Are you a new band or artist that is having some success on the internet?
Has your song rocketed up the Hype Machine charts, gathering 1000’s of plays in just a few days?
Great. Brilliant. Thumbs up etc. It’s pretty exciting isn't it? Lots of people across the globe are listening to your music. A few hundred or thousand people have clicked a little love heart on their computer / laptop / tablet / phone screen for your song; but here’s a reality check....
This ‘success’ doesn’t equate to you selling tickets, records or necessarily generating any sort of lasting fan base. In fact it doesn't mean very much at all. Here’s an example:
For a UK (let’s say London) based band getting 100,000 plays on Soundcloud via a Hype Machine charting song, might mean that 20,000 of those plays come from your own country (the majority will be plays in the US); of that 20,000 maybe 10% of the listeners really like the music - a lot will just be casual listeners. Of the 2,000 UK listeners that really like it, 12.5% of them will be based in London. Of the 250 that really like it and are based in London, maybe 5% of those would consider,on the basis of that one song, finding out more about your band and going to see them live. Of that 12-13 people that might do that, maybe half of them would be able to make your next show in London. That’s 6 or 7 people from the 100,000 plays. It's probably wise to not start planning to buy that mansion in the country just yet.
That’s our reality check. Hype Machine listed blogs have the potential to generate significant plays of your music. But don’t ever think that this means anything more than maybe a handful of people becoming fans.
Sometimes, something that looks ‘big’ on the internet, isn’t so in real life. Things can be easily distorted, your view of reality changed depending on the channels you use. Enjoy your ‘success’, but keep a firm grip on the reality.
2 comments:
I remember seeing one blogger claim a few years back that a post on his site would potentially gain you 'thousands of new fans.' Not sure how correct that statement was, but suspect it was the result of an inflated ego.
Of course on the flip side, one of that handful of people who turns up to your show because of blog buzz might just be someone from a label and things could develop from there.
Excellent point. This happens time and time again
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