Hard rock band Halestorm won a Grammy Award in 2013 and is about to release its fourth album in nine years on Atlantic Records. Lead singer Lzzy Hale is one of the most popular and likeable frontwomen (or men) on social media, where she is pretty much ever-present on Twitter and Instagram. But does popularity pay?

I caught up with Lzzy and guitarist Joe Hottinger (who, incidentally, are two of the nicest people you could wish to meet) on a recent media trip to London to promote their new record. In this special episode of the Digital Download podcast, I chat to them about the band’s very personal use of social media, the bond they have with fans, how their fans inspire their music, and ultimately how social media helps them to sell records and concert tickets. We also talk about dealing with trolls and even death threats, and about how to keep pushing yourself to achieve bigger and better things. There’s a lot that marketers can learn about relationship building in this episode from the way Halestorm goes about things.

Here’s what is discussed in this episode:

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