Sandbox Guide: Online Community Management

A big thanks to the great folks at Levellr, RCA, Parlophone, Chosen Music, and experts Kat Rodgers and Alexia Radkiewicz for sharing their thoughts for the latest edition of the Music Ally Sandbox Guide. Really enjoyed this one, digging into the marketing possibilities surrounding Discord, community platforms, development and marketing. Online and available to read here…

When it comes to music marketing in 2023, you’ll struggle to avoid the terms ‘community’ and ‘superfans’ - two of the biggest buzzwords out there, and arguably, two of the most exciting areas for marketing growth in the industry. After years of social sites and DSPs building an almost impenetrable, algorithm-based promotional wall between fans and artists, message-based community platforms such as Discord and Telegram are now opening up opportunities for labels and artists to engage directly with their most loyal followers.

The potential that arrives with this shift is huge, allowing for authentic artist-to-fan interactions that could, for example, circumvent the need for expensive social media advertising campaigns, and create sustainable communication channels towards fans who are actively investing in their favourite artists. With Goldman Sachs stating in their 2023 report Music In The Air that “increased monetisation of superfans could represent nearly US$2bn of incremental revenue by 2027, and US$4bn by 2030”, now is the perfect time to explore the ways in which music marketers are approaching online fan communities, activating them, and importantly, keeping their attention.