When it comes to enhancing the visibility and impact of your music, social media has never been more crucial. But what are the most effective ways of utilising these platforms?
This question formed one of the key themes at the PRS Connects event Meta and Music Creators. Held earlier this year in partnership with Meta at the PRS for Music Hub in London, the event sought to equip songwriters with the know-how and tools to unlock new audiences and create engaging content on Meta technologies.
As well as Happi the Creator, Rosie McClelland and former PRS Members’ Council President Michelle Escoffery (who hosted the event), members of the global music publishing team at Meta — Morgan Simes, Head of Music Publishing Partnerships & Strategy; Lauren Landon, EMEA Music Publishing Partnerships Manager; Chloe Burrows, EMEA Partner Solutions Manager — were on hand to offer our audience of songwriters their top tips for building and connecting with an audience on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The team also shed light on how they work to build partnerships with music publishers and CMOs — strengthening the connection between Meta and the broader music publishing industry — as well as helping guide Meta’s ongoing investment in music publishing data and reporting infrastructure.
From which tools to use on Meta technologies to how you could go about presenting your personal or artistic brand, here’s some key takeaways of advice for songwriters looking to make the most of Meta technologies.
Turn the comment section into your community
The idea of starting and then steadily building a community of fans online can feel daunting, especially for beginners. But even something as straightforward as replying to people’s comments on your posts can be a great starting point.
‘One of the ways you can build a community is simply by engaging with the people who are commenting on and liking your content,’ Lauren says. ‘In everyday life, you wouldn’t just ignore someone who tells you, “I love your music.”’
While this kind of direct engagement can make your fans feel more involved — not to mention making you feel more personable — it doesn’t stop there. Noting how this ‘interactivity is essential’, Morgan points to how reels, stories and posts in Feed can all be utilised in different ways to build a community and drive engagement. For example, reels can be made to give more background about yourself and your work, while you can capture a more immediate snapshot of your daily life with stories.
Morgan also advises making use of the questions feature on Instagram. For instance, you could ask your followers which song of yours they most relate to, sparking conversation and helping build lasting connections.
Be relatable with your content
What kind of content stands out on social media? It’s a tough question to definitively answer, but generally people tend to gravitate towards posts that feel authentic. ‘People love watching content that is relatable to them,’ Lauren explains. ‘One of the ways you can create engaging content is to think about its relatability.’
It can be difficult to determine what is and what isn’t relatable, but generally a good tip to follow when creating content is being true to yourself. ‘You know you’ve got great [content] when it evokes an “Oh my God, that’s literally me” response from your followers,’ Lauren adds.
Instagram Live, meanwhile, can be a great tool for songwriters to reach their fans on a more personal level. ‘You can use tools like Live to imitate a real-life interaction,’ Lauren says. ‘On Live, you can showcase your personality and benefit from real-time dynamic interaction with your followers, because they’ll be able to comment as you’re livestreaming.’
Pointing out that such tools are an efficient method of letting ‘your followers get to know you as a person’, Lauren adds: ‘Don’t be afraid to be authentic [with your content]. Drop the polish, be organic and be authentic.’
‘One of the ways you can build a community on Meta technologies is engaging with those who comment on and like your content.'
Give your fans a behind-the-scenes peek
Increasingly, music fans want to feel closer to their favourite songwriters, musicians and composers. To capitalise on this and boost that sense of authenticity, it can be valuable to offer your followers a glimpse into your everyday life.
Behind-the-scenes content is perhaps the most straightforward way of doing this, such as sharing clips of you at work in the studio, preparing for a live performance or previewing an exciting new project.
‘Take your camera out in the studio and simply record what’s happening,’ Lauren advises. ‘One idea is filming a “day in the life” video, which you can soundtrack with one of your own songs before posting. Part of the magic of Facebook and Instagram is not necessarily indulging in these extraordinary big moments — there’s real magic in the ordinary and the everyday.’
Dropping a new track soon? Start laying the breadcrumbs…
Now that your fans feel more connected with you, you can start using Meta technologies to promote your music. But the key to doing this effectively is to build anticipation before your releases.
In fact, a good way of promoting your new music is by creating teaser content and leveraging Meta technologies themselves as marketing tools. ‘The best way to build anticipation is creating behind-the-scenes content that give a little sneak peek of the track you’ve got coming out,’ Lauren advises.
You don’t need to wait until the release date to start teasing your song either. Share snippets or previews weeks in advance, or post behind-the-scenes footage of the recording process. This approach helps ‘lay breadcrumbs’ for your new music, keeping your audience engaged and excited with your work.
Treat social media as a companion to your music
Engagement can be heightened when you treat social media as a place where you can offer more information, fun facts and wider context on the creative process behind your music. This can help create a more fulfilling experience for your followers.
‘A really nice content idea for musicians is telling the story behind your song,’ Lauren suggests. ‘This could be as simple as grabbing your phone, speaking to camera and sharing why you wrote your latest song, what inspired it and the themes behind it.’
Fans love to see the inner workings of how music is made. ‘Your followers will really appreciate getting a glimpse into how you create your music, how you put that track together in the studio and what makes the song meaningful to you,’ Lauren adds. Offering this kind of insight builds a stronger bond between you and your audience, making them feel even more connected to your journey as a songwriter.
