Do you have fans or a following?

[LemonCrush]

If so, how many fans do you have, and how did you get them?

I'm asking because I don't really have any. I get pretty good reviews on stuff. But the problem I find is, I just don't have any followers.

I find a lot of "upload here and here and this site and this one" which is cool, but uploading music doesn't mean anything if no one sees it.

So how did you get people to see your stuff? I'm not trying to be rich...hell I don't even want money for my stuff. I just want people to hear it. I get views and downloads on here, but it never really turns into a "fanbase".

[Back-From-Purgatory]

Be active in the community, review other peoples stuff, make good use of your newspost, put your music EVERYWHERE (NG, Youtube, Soundcloud, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, etc. etc. etc.).

Of course.. making good music helps too.

There is one big thing I must note though... you shouldn't expect to have a ton of fans right away. Speaking strictly from a NG standpoint, you are fairly new on the scene, and unfortunately, there are thousands of other people competing with you for fans, you just need to put yourself out there.

Whenever an opportunity to take part in a contest arises... take it. Whenever an animator is looking for music for their game, put your music in their view, if they use it for a game that could be fairly popular, you will absorb some of the through traffic as fans.

Post music regularly, chat with your fans regularly, be interactive in general.

If you play any online games, mention that you make music to your guild/dungeon buddies/other people... once in a while you'll get lucky and someone you show your music too may run an online radio station, or (As I've had happen) runs a gaming channel with 30,000 subscribers, and mentions your music to their fan base.

It's really just about putting yourself out there.

But again, I can't stress enough... it isn't something you should be expecting to happen overnight... or even over a week... or month... or a year or two... It takes time, unless you get extremely fortunate and find someone or something that essentially snowballs the exposure you receive.

[MetalRenard]

I have 1300+ subscribers on Youtube but I had to neglect that because of my work. Hopefully I'll win them back over the summer when I'm free.

I got them by working with an few up and coming Youtubers, Hero (who does all the Terraria stuff) and VerbalProcessing who does game animated videos and stuff. Jump on the occasion to work with people who can share their own fans with you.
You get instant kudos and loyalty if you're recommended by others who already have a following because you benefit from the "starstruck" feeling and loyalty their fans already have for them. Double win. I still get comments on some videos saying "Hero sent me!".
The videos I made with these guys got over a million views between them though, so the return isn't massive. On the other hand, it wasn't super popular genres of music, I did some symphonic power metal and some film-score.

[KatMaestro]

At 4/15/14 05:38 AM, LemonCrush wrote: If so, how many fans do you have, and how did you get them?

Currently 130 on NG. I see most of them as friends.

I usually fave people I like around NG and some of them fave back, so that's one way I get followers. The other way is to review-4-review, some will listen my music and like me. Occasionally, I get featured on frontpage or best of the week. These are just pure luck but they gain me at least 10% more fans.

Basically what Purgy said. Follow his/her advices.

So how did you get people to see your stuff? I'm not trying to be rich...hell I don't even want money for my stuff. I just want people to hear it. I get views and downloads on here, but it never really turns into a "fanbase".

Be friendly, that's all. Remember, always give more than you take. Karma is quite true, sometime.

[LemonCrush]

At 4/15/14 05:55 AM, Back-From-Purgatory wrote: There is one big thing I must note though... you shouldn't expect to have a ton of fans right away. Speaking strictly from a NG standpoint, you are fairly new on the scene,

Not exactly. I think I first posted on here in 2011. But I ended up taking all of that stuff down. I've only recently started getting back into upolading here.

Whenever an opportunity to take part in a contest arises... take it. Whenever an animator is looking for music for their game, put your music in their view, if they use it for a game that could be fairly popular, you will absorb some of the through traffic as fans.

Noted

Post music regularly, chat with your fans regularly, be interactive in general.

I don't really have fans. Posting music isn't the issue. Youtube, NG, Bandcamp, blah blah, I post everywhere. It's just that no one hears it.

[ForeverBound]

hey,

I got like 3100 subs on youtube and 61 on NG. Best way to go on NG is just get involved in the community. Review a alot of stuff and if u give good constructive reviews who actually helps the artist with he skilss then he will mostley check your stuff out as well. Also contest work as well. But I guess the best thing is to have music in a game or a video either on NG or youtube.
I was lucky enough to work with a game developer who released his game on the apple market and in the play store so that's where mostley my subs come from but even if u keep it more local to NG because the game and movie section is much bigger and a lot of more people follow the charts there.

if I compare for instant the most viewed track to the most viewed movie on ng then it would be 1 mil vs 15 mil.
anoher good thing is to be helpful for other people and also to be nice to them.

I hope this helps u solve your question ;)

[neokobe]

I have about 200 or so followers on Soundcloud, but that doesn't mean shit because I never get more than a few listens. I didn't buy them, either.

[MetalRenard]

I forgot about SoundCloud. I used to use that a lot, before it changed. Sadly followers don't really count for much on there, people follow each other for the sake of it now, only a few are actually meaningful (I do have a few good contacts from old SC though, when it was community driven).
On SoundCloud some of my songs randomly do really well (a few thousand plays) and I have no idea why or how. I wish I could nail that down because it would be a really great way to get more in the future. If I knew, I'd tell you.

