How to Build a Loyal and Supportive Fan Base (Interview with Manager Vince Iwinski of Umphrey's McGee)

Written by Lukas Camenzind

What’s more important than how many fans you have?

Of course, as an artist you always want more fans…

And who knows, you might blow up and gain a million followers over night, but honestly: What are the chances?

What matters more to the average artist is how loyal and supportive your fans are.

That is: How valuable is each individual fan?

According to Topspin data, the average value of a fan on your email list is $3.78, however…

…some bands’ fans are worth much more:

The artist with the highest fan value in the study above was Umphrey’s McGee. Their average fan is worth $32.96 - more than 8x the average!

What this means: Umphrey’s McGee (UM) make more money from their direct-to-fan efforts than the average artist - just from a fraction of their fans!

Want to know how they do it?

To find out, I talked to their long-time manager, Vincent Iwinski  - and here’s what I learned:

1. Lots Of Free Content

Whether it’s on their YouTube channel or via the UM podcast, Umphrey’s is giving away a lot of content for free.

And they’ve been doing so from day one: Before the internet became the main way to reach fans, UM was giving away CDs to their Street Team - with confidence that the quality of their music will convince listeners to come to their shows.

The fans appreciated it: They valued the effort the band put into documenting and creating all of the footage - and repaid by coming to shows.

(Live Shows are UM’s main revenue stream. Just recently they sold out 2 nights at the 2’600 seat Beacon Theatre in NYC)

“There is no difference from what we did early to what we’re doing now. We continue to put out a lot of free content. We’re happy to share new music, because we know it will get people out to our shows.”

— Vince Iwinski

2. Breaking Down The Barrier Between Artist And Fan

The UM fan base grew from a small group of core fans - friends and people close to the band in the early days. And Umphrey’s strategically used that network - mostly University of Notre Dame alumni - when they started touring nationally.

“We started out with a very small, loyal fan base and grew from that core.”

— Vince Iwinski

The lesson: If you want people to spread the word, give them the opportunity to be part of your community and movement. (Tweet this!)

This means breaking down the barrier between artist and fan.

Umphrey’s does so with lots of behind the scenes footage, the UM Summer School, their Headphones & Snowcones program, or unconventional offers like post-concert bowling with the band.

Which brings us to…

3. Offer High-Quality, High-Value Products

Here’s the final - and maybe most important - element of UM’s strategy:

They focus on their die-hard fans, and give those fans what they want.

How? By creating high-value, high quality offers that the hardcore fans are willing to invest in. In Vince’s own words:

“We’re trying to give people something that’s worth their money. We’re not trying to sell air. We’re giving them a very tangible experience, that many bands might not be willing to do.”

— Vince Iwinski

And that’s exactly what they’re doing: From their amazing live show, to the Headphones & Snowcones program mentioned above (where fans get to listen to the monitor mix with a pair high fidelity headphones), UMLive (a subscription service where fans have access to the entire live catalog of the band), to a variety of other unique VIP and travel package offerings (part of their UM VIP program) - the band makes a big effort to give their fans the best, most unique and memorable fan experience.

The Big Takeaway:

How valuable your fans are has everything to do with how much you are willing to invest in them: Give them lots of free content, make them part of your community, and offer high value products.

So what do you think about the Umphrey’s McGee strategy? Leave a comment below…

Author Bio

Hi, I’m Lukas and I have two passions in life: music and marketing. If you’re a talented musician, I want to help you reach and engage more fans - so make sure to check out my step-by-step guide: How to Find Your Audience (w/ a FREE Template)