You might not have come across a football team (soccer for our non UK visitors!) called Hashtag United however the premise behind them and their success is something which should intrigue every DIY musician.

The brainchild of Spencer Owen, Hashtag United is a team which mostly consists of Spencer and his friends.  They have little in the way of sporting prowess but their matches have between 500,000 and 1,000,000 views each on YouTube. How is this possible for players with limited sporting ability?  Spencer was convinced that people would watch the team if they could relate to the ‘normal’ people people on the pitch. The matches and behind the scenes’ footage are informal, jokey and lots of fun. The team’s recent tour of America was sponsored by Coca Cola and sponsorship deals with the club now run into six figures.

The secret to this enterprise is that Spencer and his team are ‘relatable’, and like lots of YouTube ‘stars’ they make a strong connection between themselves and their audience.  Spencer even starts each video addressing the viewer with a chirpy “Hello mate!”.

The success of Hashtag United demonstrates that as musicians we need to concentrate more on building stronger connections with our audience. As artists we often focus solely on our music and our craft without giving much thought to developing a relationship with the people who will actually consume it.

The quickest and easiest way we can connect more with our audience is to ‘talk’ to and interact more with them through video.  What other steps could you take to be more relatable to your audience?

Read more about the team here

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