During the final “Happy Hour” livestream event of 2020 — dubbed ‘Finding Your Virtual Audience’ — we invited three respected musicians to discuss how they’re staying connected with fans amid the pandemic, as well as tips for other creators who’re looking to find or grow their own virtual audiences.
Happy Hour Guests
- Craig Cardiff – Veteran singer-songwriter and Juno Award nominee Craig Cardiff has released 18 albums across his nearly quarter-century-long music career. Additionally, the Ontario-born Canadian Folk Music Award nominee recorded his upcoming 19th record, All This Time Running, remotely during quarantine, and the effort features musicians from around the globe.
- Miette Hope – At just 24 years of age, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and Berklee College of Music graduate Miette Hope has cultivated a dedicated fanbase, with well-received tracks such as “On Repeat,” “Alone,” and “Days Like This” to her credit. Plus, the artist and model crafts material as The Natural Synthetic with frequent collaborator Ariza.
- José James – Edison Award-winning artist José James seamlessly fuses key elements of modern jazz and hip-hop in his critically acclaimed works – the most recent of which, No Beginning No End 2, debuted in March – and operates an independent label, Rainbow Blonde Records.
The discussion was moderated by Songtradr CXO, Victoria Wiltshire.
Remembering the Importance of Communities
Kicking off the Happy Hour, the panelists identified some of their career highlights in order to more completely chart their steps to maintain fan relationships and find their virtual audiences throughout the pandemic. Significantly, traveling, touring, and interacting with supporters in person were key parts of each creator’s pre-COVID schedule – meaning that the adjustment to 2020’s new normal required a far-reaching professional pivot.
“I’ve gotten to travel to a lot of different places by saying ‘yes,’” said Craig Cardiff, who has over 100 million streams to his credit.
“I got to go to Hong Kong the May before last, just basically to perform and write with students there. Travel all over Canada. For me that’s been the highlight – like a lot of really interesting small communities.”
“I started writing songs from a super-early age, and I used to write a lot of folk music cus I kind of grew up in the mountains,” relayed Miette Hope, emphasizing the pandemic’s effects on the creative side.
“And my mom was in a band, and I played with her band a bit and kind of learned to write songs in that community. We would have bluegrass festivals in the summer and play songs around the campfire.”
“My story really started in London,” added the Minneapolis native José James. “I was a student at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan. I made an EP called The Dreamer that I self-produced and financed. Brought that to London, a copy got to the DJ and tastemaker Gilles Peterson. And it was the right place and the right time. … About three months after that, I got my first deal.”
The New Normal of Interacting with Fans
For four years thereafter, James “was basically a European artist,” touring the continent as well as Japan while still calling the States home. These shows enabled the “Use Me” artist to attract new fans and unlock a multitude of career opportunities, which culminated with his founding Rainbow Blonde in 2018.
In other words, that traditional gigs and impromptu collaborative sessions were placed on pause not long after 2020’s start meant, without exaggeration, that the Happy Hour guests had to cease doing several of the very things that have made them so successful. Rather than attempting to enlarge his appeal, Cardiff ultimately worked to (remotely) develop a stronger connection with fans who’ve long supported his music.
“I have a lot of respect for people who’re trying to build and create new relationships right now,” said the “Dirty Old Town” artist Cardiff.
“Throughout all levels of business, I think existing relationships have been easier to maintain. … I’d like to say that I’ve been able to grow my base, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily true.
I think I’ve stayed connected with the people who had kinda been there to support me.”
Authentic Content is as Important as Ever
Hope echoed the sentiment, outlining her pre-pandemic reliance upon gigs and close interaction with fans and fellow artists. Moreover, livestream performances and social-media interaction have chiefly been a means of strengthening already-established fan partnerships, for the “Oxygen” creator, who stressed the significance of authentic content – not necessarily “pristine” media.
“I think really more than ever content is important,” said Hope, who is active on social media.
“It’s important to show your audience who you are, and I think platforms have now kind of allowed for a more candid and authentic representation of artistry.
“With things that are going viral right now, it doesn’t have to be pristine,” continued Hope. “It can be on your iPhone in your bedroom in your pajamas dancing around, and people will want to engage with it because they really want to see realness.”
Staying Ahead of the Music Landscape of Tomorrow
James capitalized upon 2020’s decidedly unique circumstances to optimize his digital presence – with a particular emphasis on algorithms – and the benefits of the effort appear poised to outlast the coronavirus, paying off in the fast-moving and tech-driven music landscape of tomorrow.
“We’re seeing live touring come to a pause – I don’t want to say a standstill, cus there are people booking shows for the fall worldwide right now, for next year. I think it’s an incredible opportunity to kind of see the holes that we’ve all been ignoring in our careers,” he said.
Connecting with Fans Remotely is an Opportunity
“With the development of technology,” stated Hope, “it’s been easier than ever for fans to kind of curate their listening experience and find the artist that they align with. So finding my fanbase has been quite the interesting journey.”
And in many ways, this interesting (and admittedly unexpected) journey towards connecting with fans remotely was an opportunity for artists and listeners to become closer – despite being so physically far apart.
“We’re all together in the fact that this has been an extremely difficult year,” said Hope. “Expressing your truest self and being able to share that with your audience is the blessing in disguise of these hard times, for sure.”
“We’re still here, we still got the music, we still got the love,” added James.
Now, with brighter days – and full-scale concerts – on the horizon, the trick is keeping both the music and the love going, via livestreaming, posting on social media, and otherwise, to strengthen artist-fan connections that will endure long after the pandemic is in the rearview.
Fans can catch the full replay of the Songtradr Happy Hour on YouTube.
Watch the full panel discussion:
Watch other Songtradr Happy Hour Sessions in full:
- The Power of Women in Music
- Making Music for Ads: The Do’s + Don’ts
- Music Placements that Break the Mold
- Creating Killer Artist Images
- Hip Hop Deconstructed with Murs
- Touring’s Out. Now What?
- Power Songwriting for Sync Placement
- Up Close and Personal with Hit Filmmaker Jon Turteltaub
- Pitching Yourself to the Industry
- Music for Gaming: What’s Working + What’s Ahead
- Balancing Branding with Artistry
- Music Through the Ages: Soundtrack or Catalyst for Change?
- How to Make Money with Your Music: Monetization Tips for Indie Artists
- Music Supervisor Roundtable: How the Music & Media Business Has Been Impacted by COVID-19
The content of this post was written by Paul Resnikoff and Dylan Smith of Digital Music News, as a broader partnership with Songtradr.
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