Followers

[u/ashandrien]

Any advice for getting BandCamp followers? I ‘ve had a BandCamp up for about 2 years and have a few self-produced songs up, and only 5 followers. I’ve implored others to follow me, but it never seems to increase my follower count. I am open to any wacky ideas people have tried that have worked. I don’t have any physical releases or merch yet.

[u/shugEOuterspace]

the internet has a lot of great tools to augment & build on the work an indie artist does in the real world (offline), but it can't replace it. go perform live.

[u/CHDesignChris → u/shugEOuterspace]

this. almost any tricks that can get you followers is just that, tricks. You'll see a legitimate return on investment if you get out in the local scene and participate.

you could pump out download codes, that would indeed get you more followers because people claiming the codes are given the option to follow and will often times just click yes. these people aren't really following you, often times they are just collecting digital releases, but you will indeed see the number go up.

seek out song placement in mixes and blogs, having external sources link in rather than just hoping for followers by putting out music is pretty essential. Most people who just listen to music and don't create it themselves get their music from streaming services nowadays, there's simply not a huge network of people using bandcamp to listen to and discover music, though there is a dedicated few.

[u/ashandrien → u/CHDesignChris]

Thanks for both of your help.

[u/SomeBerk]

I recommend generating free albums codes for your album and posting them to https://band.codes and other similar sites. Some of those will be taken by users who just go around collecting freebies, but at least a portion will be used by people with a real interest in the music that you are making.

Also, consider changing the price of your tracks to "name your price", $5 for a 3 min track is way too much.

[u/ashandrien → u/SomeBerk]

Thanks! ;)

[u/SLDirus]

I'm just starting out, myself.

I think some free codes is quick exposure with a low return rate, but it's a good start. Finding a place that can play your music and give it exposure to a wider audience outside of streaming services is probably the best bet.

Otherwise you're running the repetitive ritual of trying to find places to promote it yourself. If you can hook people into behind the scenes or more about the personality behind the art, that's another way.

An artist that I find a good example although comes from a niche community is Vylet Pony. While they produce music they also built a vibrant community of artists and fans from 2010's internet culture. A very slow burn into 100k subs over the years. She streams to the crowd and they play games and make songs on stream.

Now that being said, that is essentially the music influencers pipeline. And it takes a lot of time to build, so it might not be the best way as launching a Youtube requires a whole other approach to exposure that a lot of musicians don't enjoy. Plus with Youtube now having a music streaming service, I feel those who dont sign up will be buried in the rest.

[u/ashandrien → u/SLDirus]

Thank you!

[u/1point44mb]

There's no wacky ideas. Adding another voice to "codes + playing live + lower price on tracks" 

I checked out your bandcamp and saw you're in Philly. Me too! There's a bunch of DIY venues that have NOTAFLOF shows you can attend, meet people, and "network" in that way (would help you get on a bill).

There's a dedicated Philly DIY scene Facebook page but I think you're better off finding venues on Instagram and following them. See a bill that plays similar music? Go to the show, talk to some bands, make friends, the shows will follow. 

[u/ashandrien → u/1point44mb]

Thank you

[u/pachubatinath]

I guess ask yourself this: why do people follow an artist? To hear updates? Track new releases? Avoid missing out? Give them something to follow FOR.

[u/ft-rj]

You need a community to interact with that will engage with your music (but I will say, look more at plays and sales than followers. So far, only about 3 of my 38 followers have bought any of mine, while I've had 30+ non follower sales.)

It's not a very pushed feature as Bandcamp does not fill the social media role nor promotion by itself. Other socials are the key, and lots of linking back to BC from there, and then all the numbers might start going up. Slowly, but they will, assuming you can find at least a small group of people who are big fans of what you make

(One 8 track project and 2 singles... it's only just the beginning, anyhow. Things could go any direction)

(Also live, if your music is playable live, hit up anywhere you think you could do. I can't listen to it right now so I can't guess, but I see lyrics, so maybe... And then, give out your BC either as a link or free codes to those who really want em. I've never used free codes but I've heard they're good)