What Shinedown Can Teach Media Professionals About Audience Connection

I took Stephanie Eads and Dylan Barrett to see Shinedown perform live in Albany, NY on Saturday night. It was the seventh time Stephanie and I have seen them live. Dylan has seen them perform four times. As usual, they sounded great and the entire production was spectacular. 

But this column isn’t about the concert. It’s about the way the band values and connects with its audience and what media professionals can learn from it.

Allow me to explain why this should matter if you manage a brand or host a show.

Before the First Note

Before the show, we had the privilege of going backstage. Thank you to Alissa Pollack and Lou Rizzo for the assist. Brent Smith, Shinedown’s vocalist was under an hour from taking the stage when he came by to catch up with a group of 20. Many artists are unreachable that close to showtime. A few treat the pre-show meet up like a burden.

Brent treated it like an opportunity.

He spent time with everyone in the room. Not a quick handshake or ten-second photo assembly. He stopped, talked, asked questions, remembered names and prior experiences, and made everyone in the room feel important.

That’s not a PR move. That’s a philosophy.

What Happened During the Show

From start to finish, Shinedown played hit after hit. They know what their fans like and don’t waste time on tunes that signal a bathroom break or social media distraction. They build their set list thinking about what matters most to their audience.

Secondly, Brent stops multiple times during the show to address the crowd directly. Not with a generic “you’re the best fans in the world” throwaway. With genuine, specific gratitude. He reminds everyone that the band works for the fans and they are in their house. He pointed out that people could spend their Saturday night doing something else and avoiding a rainstorm but instead they chose to spend it with Shinedown. The support is truly appreciated by the entire band.

You can hear and feel the sincerity in every word shared on stage. They are also open throughout the show, sharing personal stories that connect to the songs they’re about to play. On Saturday night, they addressed their bass player Eric being away for mental health reasons, the loss of Brad Arnold from 3 Doors Down, and their interest in helping in the fight against cancer. All of it made the audience feel closer to them.

Shinedown also include their fans in the show. For example, the night prior, a fan had sent the band 66 direct messages asking them to play a specific song. In media circles, a person who calls or messages sixty-six times is deemed crazy or a nuisance. Shinedown treated it differently.

Guitarist Zach Meyers talked about it, showed the texts on the screen, and a camera then zoomed in on the fan. After Brent joked that the fan was needy, he walked over to him and sang the next song with him. 

That fan’s passion was celebrated and became a cool social moment. Every fan seeing that clip saw Shinedown valuing their fans in real-time. One simple gesture made it easy for fans to want to buy a ticket, buy an album, and support the band. The best part, Zach and Brent didn’t do anything but be themselves.

Apply This to Your Business

I’ve spent two decades working on shows and building brands, and the past decade covering and consulting the industry. I’ve seen talented people create amazing content and a lot of success, but I’ve also seen many devalue their audience or take them for granted.

Too many personalities, programmers, managers, and executives view the audience as data. They look at ratings points, download numbers, and revenue figures. Some don’t even go to events, shake hands, respond to emails or welcome listeners to their studio. They reduce human beings to a column on a spreadsheet.

That’s a dangerous place to operate from.

More troubling is the attitude some talent develop toward audience interaction. Texts are treated as interruptions. Callers are labeled stupid and unworthy of air time. Tweets are ignored or mocked. The mindset becomes: these people are in the way of the show.

Stop right there.

Those people ARE the show. The texts, calls, and social media messages aren’t distractions. They’re proof that real people care enough about what you do to reach out. That is the entire point of what you’re doing and why it matters. Watch this clip of Daryle “Guru” Johnson calling a listener at 95.7 The Game. This is what it’s all about.

That doesn’t mean the audience should program the station or host the show. Shinedown didn’t invite every single person on stage to play the instruments and decide the set list, but they take every opportunity to make sure people feel valued, heard and included. That responsibility is understood and welcomed by the band. Media members should be doing the same.

If an audience feels ignored, unimportant or worse, disrespected, they’ll tune you out. Without them everything you do professionally suffers. I’ve shared this with clients many times, nobody wants to go to an awesome party at a house on the beach and find a do-not-disturb sign on the front door when they arrive. If that happens, you’ll have a much bigger problem than figuring out which guest to book or which sound to use.

The Same Guy in Every Room

I first met Brent Smith at CRS in Nashville earlier this year. He wasn’t performing that night for thousands of fans. We were in a hotel room with a small group of people. He was the exact same person then as he was an hour before going on stage.

The warmth is real. The engagement is genuine. Ask him about radio and he lights up. His consistency in connecting with people isn’t accidental. It’s character. 

Now ask yourself this. How many talent are completely different people under the pressure of a show day? How many executives lose themselves in spreadsheets and forget that real people are giving them their time and attention?

The audience doesn’t owe you anything. They choose you. Every single day. They decide whether to listen, subscribe, follow, or leave. You can take them for granted and assume they’ll always be there or you can do things like JJ Watt just did and go the extra mile.

Shinedown understands this better than most ever will. They have built their career on it. In every city they play these responsibilities await. Each time they show up ready to answer the call. They consider it a privilege not a hassle.

You don’t build a loyal, passionate audience by treating your fans as an afterthought. You do it by creating great content, delivering it consistently, and including your fans in the experience.

That lesson doesn’t cost a dime to apply. It only costs your attention and your ego. If Shinedown can do it on a global stage, you can do it in a local market.

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Jason Barrett

Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.