To follow up on my previous post on the artist-fan relationship, I would like to go more in depth on this topic. The previous examples I gave hopefully painted the overall perspective of what the artist-fan relationship is and what it means. This expands a simple idea even further and explains the overall psychology behind the artist-fan relationship.

I would like to first start by reiterating some of the things I said before. The artist-fan relationship is crucial in shaping an artist’s career and attracting loyal fans. This area of an artist’s career can either make or break them and will determine how long they will remain in the hearts of fans. The artist must first find their niche, whether it be pop, rock, r&b, hip-hop, etc. From there, the artist needs to market to their particular niche fan base and attract a loyal following.

Attracting the loyal following is obviously the hard part. The artist has the music and wants to be successful, but where does he or she go from there? Opening the lines of communication between the artist and the fan is key and creates a more personal relationship with the fan. Of course, technology can help facilitate these important relationships and with various social networking sites, (myspace, facebook, purevolume, buzznet, youtube, stickam, etc.) artists can use these tools to help further their careers.

Technology allows fans to not only connect with the artist, but also with each other. Word of mouth is no longer the only way to spread music because technology now allows fans to connect with each other and share the things they love. We tend to not even think about how we are using technology and how it has evolved because it is just there. Social networking, for example, has pretty much changed the world and has definitely helped artists make a name for themselves.

There of course is way more to the artist-fan relationship than creating a social networking page and hoping that you will attract some fans. The artist must first create these meaningful relationships with fans and then maintain them. In order to do so, there must be interaction between the fan and the artist. The artist should create videos,  e-mail sign-ups, Twitter, blogs, etc. Twitter for example allows fans to “follow” an artist and see them on a more personal level. Followers are able to gain further insight into the lives of the artists they love and what they are doing and when.

Lastly, the fan must feel like they are part of something and investing in the success of the artist’s career. That is how true loyalty is maintained and as an artist, it is your job to create these opportunities for the fans. There is so much more to the artist-fan relationship than what is on the surface. This is only the basis for an artist’s career and should be taken with a grain of salt. Most importantly though, be creative and original. People will take notice of that and hopefully from there, you will be well on your way to making a name for yourself.