How Do I Build a Community Outside of Online Platforms?
Got a good question from an musician yesterday: “We’re focusing on building community outside of [online platform]. Who else is doing the same? What’s actually working?”
My answer in 2026: Get as many people to join a text list or email list as possible.
Kit.com (https://kit.com/) is free for email lists with up to 10k subscribers, I use use Laylo (https://laylo.com/) for my band’s text list but you could also just setup a Google Form and track things in a spreadsheet (that’s how I’m running our new street team). Speaking of street teams, people love feeling like they are a part of something. You probably have some friends or fans who would love to help you hang up flyers or posters in exchange for a tshirt or a guest list spot for a show.
Try to think of ways to incentivize people to sign up for the lists. Maybe a free sticker or a song download or 10% off merch or something like that. Print a QR code on a piece of paper that links to the sign up page and keep it on your merch table to make it easy for people to join. Those contacts are more valuable & reliable than social media followers in the long run (but of course also stay active on those platforms if you can).
The important thing is that you can directly contact your audience members that are in a specific location when you have a show coming up there, or all of them at once if you have a general announcement to make (new music, merch, video, etc).
Make sure to use BandsInTown and SongKick and add info about your live shows there.
You should also run your own website - when someone searches your name, you want that to show up.
Did I miss anything? Let me know if you have any tips you’d add or send me your questions: Get in Touch
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