Control Industry

We partnered with Control Industry, a merchandise company for major artists, to launch and scale a Billy Joel fanpage on TikTok. Over several months, the account grew from zero presence to a 6.4M view channel with 11.8K followers and nearly 200K likes, turning a niche idea into a highly engaged community.

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Brand and challenge

Control Industry provides official merchandise for well known artists, including Billy Joel, Slipknot, Diana Ross, and The Black Eyed Peas. The Billy Joel TikTok fanpage was created as an experiment, the goal was to build an organic community that could later support official merch sales without feeling like a traditional brand account.

The page started from scratch with no followers. The core Billy Joel audience sits largely in the 45 to 65 age range, a demographic that does not naturally live on TikTok. The challenge was to reach this group plus younger music lovers, using native formats while staying true to the artist’s legacy and fans’ musical taste.

Strategy

The objectives were to develop and grow an organic Billy Joel fanbase, foster a sense of community around the artist, and engage a niche but passionate audience. Success was defined through video views, profile visits, followers, likes, comments, and shares as indicators of reach, depth, and future merch potential.

The strategy focused on deep audience and artist research followed by a tailored TikTok content plan. Services included strategy development, content creation, and full account management, with a clear line between community first storytelling and subtle merchandising hooks that could be activated later.

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Execution

The project began with research into Billy Joel’s catalog, iconic eras, and the stories fans consistently respond to. From there, a content strategy mixed nostalgia, performance moments, storytelling snippets, and fan centric edits designed to feel like they came from a true fan, not a corporate account.

We produced and posted a consistent stream of TikTok videos, organized via a content calendar and refined through iterative testing. Different hooks, formats, and concepts were trialed until a winning mix emerged. The account was actively moderated, responding to comments and encouraging conversation so fans felt seen and part of a living community rather than passive viewers.

Results

The Billy Joel fanpage grew into a sizable, highly engaged presence. The channel generated approximately 6.4M video views, with around 53K profile views, 202K likes, 7.5K comments, and 9.4K shares, signaling strong emotional connection and shareability. Over time, the account built an audience of about 11.8K followers who repeatedly engaged with new posts.

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These results show that a research driven, fan first content strategy can mobilize both core and new listeners on a platform that was not originally designed for this demographic. The engagement volume, comment activity, and share counts proved that the account became a genuine hub for Billy Joel fans, giving Control Industry a powerful owned channel to support current and future merchandise initiatives.

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