Glossary
Open Rate
Open rate is the percentage of email subscribers who opened a specific email campaign — a key metric for measuring how engaged your fan list is and whether your subject lines are effective.
Definition
Open rate is calculated by dividing the number of unique opens by the number of emails successfully delivered (total sent minus bounces), then multiplying by 100. If you send to 1,000 fans and 250 open the email, your open rate is 25%.
Open rate benchmarks vary by industry and list quality. For music and entertainment, average open rates typically fall between 20-30%. Artist email lists that were built through genuine fan capture and maintained with consistent, relevant content often outperform these benchmarks significantly.
Note: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), introduced in 2021, artificially inflates open rates for Apple Mail users by pre-loading email content. Most sophisticated email marketers now focus on click rate (what fans actually do after opening) as a more reliable engagement metric.
Why it matters
Open rate is the first gate in your email marketing funnel. If fans are not opening your emails, none of your other campaign content matters. A declining open rate signals list fatigue, poor subject lines, or deliverability problems — each of which requires a different response.
How Lynkify uses this
Lynkify Fan CRM exports to Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Kit, and Brevo — all of which provide open rate analytics for your fan email campaigns. The quality of your Lynkify-captured fan list directly affects your email open rates.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good open rate for an artist email list?
- For artist fan lists built with double opt-in and maintained consistently, 30-50% open rates are achievable and common. Generic marketing email averages 20-25%. If your rates are below 15%, review your subject lines, sending frequency, and list hygiene.