Imogen Heap

This article was originally written in August 2009. Why am I re-posting it? The music industry has gone through intense turmoil over the past two years with traditional business models being ripped to shreds. I won’t go on but for many it’s been a real ugly time and if you are a label or an artist that comes out on top then you deserved to be congratulated.

This post highlights one artist, Imogen Heap, who has taken social media to a new level, using it to her advantage, captivating listeners and growing a huge base of followers.

Even if you don’t work in the music industry, there is something to gain from understanding how Ms. Heap has created a following. Not just touting her music in exchange for money, but by being at the frontline of promoting herself as a real person and engaging her tribe of fans using an array of social media tools.

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This week a great article on how the UK artist Imogen Heap (you may recognize her as the other half of the late group Frou Frou) connects with her fans, has been circulating throughout the online music world at the industry level, social media level and at the artist & fan level.



The article has gathered some attention but I don’t think enough attention. Perhaps Ms. Heap isn’t well enough known through the music world to garner the attention she deserves. However, regardless of how popular she is musically, Imogen Heap has created a growing and fiercely loyal fan following, not only because of the intimate, almost obsessive, creativity she adds to her music, but to the ways she has been personally reaching out and connecting with her fans way before social media came into the limelight.

Why am I devoting an entire post to her and the article in question? Well, I have been working in the music industry for close to eight years now and have worked through the successes of traditional artist marketing, CD distribution and the recent exciting changes that are changing the way we listen to, market and distribute music. There is so much information and commentary being written, commented on, blogged and Twittered about the music industry and where it’s going, who is failing, where the opportunities are for labels and artists and what the revenue models will be for the future. It’s actually exhausting, but exciting, to keep up with everything that is going on. I have mulled over writing potential blog postings on “How to get your music heard,” and “Top 10 things an artist can do to promote their music,” but there is so much information out there already I would just be regurgitating what has already been written (and much of it hasn’t totally been proven to be sustainable).

I’m not going to try to recreate history, so if there is one artist, one example, one working model that pushes the boundaries on how artists should connect with their fans, then Imogen Heap is up there at the top. If you don’t like her music then that’s fine but that’s not the point. Read the article here and spend some time watching her videos and following her online. You’ll see the point I am trying to make.

Artists know their music better than anyone, even their listeners. They know their comfort levels and their boundaries with creativity. They experience what it takes first hand to make a new record, get out there in the marketplace to the masses and to be heard in this new music industry where everyone is shouting at once. Artists want to socialize with their fans and create a connection with new followers. Artists are bombarded with calls for “all music should be free” and “you can make money from touring.” Of course it’s tough and requires a lot of work but today there are more opportunities for artists to grow and generate an audience than ever before.

Imogen Heap has been at the forefront of her own marketing for nearly a decade with her own website serving up a “social media” connection with her fans since she and the group Frou Frou, her former collaboration with Guy Sigsworth, disbanded in 2005 (actually Heaps current website has barely changed from when it first launched) She once ran an online fan competition where she invited the lucky winner to her house and cooked them dinner right there in Heaps own kitchen. The competition was an absolute scramble and the rest is self promotion history.

Heap has 735,000 followers on Twitter, has garnered the creative skills of her fan base and involved them in the creation of her new album, has a video journal on YouTube and makes every one of her fans feel like she could be their best friend, auntie or big sister. And they just love her for it.