Indie Music Marketing in the Age of Twitter

Dan at his sold-out show at the Prinz Willy in Kiel, Germany.

Longtime readers of this blog will remember singer/songwriter Dan Coyle, a folk artist who has done tremendously well at marketing his music–and himself–using social media tools. Presently, he’s taking a break from his European tour, hanging out in the south of France, writing new material. We interviewed him via email–Dan talks about his use of  social media to meet new people interested in his music as well as stay connected to his longtime fans.

Dan is one of the kindest souls you’ll ever meet. I’m proud to call him friend–though I envy him his travels! After a moment of intense envy of his cool life,  I let the man behind the music talk about his Twitter addiction, wild requests from fans and the occasional knife fight on the road.

How long have you been making music and why did you start?

I started in about 2006, writing my own songs.  I never really meant to start making music, I just enjoyed playing the guitar and had always written poetry.  One day this song just came up and leaned on my ear as I was walking down the street.  I rushed home to write it down.  About ten minutes later I had my first song, “Break Me Into Pieces” which later became the first track on my debut album, “Briar St – The Acoustic Sessions.”  I guess after opening myself up to writing my own songs, I really enjoyed the process and it still boggles my mind how it comes about.  I always like to do things that boggle my mind, so I suppose that’s why I’ve kept at it.

How do you market your music?

I use (maybe overuse) Twitter a lot.  It has yielded me some great connections, sold some CDs, and made me fans.  Of course I have a Facebook fan page too, but Twitter seems to work better for me; I like the constant contact.  This brings me to my most important “marketing” strategy: which is to make real connections with warm bodies at live shows!  I like to actually sit and engage people who come out, really get to know them a little bit.  Sometimes this can be a little overwhelming, and sometimes people take it to the extreme, but overall it has been my greatest asset as far as making people see that I’m a real person and am interested in what they have to say.

What tools do you use to reach and stay connected to fans and prospective fans?

I have a newsletter that I send out every 2-4 weeks, which people can sign up for at http://dancoyle.fanbridge.com (and they get a free MP3 download when they do!).  As I said before, I like to use Twitter.  My Facebook fan page is cool because it has songs and video on it for people to play, it can be found at http://bit.ly/ltWBxC.  Another great place is YouTube, since I’ve started posting a few videos each month.  Folks can always send me a message or leave comments there as well.  (Click here to check out the cool videos.)

Why do listeners like your music?

Ha!  Who knows?  I never really know what people are going to like or dislike.  In fact, my favorite songs are usually some of the least popular with my fans and vice-versa.  I think that I am building a wide array of different songs.  Some are upbeat, and I’ve even caught people dancing to them.  Some tell a story, others bring out the sadder points of life, some are melodic and meant to just be fun, and so on.  I think having several different kinds of songs out there it gives people something to connect to.  Everyone has their own likes and dislikes.  Some people only listen to melodies, some listen for the lyrics, and some do both.  I often notice that when someone tells me what his or her favorite songs are, I can pretty quickly tell how or why they listen to music.  This ended up to be a very long answer (what a surprise!) for something that I can answer in fairly short form: people connect to certain songs of mine, find some truth in it, or build a relationship to what that song is; I think that’s it.

Why folk?

It’s just what comes to me.  I never set out to write any certain kind of music, like I said before I never truly set out to write any music.  The best way that I can describe it is this: I can feel a song coming, like you can feel the rain coming.  When this happens, I just let it sing itself to me.  I can’t really change it, or I ruin it.  It comes up to me and leans on my ear; I just have to listen and let it be what it is.  Thus far the songs that have come to me happen to be singer-songwriter, modern folk oriented.  Why that is, I cannot truthfully say.

Would you consider writing/singing in some other genre?

I will listen to any song that comes to me.  My 2009 “Bliss in Motion” release is a good example.  There is electronic, funk, jazz, and world music on that album.  All of those songs came to me in six days.  I never wrote them down, I didn’t do anything to them.  I set up a keyboard, drums, mics, etc, and just listened to them and gave a voice to what I heard.  So yes, I will recount whatever I hear regardless of what genre it might fall into.

