From buying merch to learning the lyrics, here are a few ways students can support local artists.
By Fiona Curran
As a college student, it can be difficult to support your favorite artists, especially financially. Smaller, local musicians need the support of their community to continue growing. Here are some ways the band Emily and the Space Butterflies and singer/songwriter Colin Bracewell say college students can help them in their musical journeys.
Attend gigs
Emily and the Space Butterflies formed in February and performed at their first gig in July. They played their first show in drummer Kylie Johnson’s backyard to their friends and families. Since then, Emily and the Space Butterflies have performed at other house shows and a gig at The Whole in October.
Bassist Henry Rieffer said just coming to performances is a great way to show your support.
Cover fees for house shows are important for musicians as compensation and as audience feedback to help them improve their future performances. Emily and the Space Butterflies are saving up to purchase better equipment, said Emily Malmgren, the singer and songwriter of the group.
“Some people always go to events that happen at this one house venue, regardless of who’s playing,” said Bracewell about house shows in campus’s surrounding neighborhoods. “If they like what they hear, they’ll come back, hopefully.”
Live performances are also a way for the band to experiment, meaning every performance is unique. On Halloween, the band members of Emily and the Space Butterflies dressed as different colored butterflies and performed some of their favorite songs with “spooky organ sounds” to acknowledge the holiday.
“We’re always changing it, and we’ll probably change a lot more still when we record, which is the cool part about live music,” said guitarist and trombonist Jacques Tousignant.
Spread the word
Even if you can’t attend a show, telling others about an artist is a great way to support them.
“A lot of people say they’re coming and they just bring a couple of friends,” Malmgren said.
With social media, sharing is easy and a great way to promote what your favorite local artist is doing.
“I’ve found out about a lot of bands just by someone posting them on their story,” Johnson said. “And then I think, ‘Oh, I’ll go to their Instagram,’ and then, ‘Oh, their music is cool.’”
Bracewell used social media to make his followers aware of his music career. He had a song get pretty big on TikTok last year, but he’s seen other small artists gain a huge following from the app. “I’ve definitely seen people where everyone knows them and are great humans. People just tend to really support them,” Bracewell said. “I think that’s a pretty good strategy. Just to be a good decent human being — that absolutely goes a long way.”
UnderCurrentMPLS is a great resource for finding shows in the Twin Cities. According to its Instagram biography, UnderCurrent has been promoting shows since 2011. Bracewell said it’s a great way to support the local scene.
Buy their merchandise
Emily and the Space Butterflies create and sell their own merchandise at their shows for their fans to support them. By wearing merchandise of new musicians, you can start a conversation about the artist. Currently, Emily and the Space Butterflies sell stickers and bottle cap pins. Johnson drew inspiration for the butterfly design from her tattoo artist and designed the stickers. Artists typically sell their merchandise at their performance venues.
Bracewell said merch sales are a great way to support your favorite local artist. He’s played shows where he has been paid anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000, but he has also played at some fundraiser events where his only profit comes from the merchandise. “Regardless of the type of show, whether it’s a fundraiser or not, it always seems appropriate to sell it,” Bracewell said.
Listen to their songs
The music industry is always evolving and streaming has exploded over the years. Emily and the Space Butterflies plan to release music on streaming platforms within the next few months.
When stage venues, such as The Garage or Green Room, book talent, they look for demos from the artist. “If you have recorded music out there on Spotify or Apple Music and you can show that you have a decent following on there, you can send them a link to all your stuff,” Tousignant said. “You’ll generally book those bigger venues.”
Music on streaming services is also easily shareable. “You can send it to your friend and say, ‘Hey, check out this new band,’ and more people know about us,” said guitarist Olin Edwards.
Bracewell said the biggest part of streaming is allowing the audience to take home a piece of the show. The more people know his name, the wider his audience is. “It’s essentially another social media handle,” Bracewell said.
Bracewell makes about $100 from streaming services a year. Bracewell says streaming isn’t a way to make money but rather a way to create an initial connection with potential listeners. “It’s a nice way to keep people engaged,” he said.
Bracewell argues that radio play is more important than streaming numbers when it comes to booking larger venues. From September 2022 through this February, one of his songs was played consistently on The Current (KCMP), and his name was known by a general audience, not just his fans. “I got people who I’d never met before coming to my shows,” he said. More well-known bands also reached out to him and asked if he would play with them, growing his audience even more.
“I’d be listening to The Current casually and then my song would play, and I’d just start nervously laughing,” Bracewell said. “It’s just a feeling like, ‘I don’t need anything else. If this is it, I’ll be satisfied.’ It’s a really cool feeling.”
If you want your favorite local artist’s song played on the radio, call the radio station to leave a request.
Learn the lyrics
Musicians also want to connect with their fans, and a great way to show that you support their art is by learning the lyrics to their songs. Once artists release their songs on streaming services, fans can rack up streams for them and learn the words in the process.
Emily and the Space Butterflies already have some devoted fans who have been to every show and are starting to sing along.
“I saw some people singing the words and I thought, ‘No way,’” Malmgren said. “This is the coolest thing ever.”
“One of the best feelings is when you write a song and perform it and then people say or yell or sing the lyrics back at you,” Bracewell said. “That’s a crazy feeling, which is probably one of the main reasons why I do music.”