Agreed. Last week's email got a novelistic touch.  Today, I will keep it shorter.

So let me start with one crucial question: 

Do you have a (running) mailing list?

If you have one, I'm more than happy for you. 

(If not... we'll get to that)

The first time I was amazed at the power of a musician's mailing list was back in 2013 when De La Soul (a quite successful hip-hop crew from the 90s) gave away all their music for free.

(Well, not entirely)

All they wanted from their fans was to subscribe to their (new) mailing list. In the following months, they made more profit from that list than they would have by selling a CD to each of these new subscribers. 

But how did they pull it off?

They followed up with their subscribers by sending personal and relevant stories and news. It was all about new and old merch, upcoming tours and gigs, special limited vinyl editions of their music, and much more.

And guess what... their fans loved it.

After witnessing this massive campaign, I spent more and more time with email marketing to the point where I could clearly see the difference it made for artists. 

For example, do you have enough of a budget to get your new song, EP, or album mixed so it wows your listeners?

Budgeting is one of the biggest problems most artists encounter.

(If I may believe my clients...)

Though there are so many ways to overcome this. 

Why don't you just create a Kickstarter campaign and let your subscribers know? Or invent a monthly subscription system with exclusive gadgets for your hardcore fans?

With social media, this works, too. But in general, you need a much much MUCH bigger active audience that's reading your daily posts to get the same results as from a mailing list of super fans. 

You can have 10k engaged fans on a social media platform, and your 1k email subscribers still outdo them in sales.

(There are musicians I know that reached 5 digits for one event or campaign from a list with less than a thousand subscribers... crazy, huh?)

Social media got its place—and it's a great place—but when it comes to hitting the bullseye in the virtual realms of the internet, there's nothing more powerful than good email marketing. 

(When I say marketing, I don't mean advertising)

To conclude this: Do you have an email list?

No: Set it up ASAP, and begin inviting your super fans into it!

(If you're interested, I could cover this topic more in-depth in the future, too)

Yesbutno: But you're not doing anything with it... Don't overthink it, just do it!

Yes: Keep it up!

Wherever you stand right now: I'd be very interested in hearing your story.

Just hit reply, and share your thoughts and experiences with me. I read every message.