[Bspendlove]

At 4/16/14 07:50 PM, neokobe wrote: I have about 200 or so followers on Soundcloud, but that doesn't mean shit because I never get more than a few listens. I didn't buy them, either.

Same here, I have just over 1000+, They listen to like 2 of my old compositions and don't check any of my new stuff out. A lot of them also message me saying "Follow us on facebook" or "Follow me back...", I don't follow people who instantly message me like that, or random people. I like to know people who enjoy anything I write, by all means I'd rather them unfollow me if they don't check out my new stuff.

[EuphoriaSound]

I got 30 fans here on NG.
I also have 145 likes on my Facebook page.

[Calamaistr]

maybe one or two, yeah yeah i know thats ridiculous for someone that makes somewhat quality music such as me but hey, im not very talkative and also text-handicapped, cant really bring over my thoughts right through typing is what i mean so that tends to get me into trouble and people disliking me apparently so i tend to refrain from talking these days.

Anyway, i dont get the feeling whatsoever that anyone actually follows my music anywhere, everytime someone responds to my music i see it as a miracle anyway that they found my track in the endless lists. ;l

[Daru925]

NG brought me a few followers on sc.
But soundcloud is really becoming botcloud at the moment.
Post a track, label it with a popular genre and you get lot of "favorite"minute after, but no view ahah
Psychic people know my track is to their liking without playing it ^^
I think you could almost farm "favorites" by changing genre every so often...

To be honest, I value feedback and comments more than view/listen count, because it means people took their time to listen to your tracks.
It's better than 100 views with everyone listening a few seconds only...
The good old "quality over quantity".

I'd appreciate if view/rating was enabled only for people playing at least 30% of the media duration.
Maybe it's the case on certain platforms?

[ARHYST]

I have few fans... but i need listeners. And gaining listeners is matter of time and luck. I dont need following or fans, if they are not willing to listen what i created.

[Troisnyx]

At 4/15/14 05:38 AM, LemonCrush wrote: If so, how many fans do you have, and how did you get them?

70-odd on SC, 275 on NG, 191 on YT. That being said though, some of these fans overlap, so numbers can be inaccurate. There are those who follow me on all three of these sites, for instance.

So how did you get people to see your stuff? I'm not trying to be rich...hell I don't even want money for my stuff. I just want people to hear it. I get views and downloads on here, but it never really turns into a "fanbase".

A few tips. Some of these things I'm about to mention, Purgy already mentioned above, but some are from my head.

1) Review, and be honest and constructive about your reviews. If there's something you like in a piece, say what you like about it. If there's something you find iffy in a piece, tell what can be done to make it better, or how to achieve a better sound (as long as it's within the creator's means).

2) Take part in competitions. The Art-Inspired Music contest recently took place, but there are others as well. Every year, starting from June/July, there is the Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch, the most high-profile music competition here on this site -- and it starts with an audition stage. Give it a shot!

3) Game Jams and similar events. It may not seem so, but songs from games do get considerable hits if they sound good. Now when these events are announced, don't hesitate to put your name in as a musician on Tom Fulp's (or an admin's) thread, and then there will be people wanting to team up with you, or have you in their teams. Don't be afraid to work with them -- though be aware that Game Jams take either 48 or 72 hours, so you'll have to work on a tight deadline. And if you're asked to plan the storyline etc. for the game too, don't refuse.

This is what I can think of...

[LemonCrush]

At 4/21/14 09:26 AM, Troisnyx wrote: 70-odd on SC, 275 on NG, 191 on YT. That being said though, some of these fans overlap, so numbers can be inaccurate. There are those who follow me on all three of these sites, for instance.

Hey! i remember you! You gave me a really cool review on a record I did a while back! :)

1) Review, and be honest and constructive about your reviews. If there's something you like in a piece, say what you like about it. If there's something you find iffy in a piece, tell what can be done to make it better, or how to achieve a better sound (as long as it's within the creator's means).

Yeah, I suppose I should make it a point to start consuming other's music. I try to, but I don't have a bunch of time to. And even when I do make time for it, I barely review it, and even when I do, I never get to technical. Basically I just say something like "oh the verse is amazing" or "x-part was really good"

2) Take part in competitions. The Art-Inspired Music contest recently took place, but there are others as well. Every year, starting from June/July, there is the Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch, the most high-profile music competition here on this site -- and it starts with an audition stage. Give it a shot!

I'll really have to keep an eye on that.

3) Game Jams and similar events. It may not seem so, but songs from games do get considerable hits if they sound good. Now when these events are announced, don't hesitate to put your name in as a musician on Tom Fulp's (or an admin's) thread, and then there will be people wanting to team up with you, or have you in their teams. Don't be afraid to work with them -- though be aware that Game Jams take either 48 or 72 hours, so you'll have to work on a tight deadline. And if you're asked to plan the storyline etc. for the game too, don't refuse.

What the heck is a Game Jam? Game devs looking for music?

[Troisnyx]

What the heck is a Game Jam? Game devs looking for music?

@LemonCrush A Game Jam is a quick competition to see which team can come up with a fully functional game in either 48 or 72 hours. They're largely hosted on NG, although some may be hosted on other sites. I tend to be NG specific. Teams are formed then and there after people have put their names down saying what they're good at. Oftentimes, it's the programmer that calls the shots, but there can sometimes be a dark horse who offers to join your team and help you.