As we delve even further into this quarantine and lack of live music I think it’s important to keep thinking about the types of content that we can create. The types of content that are going to work and allow us to keep growing. Today I wanted to get into how to keep having content coming through the storm of quarantine. Content people WANT to engage with.
What this really comes down to is very simple, it’s a question of thinking about what you want to create, what fans are looking for from bands and then of course, what ideas you can borrow from other bands. These are the strategies that help people like you to grow even as things get more and more difficult.
3. What Can You Create?
I was talking with a buddy the other day and we were talking about the perils of social distancing. Laughing I said, “Social distancing turns all of life into a giant puzzle, how can we find ways to do things we once did?” That’s what content creation in the age of Coronavirus has become. Just another puzzle.
So as we kind of dig through ideas for content creation in the face of quarantine, you want to be asking yourself above all – what can you actually do? What content creation options exist for you in the first place? Once you figure that piece out so much more locks nicely into place, but you need to keep asking yourself, ‘What can I create and how?’
2. What Do Your Fans Want?
This is the next big question all of us have to ask ourselves – what do our fans want? What are they looking for to entertain themselves in this trying time? If you aren’t sure you can just ask! If you’re feeling a bit shy you can of course just look back through your old content and see what performed well. Then make a coronavirus friendly version of that content.
It’s so important to be constantly talking to your fans because how else can you start to figure out what they are looking for from you and what you can do to entertain them further. It’s crucial to spend time learning about your followers so that you can
1. What Ideas Can You Get From Other Bands?
This is, of course, the dirty little secret that I have had work for me time and time again – just look at the bands around you and borrow their ideas! Odds are you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but in fact, can get quite a bit of growth just from trying to better understand your community.
There’s no reason you shouldn’t be looking at other bands for both what gets good reactions from the fans and also what type of content they are creating. You need to be constantly looking around and trying to understand what people do and do not like. Then figuring out how you can use the ideas people like in a way that makes sense for you – it’s really that simple.
In brief – learning to create content in the coronavirus is not as hard as you might think. It can even be fun if you spend the time to do your research and look around in an effort to better understand what the market wants to see. Just figure out what you can do, what your fans are looking for, and then start to research ideas. I promise it will be a blast!
MATT BACON
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Matt Bacon is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Having worked with everyone from Rock and Roll Hall of Hame and Glam Rock icon Phil Collen of Def Leppard, to post Black Metal titans Alcest, as well as legendary thrashers Exhorder.
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