Introduction

If you wish to develop your fanbase and enhance your music revenue, you’ve in all probability heard the time period superfans. These are the die-hard followers who purchase your merch, attend your reveals, and stream your tracks on repeat. They’re essentially the most worthwhile section of your viewers and the music trade is aware of it.

In line 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 knowledge offers 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 prone 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 section’s worth and visibility, artists can’t afford to focus solely on them.

That’s why fan engagement professional 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 changing 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 typical mistake that I see is over-investing in present superfans as in the event that they’re an infinite renewable useful resource. This usually then, in flip, means neglecting informal listeners who’re the precise supply of future superfans. Fandom is fluid; you may’t simply double down on the high.”

Q: How are superfans each the “holy grail” and a harmful distraction?

“To me, superfans is usually a distraction as a result of they’re the simplest ones to determine and attain. We reside 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 gained’t result in artist improvement or development. However, it’ll 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 individual by nature and formed by schooling, so I like how a lot the trade has embraced this focus. Nevertheless, one of many downsides of that is that we anticipate fast hit knowledge metrics and short-term advertising and marketing wins due to our over reliance on knowledge. 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 development. Sluggish. Intentional. Strategic.”

Key takeaways:

• Shift your advertising and marketing focus to informal listeners by constructing out extra avenues for discovery and retention. Play publicity reveals, develop and nurture an electronic mail checklist, and pitch journalists and playlist curators to share your music with new listeners.
• Prioritize storytelling and branding to supply a powerful and resonant basis for brand 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 via your advertising and marketing to lend it cohesion.
• Keep away from stagnation by persevering with to construct your catalog (releasing new music) and enjoying reside routinely. That maximizes probabilities for discovery and offers 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 laborious 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 method, on socials. Actions sign curiosity. Curiosity may be cultivated with dialogue. Dialogue turns into invested fandom.”

Q: Are you able to share examples of intentional pathways from “lean-back listeners” into neighborhood members?

“So many tried and true ways work. Content material in alternate for electronic mail, from there you may invite these informal followers right into a digital hang around, perhaps 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 ideas 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 very best numbers. Artists don’t must be in every single place 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 reveals respect to how followers are partaking 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.
• Interact new followers by noting indicators similar 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 worthwhile content material that connects. Examples embody operating a month-to-month e-newsletter, behind the scenes footage, or internet hosting AMAs on Instagram or Reddit.

Constructing a Model and Group

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 the direction of consistency, and storytelling. Cohesion, surprisingly, is a differentiator as a result of many aren’t doing it.”

Q: How can artists construct neighborhood 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 similar to curated content material collection, member pushed discord teams, and extra. In case you empower your largest followers as admins/moderators, they are going to inform your story for you.”

Q: You emphasize community-building philosophy over tech as the true driver of loyalty. Core tenets artists ought to observe?

“To be clear, I’m very professional know-how. However, know-how gained’t remedy philosophical issues.”

Key principals

1. Connection earlier than Transaction/Monetization
2. Two-way conversations: Listening along with talking
3. 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. Possibly 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 collection of statements and emotions.
• Put connections earlier than monetization by constructing a neighborhood round your music. That appears like listening events, organizing reveals 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 via the noise. In case you share trustworthy insights to your artistic course of and challenges, inform honest tales behind songs, and market your music in ways in which align together with your abilities, you’ll discover an viewers.

Conclusion

Superfans ought to be your advertising and marketing technique purpose, however not the primary goal. Overview the important thing takeaways above and create an motion plan to start implementing them into your advertising and marketing technique.

Listed here are just a few tricks to get began.

Get to know your followers: What varieties of folks resonate together with your music? Wanting 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 should utilize this knowledge to higher goal and create advertising and marketing content material.

Assess your fan funnel: Establish the primary methods new followers uncover, interact with, and share your music; how informal listeners interact with you throughout channels and what varieties of reveals you’re presently enjoying; 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 electronic mail checklist 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.

Mirror in your artist identification: Do you could have a narrative about your music prepared to inform in lengthy and quick type? 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 world strategist, model builder, and fan engagement professional with 20+ years of expertise driving innovation on the intersection of tradition, commerce, and neighborhood throughout the music, leisure, and sports activities industries. He beforehand led international 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 via 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 regulation, Dan brings a multidimensional perspective to technique and dealmaking, combining artistic intuition, business acumen, and cultural fluency. An authorized boxing coach and lifelong fan of Nina Simone and New York hardcore, Dan balances his skilled depth with deep ardour for his spouse, children, music, canine, and the tradition that formed him.