Influencer

As social media continues to grow as part of daily life, influencers have become a marketing outlet for every industry, including music. The more reach an individual has due to their professional reputation, social influence, and number of followers, the more valuable they are to businesses. Influencers host sponsored content on their social media accounts in the forms of product placement, endorsements, sponsored posts, reviews, and more. Based on the scope of their influence and the success of their sponsored content, influencers are compensated through payment contracts or by receiving free products or services. The most successful influencers are those with the largest audiences and a proven track record of their social media content resulting in sales.

An influencer’s speciality can be just about anything, as they have an established following across social media — so the first steps in a career as an influencer are to find a speciality and then start building an audience. Influencers are watched by their followers for their unique personality, expertise, and the content they regularly create. They are often successful in another area before they become marketable. Popular musicians are some of the top influencers, due to their massive audiences. A musician hoping to add influencing as part of their career will need to master various social media platforms, share their art regularly, network with others, and continually improve their artistic and entrepreneurial skills.