In this post I'm going to go through some of the most common questions I get asked as a fan either directly or indirectly by musicians, explain why I think you're asking the wrong thing and what I'd suggest as an alternative.
1. Who do I sound like?
I'm guessing you're asking this one because you think that people will be more likely to listen to your music if they think you sound like a particular (well known) artist they already listen to. Or so you can try and target fans of that artist because they are bound to like you too. Wrong approach. Why? One word - rivalry.
When I was a teenager fans of artist A were always rivals of fans of artist B, whose music happened to sound very similar and both camps were always convinced that "their" artist was the best and the other was more of a pale imitation. This has evolved through such rivalries being discussed on forums, and more recently more visibly on places like Twitter and Facebook. Approaching fans (in particular of an established artist) purely on the basis that you sound like them means YOU are more likely to be the "pale imitiation".
Take a lesson from the fans and go for the same approach you often see on forum threads. Instead of asking "Who do I sound like?" ask "Who else do you listen to (a lot)?". Not only are you changing the question so it becomes about them and not about you, but you may also pick up on some interesting artist names you hadn't even thought about before.
If your audience is young, the likelihood is that they like your music because they like what they hear, rather than the fact they like it because it sounds like something they already heard. As your audience gets older, their musical taste is influenced based on what they have already been exposed to musically - think of it as the equivalent of your musical influences influencing the music you have decided to make and you're more likely to get some meaningful answers if you then probe more fully about those artists and your fan's background.
Let me give you an example of one particular artist I listen to. When I listen to their music, what I hear in a number of their songs is the playing style of Elton John (whose music I like), the lyrical ability to connect with me both in my past and present as well as ability and lack of fear when it comes to experimentation in different musical styles that I get from being a long time fan of Howard Jones, the same intelligent wit and ability to weave political themes I see in the humour of Flanders and Swann combined with the storytelling of Chris de Burgh. If you were able to ask your fans the right questions to get that kind of level of information back about what they see in you, wouldn't it be a whole lot more interesting and give you better clues as to who you "sound like" anyway?
And in reality, the sooner you get to grips with the fact that you "sound like" you and not someone else, the better. Look back at my example above and consider just how similar or different to each other does the music from that list of artists sound in practice? Different people will hear different things in your music based on what else they've listened to - the interesting thing is what common ground comes up, particularly from fans of different backgrounds/ages/countries etc.
2. Tell all your friends...
If I'm that into you, most of my friends are probably sick of hearing about you anyway. My friends aren't going to vote for you or give you money just because I tell them to. (though you may sometimes see an exception to this with teenage fans) If I think whatever it is you're up to is really that great or cool, I'm going to be telling people automatically. Seriously, all you need to do is tell ME whatever it is you're up to and let me cherrypick what might be of interest to pass on. Chances are my friends aren't going to be as deeply into you as I am - even if they do like at least some of your music, they'll have their own favourites that they're trying to get me to listen to instead. Let's face it, who knows MY friends better - you or me?
3. Sign up to my mailing list (and get something free)
Just... no. I seriously don't care what the experts say you should be doing on this one. As a fan who initially thought this sounded like a good idea, what I've found happens in practice doesn't do me or artists any favours. I've fallen for this sucker rather badly in the past (usually in exchange for free music) only to find one of two results further down the line. Either I get a torrent of mail because of the amount of music I like (oh look I got an email from 30 different artists today, I must be turning into an A&R), or a couple of years pass and suddenly a "regular" (i.e. the first one they sent since I signed up) newsletter from an artist I haven't seen or thought much about in that time suddenly appears. And like a lot of others, I'm probably too lazy to unsubscribe even if I can find that option. Experience has taught me that I'd rather wait until I have enough interest in an artist to want to sign of my own free will. Even then, there are some artists that never seem to send newsletters or even update their websites with news until their next release comes out.
Stop inflating your numbers. Make it easy for me to find and sign up to your mailing list if and when I want to. And if you do have a mailing list, then actually USE it to send something every 1-2 months. Experience tells me that a mailing list isn't worth either the artist's or my time in the majority of cases. Let's face it, wouldn't YOU rather have people who are genuinely interested enough in you, rather than a list of people who only really signed for the incentive and who might only be taking a passing interest at best otherwise?
4. Here's this month's challenge
Ah yes, the good old "call to action". Seriously, it really depends what exactly you're asking. Some of these work as intended and very occasionally one of them might get me off my lazy butt and do what I'd been planning to do anyway but somehow never quite got around to. e.g. write a review of a purchase. Others are a case of something which works much better as an open-ended request rather than something which can be done "to order/by a certain date" because they need thinking about, or require being in the right place at the right time.e.g. take a picture of something that fits with a song title. And yet others can be things that some of your fans wouldn't really want to do or in some cases know how to do anyway e.g. post a video of you dancing or singing along to a song.
Unless you've got a lot of teenage fans, you might not actually get a lot of response to some (or most) of the things you ask, particularly if there appears to be a time limit. People have got to both remember and find the time in their schedules to do what you're asking if it's something they can't (or have the time to) do there and then. And if it can't be done there and then, a lot of the time they'll never get around to it before your deadline is up.
What would I suggest? Well, that 1-2 monthly newsletter I mentioned earlier is something you can add a nice little section to. Remind people that you always like to see/hear/receive the kinds of things you've been asking them to do. Maybe feature something recent from a fan. Hardcore fans have a habit of doing things anyway without you asking. Often all you need to do is present them with the facts e.g. "We're up for a vote at this website link to win this opportunity" and they'll automatically go and vote. Sometimes a group of fans will even get together on their own to prepare a surprise to present to you. Make it easy for them to know what you want/like and let them know when other fans have done something you like and it's more likely others will start to try and find "cool stuff to do" all on their own in the hopes you'll feature them. Encourage creative spontaneity as a continuous/regular thing, not something that sounds more like a work deadline and you may just find your fans can surprise you with what they'll come up with. But just like creating music, don't expect there to be a regular flow - things are going to appear randomly just like your inspiration when writing songs.
In summary
A lot of the things you're asking are things that hardcore fans are
going to do anyway, irrespective of whether you ask or not. And they are
only a very small percentage of fans in your fanbase - the rest you'll
only get to join in occasionally at best. There really is no substitute or shortcut for the good old one-on-one connection to build relationships and create those hardcore fans so they will do things for you both automatically and willingly. And you'll discover a lot more than you can by asking what in reality are simple questions which have complicated responses.
One of the things I do in real life is "cold calling" door-to-door research.
Whilst no selling is involved with this role, it is getting ever harder
to get people to even talk to the strange person that arrived on their
doorstep because they are being bombarded with an ever increasing number
of requests for sales/advice/help and all they see is yet another
person who wants something when they open the door. Yet in those cases where the door doesn't get slammed in my face, the participants quite often get a lot more from the experience than they were expecting. Build a rapport and you don't even need to ask (as often) because people will help you just on that basis.
As a fan I see the same thing
happening in music - people are being bombarded too much with direct requests and are tuning
out as a result. Form connections and let natural discovery happen so the laws of supply and
demand can take over, or there is going to come a point when the music industry is going to be not just more broken than it is at present, but rather in an unfixable state where people in general don't feel enough of a connection to anyone to realise they need to support musicians.
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