Many college graduates are used to having a captive audience of fellow students who are required to attend recitals, so audiences are easy to get and easy to reach. In real life, there is no such captive audience. There is nobody outside of college who has to go to recitals just so they can get a degree. Many colleges also have a few community members who frequent student recitals, which further enhances audience numbers and interest.
Outside of college, getting an audience is not so easy. In college, I always had nice audiences for my recitals, but they were always mostly the same people at each one. After years of playing for seemingly the same people concert after concert, I've started to wonder how it is possible in the real world to reach a wider audience with my music.
There are musicians out there who think that they can put on a great classical concert, promote it heavily, get an audience that spills out of the room, and make a ton of money. I used to be one of them--not any more. That's not the way it works. People really don't want classical music the way I want them to want it. The serious solo and chamber music concerts I love don't have a wide appeal, so how do classical musicians find an audience while maintaining high musical standards? Read on to find out!
1. Find out what people want
This step will involve some trial and error. Take a walk down the street, and look at the people. Do most people look like they would sit for an entire sonata and enjoy it? Probably not. If you go on YouTube, the videos and songs that go viral are often no more than 3 minutes. Even though you wish peoples' attention spans were longer, you have to meet them where they are. Don't think that you can single-handedly change the world by pushing long and serious performances. If people don't want it, you can't force them to come to you. People want things entertaining and short. Having what people want makes a difference. You need to come to their level. Even the biggest symphony orchestras have pops concerts that sell way more tickets than the classical ones.2. Sell out to those people
Yes, I said that. It sounds so bad. Sell out! Some musicians will hate me for saying this. If you are selling a great product or service, and nobody wants it, you have two choices: change your offering or go out of business. Even if people want what you consider to be an inferior product, you need to give that to them if you want to stay in business. For musicians, this might mean letting go of playing big, satisfying programs in favor of playing more popular genres. You might feel like you are compromising your musical integrity because you are stepping down to what you think is a lower musical art, but that is the way to get to people. Once you have a following, you can start to draw them to you, and integrate the music you consider higher art.3. Team up
Your chance of success is much better in a group, because people like groups and bands. Find people of good musical ability and flexibility. The actual instrumentation matters less than what each musician brings to the table. Having talented arrangers and composers in the group is always a plus. The most important thing is to find people who are willing to try anything and be pleasant to work with regularly.4. Create your own music
OK. You've found and examined your audience, let go of any fantasies of changing them, and developed a willingness to meet them where they are. You have also found a group to work with in this venture. Great! You now have to make music for your audience. This takes creativity and a bit of craziness. There are many different genres and styles that people like, and creating your own music lets you tailor your offering to your people. It also gives you a chance to use the music theory classes you may have hated so much during college.Decide on what kind of experience you need to offer to your audience, and create music for that. There are many ways to create music that is distinctly your own. Cover versions of pop tunes are a draw, but copyright matters complicate things. Live performances of cover versions don't usually bring trouble, but posting recordings online is risky without licensing. Original compositions are a great way to introduce audiences to your group and build your fan base. There's not much to say about composition here, but group members can create music for the group, their abilities, and their instruments. Do any of the group members have any special abilities or tricks up their sleeves? Why not write for that?
5. Engage more than one sense
Audiences want to be entertained. As much as I love to sit in a cushy seat in a warm concert hall listening to the greatest sounds ever made, that experience doesn't appeal to the masses. People want interesting visual aspects like lighting, backdrops, cool looking instruments, etc. The possibilities are endless. Perhaps in a less formal venue, you can have a set up with tables and chairs, which is more inviting to some people. You can also involve the auditory sense with some talking in the program. Don't bore the audience with lots of it, though. Keep words brief and engaging.6. Acquire and combine skills
Most fresh college graduates think they know everything about the music and the business behind it. If you think that, you're wrong! You will have a lot to learn about different styles of music (read "the ones that pay bills), composition, theory, and how to make an audience happy and want to come hear you again. Versatility is key. Once you have a grasp on something, use it. Find groups and venues in which you can test out your new skills. Never think any style or venue is beneath you; if you do, you might be sleeping with a sidewalk beneath you instead of a bed.7. Promote promote promote
Here's maybe the toughest one of all. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ (who goes there anyway?), and many others have made it easy to reach a lot of people very quickly and inexpensively. Unfortunately, you will be just one voice in a noisy crowd. Your posts and messages might just get scrolled right over. How do you avoid this? One method is to make friends in real life. If someone is a fan of you, they are more likely to be receptive to your music, and they might put your events in their calendar. They see your name on a post, and they might stop and read it. Another good promotional method is to post your events to community calendars run by radio and TV stations. Believe it or not, people read these, and they might get a few more audience members. If you do something they like, they might come back. When you do the community calendar thing, be consistent about posting, because your newly acquired fans will be looking for you there.You can also find community bulletin boards at grocery stores and other crowded locations. Music stores are good spots for promotion, and the managers are usually willing to let you put up a poster. Perhaps the most important way of promoting is to tell people about what you are doing. If you happen to be talking with a random person on public transportation, waiting in a long line, at a barbershop, or anywhere for that matter, be forward about what you do. Have cards with your information on you at all times. There's no such thing as instant success, but developing regular fans is important.
Conclusion
Everything here is about basic marketing. If you have what people want, and get it in front of them, you have a fighting chance of succeeding. If you stick with what you like and only what you like, you have an audience of one, and that is yourself. One aspect of audience development that people don't admit to is that there's no such thing as loyalty. Your audiences will find other things to do if you don't engage them. They might find other things to do if you do engage them. You must fight for each audience member, and always be reaching for new ones. Remember that even if you do everything well, you can't please everybody.
This is not a comprehensive guide to success as a musician, but I hope it gets you thinking.
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