What Data Should Musicians Collect?

The Internet has given today's musician the ability to collect mounds of data about her fans like never before, but the quality of that data is just as important as the quantity. Once again Jon Ostrow has hit the nail on the head with a great article called "What Data Should Musicians Be Concerned With" on the MicControl blog. Here are 5 data points that the article suggests you collect and why.

Location Data 
This is important so you know where to perform, and so you can better target your promotion.
  * Best way to collect: Make it a required field during mailing list registration.

Age
This allows you to choose the best venues to play. No use playing in a club if most of your audience can't get in.
  * Best way to collect: Once again, make it a field during mailing list registration, or check your blog, website and YouTube stats.

Social Media Use
To maximize your social promotion, you have to know how your fans are using social media.
  * Best way to collect: The article suggests following some related blogs and watching the comments, but another way is to design a survey and ask them.

Time Of Social Media Use
You have to know the best time of day to tweet or post to maximize your promotion.
  * Best way to collect: Hootsuite and Facebook analytics, but the article also suggests a new service (at least to me) called Timely that analyzes your tweets and suggests the best way. You can also try TweetWhen, but be aware that their suggestions differ.

Method Of Music Purchase
This is important because it not only tells you where your fans like to purchase music but how much they're willing to spend. This allows you to tailor your offerings to their spending habits.
  * Best way to collect: Once again, ask your fans with a survey from Polldaddy.com or SurveyMonkey.com.

Read Jon's fine article in its entirety for more great insights.

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