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Establishing a fan base is the key element of success when trying to get a band started. A person can have the best sounding band in the world and if all they do is play in their garage or for friends, no one will know they exist. The fan base is what makes or breaks the band. The initial fan base that you establish as a band will drive you into fame. They are the ones that will buy your CD, poster, or just talk their friend's to death about how great your band is.

Each true fan of a band acts like a pebble being thrown into a pond. By that i mean, the ripple effect will occur and through their interaction with your music they will bring more fans towards you. This can be seen everyday when you hear a song being played in someone's car and it influences you to search out the artist and song. It's all a ripple and if you don't make a big enough splash, if your music isn't good, establishing a good fan base is one of the hardest things to accomplish.

Media integration into your fan base will bring more of the mass towards your music, which you want. Those first good fans your band creates are the media machine that delivers your message. Give them free Cd's, posters, and anything else you can think of that you know they will put to good use. A person has to think how many people would hear their music with just one CD given out to a fanatically fan. They will play it all the time as they drive and passers might even inquire about who the artist is.

As a fellow musician, writer, and listener, I have had an older lady ask me what a CD was. Not thinking I answered her question. I happened to be listening to a youth targeted band, however through me a fan of the band I had just turned someone to listen to their music also.

When It's all said and done, treating your fans like gold is what actually gets you the gold in the long run. People will remember how your band acts towards notions such as autographs and just talk. A bad impression will ruin a fan, and they will cause an opposite ripple in that very same pond which we talked about earlier.

Learn more about this author, Tyler Mahaffy.
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