: What forms of folks resonate together with your music? In need of creating actual fan personas, you may get a way of your fanbase by analyzing their music tastes, leveraging native demographic analytics on social media and streaming platforms, and polling your viewers. You need to use this information to raised goal and create advertising and marketing content material.
Assess your fan funnel: Determine the principle methods new followers uncover, have interaction with, and share your music; how informal listeners have interaction with you throughout channels and what forms of exhibits you’re presently taking part in; and the way superfans resonate with and promote your music organically. Then determine any gaps in your channels the place followers are failing to search out you or falling off. Then create plans to repair them. Examples embody launching an e-mail record with routine sends, creating artist playlists for sharing, scheduling some repeating or “boosted” content material that followers can look ahead to, and launching a channel to get to know your followers higher and construct relationships.
Replicate in your artist id: Do you will have a narrative about your music prepared to inform in lengthy and quick kind? If not, spend a while answering key questions on your artistry which you can roll right into a bio. That is essential for giving followers a story to seize onto, having a focus to revolve your branding round, and tightening up your pitches to trade professionals providing new alternatives.
Dan Goldberg is a worldwide strategist, model builder, and fan engagement knowledgeable with 20+ years of expertise driving innovation on the intersection of tradition, commerce, and group throughout the music, leisure, and sports activities industries. He beforehand led world e-commerce, CRM, tour merchandising, and VIP experiences at Warner Music Group, and later launched the music & leisure division at Fanatics, the place he spearheaded breakthrough collaborations between artists and main sports activities manufacturers. Over the course of his profession, Dan has delivered greater than $1B in income by way of talent-first technique and cultural commerce. His work lives on the convergence of fandom, IP, and model innovation.
One of many few executives acknowledged as each a strategist and operator, and with a background in leisure legislation, Dan brings a multidimensional perspective to technique and dealmaking, combining inventive intuition, business acumen, and cultural fluency. A licensed boxing coach and lifelong fan of Nina Simone and New York hardcore, Dan balances his skilled depth with deep ardour for his spouse, youngsters, music, canine, and the tradition that formed him.