How To: Build a Mailing List for Musicians and Bands
Let’s face the facts: email has fallen out of fashion in recent years and, as a result, many bands and musicians are abandoning email marketing in favour of flyer drops, social media, and/or online promos. All of which could be a huge mistake.
It may not be how most people keep in touch with their friends anymore (although we love the idea of e-pen pals 🥰 ) but 99% of active email users – and, let’s face it, that’s most of us – check their inbox at least once a day.
Although we’d never recommend ditching TikTok, X, or YouTube in favour of email, here’s why building and maintaining an email list remains a must for musicians:
- It’s a free and easy way to keep your audience informed
- You own email addresses that join, unlike on social media platforms
- Email engagement rates are higher than those on social media
- You can track metrics like opens and click-through rates
Of course, building an email list from the ground up might feel a bit overwhelming. Below we’ll cover a few straightforward tips for collecting fans’ email addresses.
5 Tips for Growing Your Email List
- Don’t Forget to Ask!
If you want to see growth, you need to actively encourage people to join your mailing list. That could mean posting it on your socials, adding a banner to your website, or sharing where to sign up while you’re networking. However and wherever you encourage signups, be sure to highlight that it’s the best way to hear from you.
- Provide Incentives
Encourage signups by offering rewards to folks who are on the list, such as early access to ticket sales, previews of new releases, or exclusive merch giveaways. Make sure you steer clear of gimmicks, adding real value to those who join the crew. You could kick things off with an exclusive YouTube video for subscribers only.
- Simplify the Process
When creating signup forms, keep things as breezy as you can. Adding required fields for Address, Phone Number, Blood Type, etc. is not recommended! Make links clear and accessible, or use built-in tools like our Fan Hub to collect emails.
- Seek Collab Opportunities
Appearing as a guest on podcasts, radio stations, or on blogs and other media outlets puts you in front of new audiences, so plug that email list while you’re there. Look for relevant brands and similar artists to work with as you grow too, as there may be opportunities to shout each other out in future email blasts.
- Analysis and Authenticity
Use analytics – virtually all email providers offer them – to see what resonates with subscribers. Are they reading the whole thing? Which links are they clicking? You can use that information to figure out what to focus on in future, but remember to stay true to yourself rather than just posting what you think people want to see.
Email Marketing Tools for Musicians
Collecting email addresses on scraps of paper? Pfft, that’s so 2003. Fortunately, there are tons of tools out there that can make gathering contact info from your listeners so much easier. Here are a few of our favourites:
un:hurd Fan Hub: Shameless self-promotion incoming! Create a microsite to showcase your bio, links, and releases, plus collect emails and phone numbers.
Mailchimp: Known for its user-friendly interface, Mailchimp is a great choice for beginners. It offers customisable templates and analytics to track performance.
Feature.Fm: This platform allows you to easily collect fan data through Pre-save campaigns and competitions. un:hurd Pro members can get 3 months at 50% off.
Laylo: With landing pages, messaging, link tracking, and more, Laylo was created to help musicians drive sales and streams. un:hurd Pro members get 10% off.
Ready to connect with more fans?
Head back to the un:hurd app and start collecting email addresses today using the Fan Hub feature. It's free to Pro members, and you can check it out in your free trial.
Not an un:hurd user yet?
Join thousands of independent artists who are using un:hurd to streamline their music marketing and maximise their impact. Sign up today!
