“Becoming a music influencer is easy.”
-No one, ever
If you’re clicking this post, I’m pumped for you. I’m excited to see where you go and what you do. No joke. BUT… and this is a big but. The title is only half true. Becoming a music influencer definitely has steps that can be easily laid out (which I do below), but in no way will this journey be easy.
I can already tell that half the people who opened this post just left. My read rate is going to be horrible! BUT, now I can talk to the people who are comfortable with an up hill battle. Pretend you’re Sisyphus and you’re halfway there. ❤
Okay, 25% more left after looking up who Sisyphus was, and another 25% left because I made fun of them for not knowing who Sisyphus was.
The true music aficionados are here, let’s dive into this, shall we?
- Listen to music.
When I say listen to music, I mean make it your life. Listen to it while you’re making dinner. Listen on your way to workout. Listen in your car, at your parents, in the bathroom, at work (if you’re lucky enough to be able), and give your life a soundtrack! Then upgrade what you’re listening on, here’s a few options. - Take pictures of live music.
I’m not gonna lie to you, if you’re good, like… really good, you can become a music influencer based solely on your ability to take pictures of musicians in their element. Here’s an example of one of them. Dude is brilliant with a camera. - Write about music.
This one doubles up on the above and there are two versions of it. The first being, write about music, albums, artists, songwriters, etc. And be really good (or start bad, but get better). And second, go to a lot of live shows and review them, write about them, and tell the world about what you heard, saw, and experienced. - Listen to more music.
“Didn’t you already say this, Jason?” YUP. In the same way that you can’t become a good writer without reading, you can’t become a good influencer without listening. Who’s your favorite artist? Cool… now listen to everything else. You can’t compare the newest bands out there to old bands if you haven’t heard them. Find out who influenced who, find the roots of your favorites, and find your next favorite through your past favorites. - Share it on social.
Of course this isn’t a necessity, but 98.3% of your friends are on it and it’s a billion times easier to press the lil’ “share” button across these platforms than most others. Write the piece. Take the pictures. Share the post. Get your friends/family/acquaintances to share it/like it/comment on it. The more interaction the higher up in the feed it gets. The more people see it. - Tag those involved, everywhere.
Are you ready for this one? Hypothetically, if you get a bunch of your friends to look at something you’ve done, you’re influencing them, but what if one of the bands you go and see has 10k followers? AND they share your write up? Imagine how many of the people already interested in the group you’re writing about read it. Now, imagine if a bunch of THOSE people shared your piece? You see what’s happening here, right? Tagging is a real thing and it does wonders. - Listen to more music.
No, but seriously. There are new musicians, new music, hell, new GENRES of music every day. Go experience it. Who knows if your new favorite type of music is Psytrance if you haven’t ever heard it (on a side note, I just started listening to Psytrance on the way to work. Makes your entire life feel like a movie. Check out this guy, Berg)? - Read about music.
Who are the music influencers of today? We’re talking Almost Famous stuff at this point. HOW do they write? WHO do they write for? WHERE do they write? WHAT is their style? Are they just reporting back? Are they emotionally involved? Are they getting a lil’ GONZO up in there? Can you share YOUR stuff where they share theirs (a lot of the time no, but there are possibilities)? - Talk about music.
DO NOT BE “THAT GUY/GIRL.” You know the one. They know everything about everything and their taste is better than yours. But definitely chat about music. Listen to how people talk about it. Listen to who they know, who they don’t know, and who they should know. Influencing on the small scale can lead to bigger scale. And if you’re recommending music that they love, they’re going to tell others. Be the buddy in their, “My buddy _________, told me about this new band…” conversations. - You’re listening to music, right?
Last time, I swear. But if you’re out walking on the railroad tracks (I don’t know why you would be doing this, but it works for the example I’m about to drop) you’ll have no idea a train is coming if you don’t put your ear to the tracks. Maybe you’ll write THE piece? The one that gets traction for an UNTIL YOU, unknown band. Now you’re treading in true music influencer territory.
Am I missing anything? Reach out on Twitter.
See you at the show!
Jason Donnelly is the Content Manager of all things Jukely. If you don’t know what Jukely is, it’s a concert membership that allows fans in 16 cities worldwide to pay a monthly $25 for live shows at hundreds of venues. Check it out at www.jukely.com and when you’re ready to sign up, here’s a code for $15 off your first month: JJ15OFF