Do your folk sensibilities present any particular PR/marketing challenges or advantages that other music genres do not?

I’m not sure, I don’t really think about it.  When I do my “marketing” I just try to be myself, and people seem to appreciate that; which is good for me.

Where is your music available?

I always prefer if people purchase my albums directly from me at http://dancoyle.com/7, this gives me an opportunity to sign the albums and include a little thank you note, which I always do.  I also have a page where they can get MP3 downloads directly from me at http://mp3.dancoyle.com.  But I know that people love iTunes, so I have all of my songs available there.  My direct iTunes link is http://bit.ly/a8gfta, Amazon is http://amzn.to/g4JMQ8 and at CDBaby http://bit.ly/jzFpY2.  Folks can find my music anywhere that music is sold online.

Ever get any strange fan mail?

Of course!  I get the occasional “Do you have a girlfriend” or sometimes “boyfriend!”  Sometimes people tell me what a certain song of mine means to them, which is always very interesting to me – in a good way.  Nothing too odd I suppose, pretty much what you would anticipate.  Regardless of what people write to me, I always enjoying hearing what they have to say!

What are you working on now?

I’ve written seven new songs in about five weeks, which I will put on a new album that I’m going to record in Berlin in August and release in September.  I’m leaving room for about three more songs to come my way, if that happens; which I think it will.  Also, I’m on a year-long tour in Europe which is going really well.  Those things are keeping me busy.

You’re an American on tour in Europe–does that help or hurt you as you try to sell out venues and sell music there?

It seems to help.  I think a lot of people are interested to hear someone from another country (or continent) and see what they’re all about.  For the most part it has really worked in my favor.  I’ve met a lot of great new fans here, and have been selling a lot of albums.  My fans are always the best at sharing my music with their friends and turning them onto me and my music, which means more than I can tell you.

Any regrets about going the indie route?

Not at all.  It has given me the opportunity to grow my career at a rate that I’m comfortable with, to tour when I want, write the songs that I want, and show people who I really am.  I think it’s important to me to have a genuine representation of myself out there, and no one can do that better than me.

Any advice for musicians/singers/songwriters just starting out?

The age-old question.  I get about 3-5 musicians writing to me per week asking for advice and it’s really hard to say.  It truly depends on what they want to accomplish, what they’ve done, and what they’re willing to do.  As a general piece of advice I will always say a few things: Do it for the right reasons.  Make music because when you’re doing it you can’t get enough, and when you’re not doing it it’s all that you can think about.  Don’t pursue fame and fortune as your main goals for making music.  Also, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to continue.  There will be many more roadblocks than there will be people who are encouraging you to keep going, and you have to be able to overcome that because there isn’t any other option.  If you have those things, you’re well on your way to a long and successful career.

Anything unusual happen on tour in Europe so far?

We saw a knife fight in Paris at about five o’clock in the afternoon on a busy street, right across from the Moulin Rouge actually.  That was interesting.  We saw the beggars on the streets of Prague who prostrate themselves, head down and hat extended.  We were nearly stranded getting back to Berlin after a show in Dortmund, Germany when our ride canceled at the last minute.  Oh, and we were accosted and interrogated by the customs officer as we were entering England, but that was no surprise.  Other than that, London was rainy, Berlin was awesome, Prague was beautiful, Paris was breathtaking, and the south of France is warm and cozy – all of these things have been very expected!  If people want to see more about our European adventures they should check out the blog “Of Revolt” at http://ofrevolt.com.  It’s very well written (not by me) by my wonderful fiance who is on this fantastic trip we’re taking.

Thanks for taking a break from songwriting and living the good life to chat with us, Dan.

Well, thank you so much for this interview, and for all of the folks who take the time to read it.  I truly appreciate each and every one of my fans and the amazing work that they do spreading my music around.

Disclosure: Mr. Coyle is a client of AlexanderG Public Relations.