How to network effectively using Facebook as an artist

Within the music industry, the general use of Facebook is often blurred between business and personal. After all, with a lot of people sharing memes and music amongst colleagues within their genre/company, it is certainly a platform that has allowed us to become more connected. Yet when it comes to networking, LinkedIn often takes a lot of credit. In this article, we’re going to discuss how you can use Facebook to network and progress your career within the music industry.

Separate friends lists

Even with the blurred lines of business and social lives on Facebook (and other platforms), some people still feel a need for separation. For example, there’s a probable chance that you don’t want the head of your favorite record label seeing embarrassing photos of you from a vacation, or your mom sharing baby photos on your timeline for all of your producer friends to see. Therefore, we’re first going to explain how you can separate your business and personal friends on your account.

1. Go to your news feed, and click “create new friends list” on the left side (desktop). This will allow you to begin the separation process on your friends list.
2. Type “music industry” – or something that identifies someone as separate from your personal life. It should be clearly identifiable so you know what friends to put into what list.
3. Go through your friends and add your music industry friends into this new list.

As you can see from the image above, it is possible to create a list and add some people from your professional life into it. Despite being great for separation, this tactic is great for utilizing the Facebook algorithm. For example, if you post about needing a vocalist for a track, you can filter the post so that only your music industry colleagues see it – therefore increasing engagement due it being the target audience. Or alternatively, you can post some vacation photos – and specifically choose for your Facebook music industry friends not to see it.

Groups

Also, Facebook groups are a great way of networking on the platform. With thousands of people sharing a common interest, it’s a great way of building new relationships for your music career. In order to find new groups to join, simply type some keywords around your genre, or job within the music industry. For example, by typing in artist manager, “Artist Managers Connect” is one of the top groups that appears.

Alternatively, you can do a few internet searches for popular groups within a certain niche (such as artist management or production), or simply ask some friends for recommendations of what groups are popular. Once added to a few groups, it’s a good idea to engage and create discussions within them so that you’re a valued member of the community. As well as helping people out, this method will make people more inclined to engage with your content whenever you post.

Finally, using the search bar on the Facebook platform is a great way of establishing new contacts with a specific record label or company. Let’s create a scenario in which you want to get signed to Sony. Simply type “People who work at Sony” into the search bar, and it’ll bring up a long list of everyone who works there. Once a few people accept your friend request, begin a relationship with them so that you can have your music eventually heard by them.

As you can see from the screenshot, there’s a variety of artists and label managers that you have the potential to send a friend request to. Although not everyone will accept, it’s worthwhile creating meaningful relationships at companies/brands which you want to work with in order to enhance your music career.