Remember when your social following meant everything?
Now the most interesting moves I'm seeing aren't about follower counts at all.
Take what I saw 2 days ago - a band we work with announced their monthly livestream hangout on social.
The kind of post you'd expect: "Bring snacks, we're going live tonight 🍫"
But they didn't stream live on Instagram or TikTok.
They used their reach to move fans into their own community — powered by Single: the direct-to-fan app for Shopify.
And once they got there?
• Fans opted in
• Dropped their emails
• Some even paid for more access
Let that sink in...
Social platforms share usernames and views, but they won't tell you:
• Who's coming to your next show
• Which city is screaming the loudest
• What fans are willing to spend on you
Now, I get it — the scale of social is tempting.
But the divide between what artists give to platforms vs. what they get back?
It's too wide to ignore.
Glad to see this shift happening.
Even more glad to be building the tools that help make it possible.