How often should you email your fans?

Most promoters and artists should email their fans whenever they have genuine news, which for a typical list works out at roughly two to four emails a month, with short bursts around an on-sale, a release or a tour. Weekly promoters can send weekly, as long as each email is about something new. The right frequency is the one your fans keep opening and clicking, so watch unsubscribes and spam complaints rather than chasing a magic number.

There is no single correct answer because a weekly club night, a monthly gig promoter and an artist who tours twice a year all have very different amounts to say. This guide gives you sensible starting points, the signs that you have got it wrong, and how to send more often without wearing your list out.

Key takeaways

• As a rough guide, two to four emails a month suits most music lists, rising briefly around on-sales, releases and tours.
• Send because you have news, not because it is Tuesday. Frequency follows content.
• Rising unsubscribes per send and any spam complaints are the clearest signs you are sending too much.
• Emailing too rarely is also a problem: people forget who you are and mark you as spam.
• Segmenting and excluding people who have already bought lets you send more often without annoying anyone.

The short answer by type of sender

These are starting points, not rules. Adjust once you see how your own list reacts.

The pattern is the same for everyone: a steady baseline, then a short, deliberate burst when there is something to buy.

What actually decides the right frequency

How much real news you have. Every email should give the reader something: a new show, an on-sale, set times, a line-up addition, a release, a presale code. If you are struggling to fill an email, that is a sign to send fewer.

How engaged your list is. A list of people who signed up at your last three shows can handle more email than a list scraped together from an old competition. Fans who came recently expect to hear from you.

Where you are in the event cycle. Fans tolerate, and often welcome, more email in the fortnight before a show they are interested in. The same frequency in a quiet month feels like spam.

What else you are sending. If you also text or WhatsApp people, count the total contact, not just emails. Three emails and two texts in a week is five interruptions.

How frequency fits an event campaign

A single show typically creates five to seven email moments, but not every fan needs every one.

1. Announcement: goes to everyone relevant (usually segmented by location).
2. Presale reminder: to the presale sign-ups, a day before and when the presale opens.
3. General on-sale: to everyone relevant who has not bought.
4. Line-up addition or news: to people who have not bought, plus a lighter version for buyers.
5. Final week push: to non-buyers only.
6. Know before you go: to ticket holders only, with set times, entry rules and travel info.
7. Thank you or next show: to attendees after the event.

Notice that buyers drop out of the selling emails as soon as they purchase. That one exclusion removes a large share of the annoyance people feel. For a full schedule, see the event marketing timeline.

Signs you are emailing too much

Watch these numbers after every send:

• Unsubscribes per send are climbing. A steady trickle is normal. A jump after a particular email, or a steady rise over several weeks, means people are tired of hearing from you.
• Spam complaints appear. Gmail and Yahoo ask bulk senders to keep their spam complaint rate below 0.3%, and Google recommends aiming for under 0.1%. Going over can hurt delivery for every email you send afterwards.
• Clicks fall while list size stays the same. Fewer people acting on each email suggests they have stopped paying attention.
• Replies turn grumpy. If fans reply to say "too many emails", believe them.

Treat open rates with caution. Some mail apps, notably Apple Mail with Mail Privacy Protection, load emails automatically, which can make opens look higher than they really are. Clicks and ticket sales are more trustworthy measures. If you are seeing problems with delivery itself, read why your emails land in spam.

Signs you are emailing too little

Under-sending is the quieter mistake, and it causes real damage:

• People forget they signed up. When you finally email after six months, some will mark you as spam because they do not recognise you.
• Your list decays unnoticed. Email addresses go dead over time. If you rarely send, you do not find out until a big announcement bounces.
• You lose the habit. Fans who hear from you regularly start to look out for your emails. Fans who hear nothing start following other promoters.

As a rough guide, try not to leave more than five or six weeks between emails, even in a quiet period. A short "what we have coming up" note is enough to stay familiar.

How to send more often without annoying people

Segment. A fan in Cardiff does not need your Glasgow on-sale. Smaller, relevant sends let you email more often in total while each person receives less. Our guide to segmenting your fan list shows how.

Exclude buyers from selling emails. This is the single biggest improvement most promoters can make. In Backline, a smart list of "everyone in the city segment who has not bought for this event" does this automatically, so buyers stop getting chased.

Offer a lighter option. Let people choose "big announcements only" instead of unsubscribing completely. A short preference question at the bottom of your emails can save a lot of contacts.

Bundle small news. Three minor updates are better as one roundup than three separate emails.

Make each email earn its place. A clear subject line, one main message and one obvious button. If you would not open it yourself, do not send it.

What about texts and WhatsApp?

SMS and WhatsApp feel much more personal than email and usually cost money per message, so they need a much lower frequency. As a rough guide, keep texts to a handful of moments per event, such as presale opening, last tickets and day-of information, and only to people who chose that channel. If you are deciding which channel to use for which message, see email vs SMS vs WhatsApp for gigs.

A sample month for a promoter

Here is how a promoter with two shows a month might plan email for a list of local fans:

A fan who buys early for everything might receive only three or four emails that month, all of them useful. A fan who has not bought anything gets more selling messages, which is reasonable because they have not acted yet.

Testing your own frequency

If you have a reasonably large list, you can test rather than guess:

1. Split a segment randomly into two halves.
2. For one month, send half your usual plan and the other half a reduced version (for example, skip the mid-campaign reminder).
3. Compare ticket sales, clicks and unsubscribes per person, not per email.
4. Keep the version that sells more without a noticeable rise in unsubscribes or complaints.

Small lists will not give clear results from one test, so repeat it over a few campaigns before drawing conclusions.

Restarting after a long silence

If you have not emailed your list for many months, do not open with a hard sell to everyone.

• Send first to the people who engaged most recently.
• Remind people who you are and why they are hearing from you, for example "You signed up at our March show in Leeds".
• Make unsubscribing easy and obvious.
• Remove addresses that bounce straight away.
• Only then roll out to older contacts, in batches.

This protects your sender reputation and gives fans a fair chance to opt out. For the bigger picture on running email well, see email marketing for music promoters.

Frequently asked questions

How many emails a month is too many for fans?

There is no fixed limit, but as a rough guide more than one a week to your whole list, without clear news in each, tends to push unsubscribes up. The real test is your own data: if unsubscribes jump or spam complaints appear after you increase frequency, you have gone too far. Segmenting lets you send more often without each fan receiving more.

Is it OK to email fans every week?

Yes, if you have something new each week, such as a weekly club night, a residency or a venue's listings. Weekly email works when each one is useful and the content changes. It does not work when the same show is pushed to the same people every week.

What is a normal unsubscribe rate for event emails?

Unsubscribe rates vary widely by list and sender, so treat any single figure with caution. A better approach is to track your own average per send and watch for jumps above it. A sudden spike after one email tells you something about that email or that audience.

Should I email people who have already bought a ticket?

Yes, but with different messages. Stop sending them "buy now" emails as soon as they purchase, and instead send useful information such as set times, entry rules and travel tips. After the show, a thank-you and news of your next event is a good way to bring them back.

How often should a musician email their mailing list?

Most independent artists do well with one or two emails a month, plus a short burst around a release or tour. If you have little news, a monthly update with a behind-the-scenes story, upcoming dates or a new track keeps fans engaged. Avoid going silent for months, as people forget why they signed up.

Does emailing more often get more ticket sales?

Up to a point. Reminders close to an on-sale or a show often bring in sales from people who meant to buy and forgot. Beyond that point, extra emails mostly increase unsubscribes and complaints, which can hurt delivery for every future email.