Engagement through participation: A study of online and offline fan behavior towards Indian Askin in 2019

Abstract

The scope of this study is the discussion of the ways in which pop music artists in The Netherlands engage with their audiences both online and offline in recent years. The artists receive attention from a large online audience. Quite a number of them, however, encounter difficulties in finding and maintaining an offline audience that engages with their music. In scholarly literature, a common way to assess the differences in audiences is to measure the results of data analytics with respect to the audiences following an artist on social media and streaming services, and compare them with the results of the audiences showing up at club shows of a specific artist. This thesis shows that there is reason to doubt whether this assessment is appropriate. The thesis addresses a single case study, the Amsterdam based artists Indian Askin. The analysis of their online and offline activities offers insights into the ways in which digital engagement, that is measured via social media and streaming, is related to ‘real-life’ engagements of fans, measured mainly by ticket sales. The thesis concludes with suggestions to Indian Askin on how to encourage fans to interact and participate with the band as well as other members of the audience, with the goal of creating a larger, more loyal, dedicated and sustainable fan community.