Artists Take Note: 5 MORE Unforgettable Fan Experiences

This article was written by Corie Kellman (@coralman808), Director of New Artist Relations for Cyber PR®

If you are new to this series, make sure you check out the first installment of “Artists Take Note: 5 Unforgettable Fan Experiences”. Since my last top 5, I’ve been to dozens of shows, read hundreds of tweets, and talked to many about their fan experiences.
…And here are your top five this month:

5. I had a happy hour drink with a drummer I met in Nashville and we of course talked music for a little bit. We had a conversation about the bands we were into when we were kids and our experiences getting autographs as teens; something that in our memories meant everything in the world to us when it happened. He shared a story about how in his teenage angst he wrote a letter to Green Day, stating something along the lines of “Your music rocks! Anytime anyone says you suck, I stick up for you and tell them you don’t.” (Surely this is not verbatim, of course) – And, he also asked them to send back a autograph. One day, he checked the mail and there it was–– an autograph from Green Day. It’s been over 15 years since this experience, but it’s a memory he won’t forget.

4. Fall Out Boy played at the Ryman recently and towards the end of the show, Pete Wentz started to talk to the crowd. He thanked bands of his youth that he went to see as a kid that inspired him to start a band to be, hoping to be the next Misfits, and then he invited the youth in the crowd to start bands, and challenged them to be the next Fall Out Boy. He pointed to a kid in the crowd and said, “Yeah, you! You rock– I noticed you!” The guitarist grabbed a few bottles of water from near the drum kit and handed it down to a a couple of exhausted looking teens. Before leaving the stage that night, Wentz stopped to sign autographs at the front of the stage and threw his baseball cap into the crowd as he took his final walk off the stage. I just knew that those few things made all those kids night, and they will go home and remember it forever and someone in that crowd may start the next big punk or rock band because of the experience they got at that concert.

3. I sat down with an old friend of mine in Memphis, TN before his show on his first southern tour. We started talking about his strategy. His band, SNAFU, is a trasher punk band, which I have absolutely no experience in. He schooled me, telling me in his genre to get respect, it was all about becoming involved in the underground scene and building fans one by one in basements and garages, and storage units. He talked about how every fan that likes the music means so much to the success of their tours. He told me that if a kid comes up to the merch table and doesn’t have the 8 bucks for a CD, he gives it to them for free. He knows the value of that fan’s word of mouth is more valuable than the $8 for the future of his band.

2. Though a bit over-the-top and don’t encourage you to be giving your personal number out to all your followers, on July 11, Nick Cannon tweeted his number to his Twitter followers. When Jimmy Fallon brought up this stunt, Cannon replied, “That’s how much I love my fans. . . Call me anytime!” This is certainly out of most artists comfort zone, but the idea that he was ready and willing to connect with his fans is a great state of mind to be in.

1. Inc. Magazine posted the article “3 Superfan Strategies From Pearl Jam” noting their exemplary treatment of their fans. The article explains, that their team understood how important their fans are. They set challenging goals for themselves early on and, “Over the past 18 years, those goals have developed into a strategic superfan operation with roughly 200,000 active members.” The article also shares 3 important principles: 1. Invest in your superfans, and they’ll invest in you., 2. Trust your superfans with your brand, and 3. Never act like a rockstar. This article is a must read.