Artist career

How to get your first hundred fans

By name, not by reach. The first hundred come from people already near you: someone who came to a show, sent a message, shared a track. Recognise them, thank them, and keep their contacts yourself — an email list rather than followers in an app that will change its algorithm tomorrow.

Where they actually come from

• Shows — even for twenty people.
• Collaborations with artists whose audience overlaps yours.
• People who already shared a track without being asked.
• Small genre communities rather than large music pages.

A listener and a fan are different people

• A listener heard you in a playlist and moved on. A fan shows up for the next release because they know who you are. A play count does not tell you how many of the second kind you have.

What to do with the contacts

• Write rarely and with a reason: a new date, a new track, tickets. A list you write to every couple of months is alive. A list you never write to is not.

In short

• Can I buy my first listeners? Bought plays never become fans and they damage platform signals. Ads make sense once you can see who responds.
• How long does it take? Months. The first hundred is the slowest; after that people bring people.

Next

• What an independent artist does every week
• What to do after a release
• A music career without a budget
• The independent artist's career