The 9-Step Musician’s Guide to Building a Fanbase

This guest post was written by Michael Gilbride of MAD Records.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a little nervous.

This is my first time writing a guest article for another publication, and I don’t do well under pressure.

But alas, I shall persist.

Hello, dear Songtrust readers, my name is Michael Gilbride.

I am the founder of the revolutionary new record label, MAD Records, where we take 0% ownership of our artists’ music.

I’m also the writer of The MAD Records Monologue on Substack, where I post weekly articles on the music industry, independent artistry, and other (nearly but not quite incoherent) rants and ramblings.

I’m also an artist (I release music under my solo project, telco), a former corporate-bond trader on Wall Street, and one of the founding members of the online music education company, Mastering.com. Yes… it’s been a weird life so far.

ANYWAYS, today I am here to teach you how to build a fanbase in 9 easy steps.

If you are like the countless artists I’ve worked with, then you probably feel a little lost in today’s music industry. You probably make great music, but struggle to promote it in a way that is effective and doesn’t cost a sh**load of money.

Well, have no fear… we’re going to change that today.

So let’s get started.

Step 1: Understanding The Streaming Trap

Before we start, we need to first understand the current landscape of the streaming environment.
To do that, I want you to imagine for a moment that you are the CEO of a major DSP (digital streaming platform) like Spotify or Apple Music.

As the CEO, you essentially have one goal: maximize daily active users (DAUs).

Since streaming platforms only have two revenue streams - subscriptions from paid customers and ad revenue from free services - it’s imperative that they maximize DAUs. The more DAUs, the more subscribers they retain, and the more ad revenue they generate.

If your goal is to maximize DAUs, then your entire marketing strategy revolves around pulling people off your competitors and driving them to your platform, right?

But your competitors aren’t just other DSPs. They’re Instagram, TikTok, Facebook… basically anything else you stare at on the toilet instead of listening to the new Justin Bieber album.

Here’s the kicker: artists are the ones doing this work for them. We promote our music on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, begging people to leave those platforms and stream our songs on Spotify. Many of us even pay for ads to drive this traffic.

So DSPs have outsourced their marketing costs to artists. In return, they pay us $0.003 per stream and give themselves a DAU.

Savvy? Yes. Depressing? Also yes.

Step 2: The Hidden War for Data

We already established that there’s a battle for attention between DSPs and social media platforms. But the true battle isn’t just attention…  it’s data.

Any businessperson knows that if you truly want to monetize, you need to be able to reach your audience directly. According to Salesforce, it takes 6–8 touchpoints before someone is ready to make a purchase. That means simply interacting with someone once isn’t enough.

This is why data collection is so important. By collecting your data (email, phone number, etc.), businesses can reach you over and over again until they finally get you to buy.

Think of a 10% off coupon pop-up when you visit an online store. You don’t buy at first, but now they have your email. Soon you get reminder emails, then texts, then a “last chance” message. Before you know it, you’ve caved.

DSPs and social platforms use the same strategy. They collect the data, they own the data, and they monetize the data.

And notice…  none of them share it with you, the artist.

Step 3: Why Streams Are Worthless

By now you should realize something: in this war for data, no one shares it with you.

When you send people to Spotify to stream your music, you have no idea who those people are. Even if they love your song, there’s no way to contact them about future releases, shows, or merch.

That’s why streams are practically worthless. For the price of $0.003/stream, you’re giving up the chance to build your own fan database.

Instead, what if you sent people to your email list instead?

Here’s some quick math:

• 500 emails on your list.
• You promote a $20 show.
• Even if just 2.5% of your list buys tickets (12.5 people), that’s $250.
• That’s the equivalent of 83,000 Spotify streams.

Step 4: What Actually Is a Funnel?

You’ve probably heard marketing bros talk about “building your funnel.” But what does that actually mean?
A funnel is just a way of describing the process we’ve been outlining. You create awareness, collect data, build trust, and eventually make a sale.

The funnel has four main parts:

• Top of Funnel (TOFU): Create awareness.
• The Opt-In: Collect data.
• Middle of Funnel (MOFU): Build trust and relationships.
• Bottom of Funnel (BOFU): Ask for the sale (tickets, merch, etc.).

Step 5: TOFU: Top of Funnel (Create Awareness)

Your TOFU strategy is designed to do one thing: create a moment of awareness. We’re not selling yet. We’re just trying to get noticed.

Examples of TOFU strategies:

• Playing covers at a local bar
• Busking on the street
• Creating content on social media
• Handing out free band stickers
• Taping flyers to telephone poles