Everyone knows how completely obsessed I am with music. I am the epitome of a fan girl, following my favorite bands on MySpace or their web-sites, grabbing their albums as soon as they are released, and going to concerts if they are even remotely close to my home.

As I am sure you are also aware, I love to support local and independent artists/bands more than anything. This is especially true for bands that choose to remain independent of big labels, to retain creative control over their material. Bands and artists who put their heart and soul into creating music that means something to them, and who create music because they love music, generally make the top of my list. These guys get my support, in any way I can give it.

Another great thing about following independent artists, which I hadn’t really considered until recently, is how accessible they can be. Some of the independent artists I listen to have released music which is as good or better than anything I’ve heard in mainstream, yet if I go to one of their concerts, they actually give a damn if you come to the merch table afterward to chat or get an autograph. Granted, I’m sure these bands would much rather not be able to hang out afterward, because of the dangers of being mobbed by 10,000 fans, but from a fan’s point of view, I like to be able to talk to them, snap a picture of them or with them, and to some extent, get to know the person behind the music. Recently, I’ve been making more attempts to at least leave a message on artists’ MySpace, letting them know how much I appreciate the music and the efforts they make. I’ve had a few responses, some of them really freaking awesome. I’m always a little surprised when a member of one of my favorites actually responds to a comment or message that I leave. I’ve had messages that simply said “thanks for the support!” to bands that offered me free tickets and to help pay for gas if I wanted to come to one of their shows. Now THAT is fan appreciation. What I hate, however, is when I go to a local show, and the band members of a LOCAL band are complete assholes. If I go to your merch table, and there is maybe me and one other person there, and I tell you that you ROCK and that I’m a fan, don’t mumble “uhh, thanks” and walk away, or worse, completely ignore me. At the very least, say “Thanks for coming out” and shake my hand. Without a big name label generating fans for you via marketing, if you are a dick to the people who are going to market you via word-of-mouth, then you are only hurting yourself.

I know that for some of these bands (all of them, hopefully) and artists, there will come a day when they are touring non-stop, and will not be able to respond to messages or be as connected with the fans as they are now.

I do have suggestions for bands, both big name or just starting out. We, your fans, LOVE you. we want to see you succeed, but we also want to know what’s going on with you and the creative process. That’s not to say I want to know what kind of toothpaste you use or any personal shit like that, but the occasional update, say, once a month at least, would be awesome. It doesn’t take a lot of time to post a quick update, especially with micro-blogging sites like Twitter available. I recently discovered a new artist by the name of Hana Pestle (she rocks, btw), who really puts this concept into action. Hana uses Tumblr, a micro-blogging platform, to post regular updates from the road. She posts pictures and little updates as she tours the US, allowing her fans to really see what being on tour might be like. Even without one-on-one interaction via the internet, updates like this really makes the artist seem more accessible, even if they never send a single personal message to a fan.

Lastly, I really applaud artists who encourage fans to take pictures and send them in to be included on a fan page. So many artists any more do not allow photography or cameras at concerts, period, so to have a band encourage that is kinda nice.

So to all the bands and artists who really make an effort to connect with their fans, I salute you.

♥