Getting Started With Backstaged

Step-by-step guide to create, launch, and grow a successful paid community on Backstaged.

11-minute read

Introduction: What is Backstaged?

Backstaged is a platform that allows artists to earn recurring revenue from their fans through a subscription-based membership model. Fans can subscribe to your community for exclusive content such as unreleased songs, demos, early access to new music, and other unique content and experiences, in return for their support.

Whether you’re a solo artist or a band, a singer or a producer, or any other type of musician, Backstaged provides a way to build a sustainable income while deepening your connection with your audience.

Creating a Backstaged community is incredibly easy and takes only a few minutes.

Step 1: Create an account

First things first, create a community and click the confirmation link in your email to confirm your account. To set your prices and manage your community settings, click on your profile icon in the top right hand corner of the screen once you are logged in and then click “Settings”.

If you’re having trouble signing up or creating a community, please email support@backstaged.io and we will get you sorted out quickly.

Step 2: Upload content

You probably have a treasure trove of unreleased songs, demos, voice memos, and other gems that haven’t seen the light of day. Your Backstaged community is the perfect opportunity to share this content you’ve already made but haven’t had the right platform to share or monetize it on.

The members in your Backstaged community want to know the real you—not just the polished image you show to the public. Unedited selfie videos, rough demos with unedited vocals, and similar unpolished content may not be suited for other platforms, but this type of content is exactly what your community members want and expect.

Here are a few content ideas to get you started:

: Your fans always love to hear these rough cuts and early versions of your songs, as they offer a unique behind-the-scenes look into your music and creative process that can't be found anywhere else.

: Tease your fans with short exclusive previews of your new upcoming tracks or work-in-progress songs.

: Take your fans on a virtual tour of your studio and showcase your creative workspace, equipment, instruments, and the environment where your music comes to life.

: Break down how you made a specific song, share early versions of it, and explain the creative process and inspiration behind the song and how you came up with the idea.

: Record a vlog and take your fans through a day in your life. Even if you think it's boring, your fans are eager to learn what your life is like. Talk about your hobbies, favorite books, movies, inspirations, or some of your other passions and interests.

: Give a glimpse into your creative process by sharing raw footage of you and your team working on new songs, experimenting with different sounds, and refining your music.

For even more content ideas, posting schedule suggestions and more, check out our more in-depth Content Guide.

Step 3: Pricing

Once you have an idea of the content and perks offered in your community, you can configure the pricing.

Most artists usually charge between $8 and $10 per month and offer a discount for annual subscriptions, typically pricing annual plans between $80 and $100. There is no limit to how much you can charge—just be sure your subscription price reflects the value of the perks you offer.

Step 4: Launch your community

Once you have prepared some initial content and determined your pricing, you are ready to launch your community.

We strongly recommend creating a short launch video where you introduce your new community and tease what you’ll get access to inside.

Videos perform and convert much better than a plain text post, so consider taking the extra time to record an announcement video—it will be worth it. Keep the video under a minute long.

The announcement video should:

Highlight the benefits and rewards members will get access to.
Give a sneak peek of the exclusive content already available inside.
Offer a taste of what to expect in the future.

Notify your email list

If you have an email list, send an announcement about your new community to your email subscribers. These people are some of your most loyal supporters and are a lot more likely to result in sales than your more casual fans.

Below is a an email announcement template you can customize with your own perks and use:

: Subject: Introducing [YOUR COMMUNITY NAME]
To my beloved supporters,
I am extremely excited to launch [YOUR COMMUNITY NAME]!
[YOUR COMMUNITY NAME] is a space where you and I can come together to chat with each other and share new music, behind-the-scenes of recording sessions, vlogs, tour stories, and much more.
Starting today, all members of [YOUR COMMUNITY NAME] will get access to:
UNRELEASED SONGS: This includes rare demos, early access to new songs before they release, and exclusive songs that will never be available to the public. Right now members can access [NUMBER OF SONGS] unreleased songs and demos, with many more to come.
BACKSTAGE & EARLY ACCESS: [YOUR COMMUNITY NAME] members get early access to venues and backstage access for certain shows.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS: Never-before-seen footage from the studio, touring vlogs, and more behind-the-scenes content. Currently you can watch [DESCRIBE THE VIDEOS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE], and I'll regularly upload new vlogs, recording sessions, song breakdowns, tutorials, and more.
COMMUNITY AND CHAT: Chat with me and the other members. In addition to all of the exclusive content, perks, and events, the main purpose of [YOUR COMMUNITY NAME] is to continue to build our community and connect with each other.
Your support means the world to me, and I couldn't do this without you. I can't wait to see you inside!

Join now at backstaged.io/[YOUR COMMUNITY URL]

Make an announcement post across all of your platforms, and make sure to include a link to your community in your announcement to make it as easy as possible for your fans to join.

Spread the word on as many platforms as possible—TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube, SoundCloud, your email list, and your own website.

Here are some announcement message examples you can customize and use:

: I'm super excited to finally unveil [YOUR COMMUNITY NAME], my new exclusive community where I'll chat with you guys, share unreleased songs, demos, early access to new music, tour vlogs, behind-the-scenes videos, and a bunch of other exciting things.
Find out more at backstaged.io/[YOUR COMMUNITY URL]
See you inside! ✌️

4. Post-launch

The launch itself and the first 90 days are typically the most challenging and time-consuming, but after that, it gets a lot easier.

Don’t assume all your fans will join on day one. Some may be hesitant to join at first and will watch how consistently you provide new content to and interact with your community before deciding to join. That’s why the first few months are so important for setting up a strong foundation. As fans see what they’re consistently missing out on, the fear of missing out kicks in, and you’ll steadily see more fans signing up.

Your Backstaged community is a place for your most loyal and dedicated fans—typically around 2%–5% of your social following.

Once your fans are in, it usually doesn’t take much to satisfy them since they want and expect a raw, authentic look behind the scenes, so spending just 1-2 hours per month creating unpolished content for and interacting with your community is often more than enough to keep your fans happy.

Questions?

If you have any questions about our platform, need assistance with your community, or require any other support or advice, we’re always ready to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out via email at support@backstaged.io, and we’ll respond as quickly as possible!