There’s an effective networking practice that’s happening more with independent rock bands than with independent hip hop artists. This practice can be called “gig swapping”. It works like this: Artist A is a hot artist in his own town. So rather than getting another local artist to open up for him when he performs, he invites Artist B, from a nearby city, to open for him. Artist B is unknown in the region, thereby exposing him to a brand new audience. This favor is then returned to Artist A, sending him to Artist B’s city with the opportunity to connect with a different audience. This is a great way to build and expand your fanbase. A few things to note:

• Connecting with an artist in the same geographical region makes travel less costly. So start by networking with an artist in a nearby city.
• You can find artists by searching Twitter, Myspace, Reverbnation and this blog to find other indie hip hop artists. Just put in a city or state in the search field of this blog.
• Make sure that the artists you’re connecting too has some kind of following in their home town or this won’t be beneficial to you.

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