How artists can find their niche
Should this be produced strategically?
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Let’s dive into today’s topic:
How artists can find their niche
Identify a core audience by asking about ideal fans, aspirational peers, cultural alignments, and community spaces.
Why it matters
An artist's tribe, community, or core audience becomes an attractive group that naturally draws others in. Most of the time, artists belong to such a group themselves, called a scene or niche.
By focusing on this core audience first, artists create a gravitational pull that can expand their reach organically without diluting their artistic vision.
Artists who clearly understand who they're creating for can make more intentional decisions about everything from production choices to visual aesthetics and marketing approaches.
How it works
To determine their tribe, artists can reflect on these revealing questions:
Who do I want to see in my audience? Who does the artist genuinely wish to see in the crowd when performing? What type of people would make the perfect audience?
What would be my dream support slot? Which artists would the artist dream of opening for? Whose audience would feel like a natural fit?
What brands does my audience use or wear? Which brands align with the artist's aesthetic and values? These visual and cultural identifiers often speak louder than musical genres.
What clubs does my audience attend, and where do I want to perform? Which venues, scenes, or cultural spaces does the artist feel drawn to? Where would their music feel most at home? What cultural identifiers do these clubs represent?
The answers should converge to form a clear picture of the artist's core audience - a group unified by shared values, tastes, and cultural identifiers.
Yes, but..
In all honesty, finding a niche shouldn't be strategic or manufactured. Communities thrive when the relationship is authentic and intrinsically motivated.
Ideally, artists are immersed in a particular scene or community before releasing music. The questions above might create an artificial niche.
Artists who force themselves into scenes they don't genuinely connect with rarely maintain credibility in the long term.
Take action now
Artists could begin by addressing the questions above to clarify and articulate the connections that already exist on some level. They should then distill their niche into a single, focused sentence that captures the essence of their core audience.
Your thoughts
Further reading
Growth phases help artists build sustainable careers (The Fanbase Builder)
Why artists should stop trying to please everyone (The Fanbase Builder)
Can superfan and community strategies coexist? (The Fanbase Builder)
Building The Perfect Artist Brand in 2025 (The Fanbase Builder)
New fans come from the actions of current fans (The Fanbase Builder)
Why artists should focus on what they can control (The Fanbase Builder)