“For music fans, Twitter is the next best thing to being backstage.” That is how Twitter begins its official guide to Twitter for Musicians and Artists.
For the first couple years of its existence, I was a very vocal Twitter skeptic; a bold statement like the one above would’ve sent my eyes rolling like a slow-motion slot machine.
BUT… something happened over the last 6 months as I began to use Twitter for my poetry blog: I fell in love with tweeting! And while I’ve been slow to adopt Twitter for my music promotion (due to laziness, of course), I think I actually believe them now– it IS one of the next best things to being backstage.
If you love an artist, Twitter is an incredible way to interact with them– not JUST view their content, but actually interact with the band through replies, retweets, direct messages, etc. If you ARE an artist, Twitter helps you keep your fans engaged, invested, and willing to share the word about your music.
Check out Twitter’s Guide for Musicians and Artists.
Rule #1- Your Tweets should reflect the things you’re passionate about.
Perhaps that’s no surprise, but this guide provides specific recommendations on how to do that, giving examples from people like Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Gavin Rossdale, St. Vincent, Bruno Mars, Foster The People, Silversun Pickups, and Adele (ya know, like… totally unknown indie artists)!
As our friends at Hypebot wisely pointed out, when the example tweet talks about a Grammy nomination, just substitute it for news about a completed album, awesome show, or sync placement.
How do you use Twitter to promote your music?
Are you a Twitter addict, hater, early-adopter, late-convert, skeptic, or pragmatist? How does Twitter play a part in your music career? (Or not.) What tricks have you picked up along the way? Let us know in the comments section below.
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