Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.Is the music business, traditionally an arbiter of cool, out of touch with U.S. consumers? It’s a tough question to ask — and a tough time to ask it. But if you compare the results of the presidential election with the politics of artists and executives, it’s hard not to.
A significant number of Trump supporters are right-wing racists — certainly enough to make one worry. But it’s hard to make the case that Trump supporters are extremists if they account for more than half the vote. By definition, they’re mainstream. Worryingly, the Democrats don’t seem to know how to talk to them in a way that addresses their concerns. Calling them deplorables didn’t work, and making the case that Trump would be a disaster for democracy didn’t, either.
The challenge Trump presents to American democracy is far more important than selling music, of course. And I suspect I will get a few emails about how crazy it is to suggest that anyone market music to people who think immigrants are eating cats. But reaching different kinds of people with different kinds of art is what the music business does.
It’s also what politics is supposed to do. Both the music business and politics need to do better at reaching large, diverse audiences. That often means connecting with existing fans, but it has to also mean reaching out to new ones. Often, people simply won’t buy what they’re being sold, whether it’s a new album or a new candidate.
More and more, politics seems stuck in a loop, in which ideas are marketed to, and cheered, by those who have already decided on them. In music, that’s known as a superfan strategy, and it’s very important. But building one requires reaching new people to turn into fans, or supporters, in the first place.