The music industry has felt threatened for a while now — it’s easier than ever to get a hold of music legally, and illegally.
New acts signing to major, as well as indie labels, gladly tell execs there that they’ll make music, but refuse to get into social networking — mainly Facebook and Twitter. Many acts will quickly sign up for a MySpace profile, as the platform is targeted at them — with extended profile customization and the ability to add tracks — and many stop there.
But let’s get real here, MySpace isn’t exactly ideal for networking. At least, not by itself. If you’re an act refusing to participate in social networking — think again — keeping fans at arm’s length is no longer an option.
Sure, some musicians want to work on their music exclusively, but social networking doesn’t have to take up their time, there just seems to be this bad stereotype to it. Artists have a responsibility to engage with their audience, and touring is not the only way to accomplish that.
Cameo Carlson, executive vice president at Universal Motown Republic Group, was “shocked to find out how many twentysomethings aren’t interested in social networking,” and she’s spot on.
Only 9% of users across social networking sites are aged 18 to 24. The age group with the highest usage? The 35 to 44 age group, with 25%. The 17 and under age group seems to do much better, at 15%, but unless your act is part of the age group and/or the music appeals to the age group, it’s pointless.
So What Do I Do?
As an act, does it mean you have to turn into a salesman? Not at all. Simply engage your fans. It’s amazing supplemental promotion to what your label is already doing! How you do it is up to you, and what’s right for your act, but here are a few ideas that might kickstart your thinking:
- Update your Twitter/Facebook with pictures. Behind the scenes peeks at photoshoots, backstage, everyday touring shots, whatever. Make your audience feel like they’re there with you!
- Contests. People love free stuff! Think of ways you can get your audience passionate about that upcoming show. Reggae musician Matisyahu likes to get in touch with local fans through Twitter when he’s touring in the area. He even gives out free tickets to his shows randomly through shout-outs.
- Link to your new music, or progress on a track. It’s a great way to get the word out, and fans feel special when they get that sneak peek.
- Be real. You don’t have to be a power-user, but from a fan’s point of view, it’s nice to read some real thoughts from musicians. Though it may seem unimportant, fans love to be in the loop and feel like they really know their favorite musician beyond the music.
Excuses, Excuses.
“Social networking is overrated.”
What, are you stuck in 2004? Get with the program. This is the worst excuse in the book, and I shouldn’t have to devote any time to justifying it with statistics.
“I thought the very reason I signed on with a record label was to let them do all the marketing, social engagements, etc.”
In some cases, I can see certain acts hiring someone else to manage their social media presence, if really necessary. But labels usually manage many musicians, and expecting them to manage your social media presence, as well as other artists’, can get impersonal. If you do need to hire someone to do the social media dirty work, then be selective about who it is.
“The Beatles didn’t tweet.”
Yeah, and we’re not buying vinyls en masse anymore. Times change. Society changes. The ways in which we consume information, news and music is drastically different now, and in many ways, the bar is raised. Times are tough, and the music industry is extremely competitive, so you need to set yourself apart from the rest.
“Serious musicians like me don’t want/have time to do this social networking crap.”
First, get off your high horse, and open your eyes. There are musicians on major labels with huge followings — and talent — that maintain their networks personally. Ingrid Michaelson, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Sara Bareilles, Dave Matthews, Bloc Party, and even Willie Nelson personally run their Twitter accounts.
It’s Not Hard, Really.
If a new band really wants to avoid social marketing and let their music speak for itself, then they can upload their amazing album to iTunes, refuse to promote it, and see what happens. Most new artists can’t afford the price of a label promoting them out the wazoo, and social media allows for a very successful DIY approach.
Social media is here for the long-term, and it’s already the standard in the entertainment business. After all, those fans made you, they support you, go to your concerts, listen to your music — the least you can do is reach out. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you get in return for something so simple.
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It is absolutely essential for new artists to find and engage new fans online. It is the single best way to get new people to come to see your live show. At the end of the day if you simply can't or won't participate in social networking, recruit a friend or super fan to do it on your behalf.
Hi Kristin thanks for the post. A friend has started to use Facebook for music promotion and has increased her following 10 times. Although she is still small time, I always felt that if a new artists approached me, I would have a listen and then follow them if I liked them. I think that Social Media for personal promotion is much more successful then companies trying to promote themselves – and it is free. If I can actually have a chat with the artist it makes it just that little bit more special :-)
This makes me think of a post some time ago on Hypebot. It's never been about the music (alone). Every generation of artists has to do other things: making movies, doing interviews, etc. Well, in this era you must use Twitter and Facebook and maybe you can skip some interviews with small magazines. I quoted the post on my blog. You can find the reference to the Hypebot post over there: http://blog.mmmotion.com/2009/09/15/im-sorry-bu…
Great post!
Facebook is not doing much for me unfortunately, I expected more. Maybe im not driving it well?
Twitter works fine for me and is a great networking tool. fast and to the point.
I love being active on all the social/online places, although its a tremendous amount of work next to writing recording and publishing music.
kudos!
So many bands that I talk to neglect to update their newsletters. It makes it impossible for them to grow their fanbase beyond a small circle of friends.
When I asked someone working at a major label how they filter through the thousands of junk demos they receive, he told me that they look at how many people they have on their mailing list.
That's also how to get into bigger venues and command higher cover charges. There are plenty of bands out there with great talent and abysmal business sense.
I’ve been connected to the local music scene in St. Louis..particularly the Hip Hop Scene for the past 5 years working with an independent artist. I absolutely understand the value of social media. But what I have found to be the norm amongst newer less experienced artists is that they simply try to run the numbers up on the friends and followers on sites like FB and twitter..and run them up with anyone who will join. Sending out requests and begging people to join your page seems to be the place everyone starts. What happens is that eventually they hit the number the wanted (5000 for example..on FB) but at the end of the day they can only get 10 of those people to come to their shows. And those 10 people were their friends before FB and twitter. lol. They fail to get the email address of one of those 5000 people so that they can communicate directly with them. And they are left at the mercy of a FB newsfeed hoping that the right person sees their post at any random time of the day, to click the link and listen to their song or watch their video. It’s sad, really. I still find that the most meaningful way to build fans and benefit from connecting with them on social media is through shows (if the show is good) where you can directly collect email addresses, and go from there. My motto for social media is quality, not quantity. Most new artists could delete 75% of their FB friends or followers and it would not impact the support of their music or their attendance at shows. And finally, I think of social media as the appetizer. The main course is your own artist website. Artists websites are underrated these days it seems…in the shadow of social media. Anyway, good article.
(www.niteowlhiphop.com)