Bluesky for musicians and bands
Release days, tour dates, clips and the people who turn up. Bluesky gives a musician a feed their followers actually see; the Planner keeps it fed while you are on the road.
Why musicians are on Bluesky
Because the feed is in order and every follower sees the post. A release announcement goes to the people who chose to follow you, not to a fraction chosen by a ranking. The music communities have feeds of their own, by genre and by scene, and starter packs that follow a whole scene in one tap. Nobody is paying to reach fans here, so a small act and a big one post on the same terms.
Setting up
- The act's name as the handle, or your own domain: @thebandname.com is a verified handle in itself.
- A bio that names the genre, the city and the next date.
- A pinned post with the latest release and where to hear it.
- The feeds for your genre and scene, and their starter packs. Ask into them, and make one for the acts you play with; a pack of a scene gets shared around the scene. The starter packs guide covers how.
What to post
The release, the road and the room. A release day is a campaign, not one post: the announcement a week out, the pre-save link, the artwork the day before, the song on the day, a clip of the chorus the day after, a thank-you at the weekend. The Planner groups those as a campaign and reports on them as one thing.
Tour dates are a thread: one post per city with the venue, the date and the ticket link, found by its first post, pinned until the run is over. A short video of the soundcheck, a verse from the merch table, thirty seconds of the crowd on the last chorus: the Planner takes video on Duo and Studio, and a clip posted at your measured hour reaches the people who were not in the room.
Liner notes are a thread too. "Track three was written in a car park in Leeds" is the kind of post fans keep. Write it as one long post; text over 300 characters becomes a thread, split where you put a line of three dashes, with the hashtags moved to the first post where search finds the thread.
Streaming links go on the link page. Every account gets one on updrift.link, free: one page with the Bandcamp, the streaming services, the tickets and the merch, and a click count per link so you know whether people came for the record or the tickets.
When to post
Fans are not online when the label says. Each of your posts' first day is counted against the hour it went out, on your own clock, so you can see whether the after-work hour or the late one is yours. That figure is measured from your account, not borrowed from someone else's. Add a post to the queue on Duo or Studio and it takes the next hour that works for your account; a tour week posts itself while you are in the van. The best time to post guide explains the measurement.
Hashtags and feeds
One or two on the genre and the scene, on the first post: the genre tag the feeds read, and the city for a date. Updrift's hashtag table shows which of yours beat your usual, and the composer suggests tags busy in your topic right now. The hashtags guide covers how feeds pick them up.
Replies
Someone who replies to the tour thread asking about a city you have not announced is a ticket sale waiting. The Inbox keeps replies, mentions and quotes in one place, oldest unanswered first; on a paid plan you answer them there, from the phone, between soundcheck and doors. A reply from someone whose profile says they may be under 18 is shown with no reply button.
Tracking free
For one account on the Free plan: followers by the hour, so you can watch the release day land; each post's first day; which post brought the most followers and who reposted it; the top line of What works; the link page with clicks per link; and a recap every morning. Nothing is posted or liked on your behalf on Free. Paid plans can also switch on Assist, which likes, reposts and follows in your topics at a paced, capped rate inside the hours you choose. It is off until you turn it on. The growth guide is the longer read.
What a paid plan adds
- Duo, £7 a month: the Planner for two accounts (the act and you), video, threads split properly, a release as a campaign with a report, 60 posts waiting per account, and the Inbox answered in place.
- Studio: five accounts for a label or a collective, a tour loaded from a CSV, and a manager who drafts while you approve.
- Every paid plan is 7 days free with a card; Duo is £7 a month for two accounts and the Planner, Studio £12 for five and a team. All the plans.
See your own figures, free.
Followers by the hour, the posts that landed, your best hours and how your hashtags do. One account, no card, for good.
The Planner, the Inbox and the full What works report come with a paid plan, 7 days free. See the plans.