Bands and artists regularly use Twitter as a way to connect directly with fans. In fact, seven of the 10 most-followed accounts on Twitter belong to musicians.
What’s unusual about brand new British indie act The Vamps (@TheVampsBand) is how they are using Twitter to connect with their fanbase - before they’ve even released a single.
The acoustic-driven indie pop band have become huge stars online with more than 16 million views on of their YouTube channel and more than 160,000 followers for their Twitter account @TheVampsBand.
Each of the individual band member’s accounts Connor Ball (@TheVampsCon), Tristan Evans (@TheVampsTristan), James McVey (@TheVampsJames) and Bradley Will Simpson (@TheVampsBrad) have more than 100,000 followers each.
As a thank you to their fans, the band agreed to record a special cover track for their debut EP, and let their Twitter followers pick the artist. The band picked six acts and created a hashtag for each. Fans were then invited to pick which band they wanted The Vamps to cover by tweeting with their chosen hashtag:
To vote for us to cover a song by Bruno Mars retweet & use this hashtag #TheVampsCoverBrunoMars pic.twitter.com/lvkqOSeJqF
— The Vamps ( @TheVampsband) July 12, 2013
To vote for us to cover a song by The Killers retweet & use this hashtag #TheVampsCoverTheKillers pic.twitter.com/Z2b7WfVUJo
— The Vamps ( @TheVampsband) July 12, 2013
To vote for us to cover a song by Busted retweet & use this hashtag #TheVampsCoverBusted pic.twitter.com/nXrMVpf0fu
— The Vamps ( @TheVampsband) July 12, 2013
To vote for us to cover a song by Blink 182 retweet & use this hashtag #TheVampsCoverBlink182 pic.twitter.com/weljZsotbZ
— The Vamps ( @TheVampsband) July 12, 2013
To vote for us to cover a song by Kings Of Leon retweet & use this hashtag #TheVampsCoverKingsOfLeon pic.twitter.com/6cHf7hSfrS
— The Vamps ( @TheVampsband) July 12, 2013
To vote for us to cover a song by My Chemical Romance retweet & use this hashtag #TheVampsCoverMyChemicalRomance pic.twitter.com/BB2QBYeLr3
— The Vamps ( @TheVampsband) July 12, 2013
The winning track will be announced today and included on the band’s first EP, which will be released later this summer.