What can I do to make my artist acceptable around the world?

Is there any one strategy that can help an artist make an in-road in places like US, UK Canada, or Australia? What can I do to make my artist acceptable and successful around the world like other global super stars?

Reader from Africa

Firstly, I would say that there definitely is not one strategy to gaining fans in another country. The most economical way, however, is through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, etc. By constantly and consistently posting quality content (along with your music!!) on these channels, you will gain fans, no matter the location. 

Let me focus in on Instagram for a moment. With the use of #hashtags, you can attract people to your page from anywhere in the world. Post your press photos, behind the scenes photos, photos of your album cover, visually appealing photos of any kind, and a ton of 15 second clips of both produced and raw on-the-floor footage of your music (whether you’re in front of the camera singing, or the music is simply in the background. Then, add 10-15 hashtags that are relevant to your music. You will gain traffic from this alone. You can take it to the next level by clicking on those hashtags, and seeing who else is posting similar things to you. Like, comment, and follow other people. Start conversations. As long as you’re posting quality content, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can build your following on Instagram alone.

In terms of being “acceptable” around the world, if you want to be heard by the masses, and not just by the African culture within the UK, US, Canada, etc., than you have to make your music appealing to the masses. Combine your genre with popular genre’s from those countries. 

Additionally, another less economical way would be to apply to play music conferences and festivals around the world. If you don’t get booked, perhaps you can afford to attend anyway to meet people. A lot of the local “folk” festivals book International bands, no matter the genre. Example: Calgary Folk Festival. 

Here is a list of a few good “industry” conferences/festivals.

I hope this helps! 

Comment below if you have other tips about getting your music out around the world!

Ask Jamie is my brand new blog series that features actual questions submitted by someone like you! Each question and answer will be posted on the blog. It’s an amazing way to deliver even more value to you and the entire SBM audience! Simply submit your question here. To ensure your question is featured, please avoid being deeply personal.