If you’ve ever felt lost trying to market your music, you’re not alone. Bree Noble, host of the Profitable Musician Show, recently shared a powerful solo episode breaking down her “Fan Attraction Formula” and showing why standard marketing methods so often miss the mark for artists. In this recap, we’ll dive into her insights, practical advice, and golden quotes—so you can start building true connections with fans.
Listen to the podcast here
Watch the episode here
Why Traditional Marketing Isn’t a Fit for Musicians
The world is filled with advice for selling products—solve a problem, present your benefits, highlight the features. But musicians aren’t selling toothpaste, software, or courses. Bree Noble puts it plainly: “They say that your product should solve a problem that your customer is having… That works fine if you’re a voice teacher, piano teacher, or teaching songwriting, but not if you are a musician that is making music.”
Music doesn’t solve problems in a direct, “A leads to B” way. Instead, it offers emotional, spiritual, and intangible benefits. Bree notes, “Benefits and features of music are hard to articulate. They are ethereal, they’re spiritual, they’re emotional, they’re intangible.”
“As a musician,” she points out, “your competition isn’t really your competition.” Fans don’t just choose one artist; they can love Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift and Sara Bareilles and a hundred more at the same time. And the traditional sales funnel? It hardly applies. “It’s not a linear relationship like it is with a sales funnel, right? It’s more like, I call it a trail of breadcrumbs that are leading up a winding staircase.”
The Fan Attraction Formula: Moving Beyond Traditional Marketing
If marketing “features and benefits” is a dead end, what works? Bree’s answer: build your own personal brand and create an ecosystem that magnetically attracts fans.
1. Define Your Unique Serving Proposition
Start by asking what makes you different. Bree suggests: “You’ve got to define who you are, what makes you unique. I call this your unique serving proposition.” This means identifying your mission, musical style, key messages—even your quirks. Don’t be shy; “turn that up to 11,” but first, know what those things are. “It really helps to get feedback from other people,” she adds.
2. Uncover Your Universal Connection Points
Your differences attract attention, but your similarities foster connection. Bree calls these universal connection points (UCPs): “What makes you relatable to other people. What can you mirror back to your fans? They want to see a bit of themselves in you.” For musicians, these range from identities (mom, worship leader, educator) to values (authenticity, family, empowerment) and beliefs—yes, even the bold ones.
3. Find Your Perfect-Fit Fans
You don’t need to chase everyone. Bree tells the story of a client who finally realized her fan base was “baby boomers” who loved Woodstock. By leaning into that identity, “she knew exactly where she’d find them… It just made her life so much easier.”
4. Create Magnetic Content in Your Own Voice
Forget pushy pitches. Bree’s approach is all about “pulling people in, in a way that’s in your own voice.” Whether you love video, writing, or live shows—start where you feel comfortable. “The content that you should make is the content that you will make,” she reminds us.
5. Build an Ecosystem and Keep Fans Engaged
Once fans enter your world, give them reasons to stay. “We want to give them so many options once they’re inside… the key is getting them inside.” This could be through social media, email lists, live shows, or Spotify playlists.
Ready to Attract Your Fans?
As Bree says, “Music is just really not a very easy front end discovery item, let’s be honest. Unless it’s a live show… So we need to find other ways to get people to raise their hand.” When you build connections on identity and values, you create magnetic appeal—fans won’t just come for your music, they’ll stay for your story.
Links Mentioned In This Episode
– Fan Attraction Boot Camp
– Profitable Musician Show
Ready to dig deeper? Check out Bree Noble’s Fan Attraction Boot Camp or listen to more episodes of the Profitable Musician Show for actionable advice on building your artistic ecosystem.
