Social Media

By Nicole C

Social Media

According to Wikipedia marketing is ‘the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service’. As the music industry is a diverse global market which continues to expand into new areas, marketing effectively is greatly important for securing an audience and developing a fan base. Social media are ‘computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks’ (Wikipedia). These tools have become ever-present in today's society and are most important for networking, content sharing, online access to music and other forms of media. Social media has made it possible for artist and record companies to easily reach music consumers worldwide. Audiences naturally congregate, forming their own communities and sharing their experiences of bands and artists. As online streaming and download sites replace CD sales, analysing online consumer behaviour is increasingly important for labels as a way to identify how successful an artist or band really is and therefore social media is extremely valuable and influential in today's society.

YouTube YouTube is the world’s largest free

video sharing and streaming website. Users can upload, view and share an array of video content including music videos, news stories, film clips, tutorials, educational videos etc. Not only is YouTube a social networking site; it is now a giant marketing tool used by companies, groups and organisations worldwide. Video marketing is a new form of advertising which has been developed to increase audiences exposure to brands and artists’, and with viewers being able to subscribe to channels they can receive constant updates thus establishing a community of supporters.

As Melina is new and upcoming artist, YouTube is a great place to promote herself as a musician and develop a global fan base. Music videos, live performances and interviews can be uploaded and also shared on other sites to keep viewers and subscribers up-to-date.

Soundcloud ‘Founded in Berlin in 2007, SoundCloud

has since expanded to an extensive app that encompasses a streaming service, a distribution platform and an online community’ (MashableUK). Musicians - famous or not can up load, share and allow fans to download certain content. As a streaming service, users can continuously listen to music anywhere and on any device including Smartphone and Tablet. Soundcloud is a unique online service which provides its users with “stems” from songs and other audio which is signed to labels allowing users to remix them into tracks and share their work.

Melina can share original music and covers of her favourite songs on Soundcloud. By using the ‘tag’ tool she can also connect with others worldwide who follow certain ‘tags’ and artist, which will benefit the expansion of her personal audience.

Twitter Often described as a micro-

blog Twitter ‘is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets“ (Wikipedia). To use this site individuals must be registered to read and post tweets, whereas unregistered users can only read them. Users can use Twitter as a personal blog to share their opinions, comment on stories and upload links to other media forms. Twitter is an effective social networking site used for messaging, news reporting, content sharing and most of all online media marketing.

Our artist can ‘tweet’ her followers links to new music, things she’s into, articles/interviews as well as keep them up-to-date with upcoming performances. Twitter is a quick way to connect with an audience and is less time consuming.

Facebook

Facebook is a free social networking site which allows registered users to create personal (public or private) profiles, upload photos and videos, interact with friends and family via it’s messaging/wall post tool and become part of a group. Additionally, people can read, share and comment on things which are important to them or just catch there attention. Accessible in over 38 countries, Facebook reaches a wide audience and is favoured by a variety of record labels and companies as a means of marketing artists and brands etc.

Melina’s public Facebook page can act as a blog in which she can post about her life as a musician as well as interact with her fans.

Instagram Instagram ‘is an online mobile photo-

sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.’ (Wikipedia). This social networking app allows registered users to edit using various creative tools, and instantly share personal and public photos and videos from a Smartphone. Based around ‘following’ Instagram allows users and companies to ‘follow’ others and update their own followers.

Our artist can use this app to capture her adventures and journey as a singer/songwriter and share it with her followers.

Case Study: Chloe Howl Chloe Howl is a singer-

songwriter who is set to release her debut studio album in 2015. Howl’s use of social media is vast her music, videos and other content is available via her own website, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Songkick, Youtube and Instagram. These websites allow Chole Howl and her record company to market and promote her work worldwide. Through these outlets she can keep her fans up-to-date with live shows, new music, videos and interviews. As technology evolves, social media has become greatly important to all types of music artist, as it is a easy and effective way to gain an audience.

Social Media: Music - Marketing and Promotion

Positives Negatives 1. Artist and Musicians

can establish a worldwide fan base as social media has the potential of reaching a wide audience, allowing artist to go beyond their targeted demographic market.

2. It is a fast way of sharing new information and updating fans as social networking sites can be synchronised.

1. Marketing via social media is greatly time consuming as content must be created, edited, approved and published; comments must be responded to and sites and pages must be maintained.

2. Artist signed to label loose a certain amount of control over the content which is placed on these websites.