Think about the last good opportunity that came your way as a musician. A support slot, a session gig, a collaboration, maybe a spot on a playlist.
Chances are it didn’t come from a cold email or an application form. It came from someone who knew you, liked your music, and mentioned your name at the right moment.
That’s the heart of a recent article on the ReverbNation blog by Kevin Breuner, 5 Ways to Expand Your Music Network. Breuner’s point is simple: most doors in music open through people.
With that being said, I’ll be walking through his five tips, add my own thoughts on putting them into practice, and look at why this is really important, even more so for independent artists heading into the next few years.
Why Your Network Matters More Than Ever
Breuner makes the case that great music alone isn’t enough to build a career. Another artist recommends you for a show. A producer puts you in touch with a manager. Someone you chatted with at a workshop remembers your songs when a project needs exactly your sound.
None of that happens unless people know who you are.
Here’s where I think this is heading. More music is being released every single day than any listener could ever hear, and AI-generated tracks are adding to that flood. When everyone can put out music, the thing that stands out is trust.
A booker who already knows you’re reliable, a fellow artist who’s seen you play, a producer who enjoyed working with you last time. Those human connections are becoming a bigger advantage, not a smaller one. Algorithms can get your song in front of people, but they can’t vouch for you.
Networking Is Just Being Part of the Community
A lot of musicians cringe at the word “networking.” It conjures up images of business cards, forced small talk, and people scanning the room for someone more important to talk to.
Breuner’s take is refreshing: networking really just means becoming part of the music community around you.
Start with other artists. Go to their gigs, share their releases, ask what they’re working on, and look for chances to collaborate. Then get to know the people you meet along the way, such as promoters, engineers, producers, photographers, and venue staff.
You never know, the sound engineer at your local venue might be running sound at a festival next year.
The key idea is that good professional relationships grow out of shared interests and seeing each other again and again, not from a slick elevator pitch. If you’re an introvert, that’s good news. You don’t need to work the room. You just need to keep showing up and be genuinely interested in the people you meet.
The 5 Habits
1. Go for a Few Real Conversations, Not a Stack of Contacts
Breuner suggests that a handful of genuine conversations at a show, conference, or workshop beats collecting dozens of names you’ll never follow up with.
I’d go further and make it a rule.
Before your next event, set yourself a goal of two good conversations. Not ten. Two. Ask people about their music, what they’re working on, what’s exciting them lately. When you’re not trying to meet everyone, you actually listen, and people remember that.
2. Collaborate With Artists at Your Level
It’s tempting to aim for the biggest names you can reach, but Breuner points out that working with artists at a similar stage can open doors for everyone involved. Shared gigs, co-written songs, remixes, and joint content all put you in front of each other’s audiences.
Some easy ways to start:
- Split bills. Team up with another act for a shared show and cross-promote it to both fan bases.
- Co-writes. Even remotely, a co-write gives you a real reason to connect and something to release together.
- Remix swaps. Remix each other’s tracks and release both versions.
- Shared content. A joint livestream, a cover of each other’s song, or a short video series.
The artists coming up alongside you now are the ones who’ll be booking festivals, running labels, and producing records in five or ten years.
3. Support People Before You Ask for Anything
This one sounds obvious, but it’s where a lot of musicians go wrong. Breuner’s advice is to share people’s work, turn up to their shows, and take a real interest in what they’re building before you ever ask for a favour.
It doesn’t have to take much time. Try a small weekly habit: share one release from another artist, leave one thoughtful comment on a fellow musician’s post, and put one local gig in your calendar each month.
Over a year, that adds up to a lot of goodwill. And when you do eventually ask for something, you’re asking as a friend, not a stranger.
4. Follow Up While It’s Fresh
You met someone great at a gig. You swapped Instagram handles. Then a month passes, and the moment’s gone.
Breuner recommends following up quickly with a short message that mentions where you met and something specific you talked about. That detail is what makes it feel personal rather than generic. Something like this works:
“Hey Sam, great chatting with you at the Wheatsheaf on Friday. I loved hearing about the EP you’re recording in that old church hall. Keen to hear how it turns out. Let me know when it’s out and I’ll share it around.”
Short, specific, and no ask attached. Send it within a day or two while you’re still fresh in their mind.
5. Stay in Touch When You Don’t Need Anything
This is the habit that separates real relationships from transactional ones. Breuner notes that connections feel far more genuine when your messages aren’t always tied to a request.
The practical challenge is just remembering to do it but a simple system helps.
Keep a basic list of your music contacts with a note about each person (what they do, what they’re working on, where you met). Every few weeks, scan the list and reach out to a couple of people for no reason other than to say hi, congratulate them on a release, or pass along something they’d enjoy. It takes ten minutes, and it keeps your network warm.
Look Beyond Your Local Scene
Your local scene is the natural starting point, but Breuner encourages artists to reach further. Conferences, workshops, online music communities, and songwriter groups can connect you with people you’d never meet otherwise.
He also mentions platforms like ReverbNation Opportunities, where industry professionals post calls for artists for things like festival slots and sync placements.
His own caveat is worth repeating: applying for an opportunity isn’t the same as building a relationship. It can put your music in front of new people, and sometimes that leads somewhere, but it’s no substitute for the habits above.
Looking ahead, this is one of the most encouraging shifts for independent musicians. Online and hybrid communities mean you don’t have to live in a major city to build a national or even international network.
If you’re in a regional area, a songwriting group that meets on video calls or an active online community in your genre can connect you with collaborators, mentors, and industry contacts who would have been out of reach a decade ago.
Be Someone People Want to Work With Again
Breuner closes with what might be the most important point of all: become the kind of person people want to work with again.
Be prepared. Reply to messages promptly. Show up when you said you would. Share credit generously, support other artists, and make introductions when you can.
I think of reputation as something that compounds. Every gig where you’re on time, every session where you come prepared, every introduction you make for someone else adds to it. Over years, that reputation starts doing the networking for you. People recommend you in rooms you’re not even in.
My Final Thoughts
Your network won’t replace great music. Nothing will. But as Breuner puts it, it can help your music travel further, and it means that when the right opportunity comes along, you’ll already have people in your corner who know who you are.
So here’s a challenge: pick one of these five habits and put it into practice this week.
Send that follow-up message you’ve been putting off. Go to a friend’s gig. Share another artist’s new release. Small actions, done consistently, are what build a network that lasts.
You can read Kevin Breuner’s original article on the ReverbNation blog here: 5 Ways to Expand Your Music Network.
What’s the best opportunity that’s come your way through someone you know? Let me know, I’d love to hear about it.