Social Music Media
How The Music Industry Uses Social Media
As many of you know, music is one of my main interests. One of my other interests is The music industry is an extremely competitive market. Artists and bands are always competing against each other for tour sales, music sales, music awards, etc,. Over time, because of the development of technology, this competition process for the music industry has grown and become easier to reach audiences that they want to.
Many music fans have social media accounts that they use to communicate with other fans or with their favorite singer or band members. Social media has enhanced the way that musicians and fans interact with each other. As a millennial, I have watched technology develop right in front of my eyes, when it comes to social media. I remember when Twitter first started and I made a Justin Bieber fan Twitter account. That was my way as preteen to interact with Justin Bieber and other fans of his. The more and more that technology developed and the more the Twitter base started to get larger and more social media networks were developed, the more that celebrities, and people in general, started to use them.
Following our favorite musicians on social media has become a huge part of life. They have become like influencers in our lives, not just by influencing the type of music that we listen to, but also influencing all aspects of our lives. If we see on social media that a celebrity is using a certain product, then we are more likely to want to try that product or become an avid user of that product.
Social media has effected the way that artists compete with each other. Now, musicians can advertise their music, albums, and tours on their social media outlets, websites, and the traditional way.
One singer who has always been super active on social media, until recently, is Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift used to be very active with her fans. She would always post what she was up to so that her fans could have a connection with her and and feel like they are apart of her life. Even when she stopped being as active and completely changed her strategy, she was still taking part in a major marketing strategy. When she deleted all of her photos from her Instagram account and stopped being seen with certain people, she knew that people would be interested in knowing why she was behaving that way. This was a huge marketing campaign for her latest album, Reputation. She wanted to get the point across to everyone that she was not the old Taylor Swift anymore. She shocked everyone with her major social media change but this was in efforts to get everyone hyped up for her new album. To learn more about this technique, check out the blog by Marketo.
The music industry not only uses social media for the advertising of their new music or to create a connection with their fans, but also when musicians want to start other companies or endorse another business. One example of this is Rihanna’s beauty line, Fenty Beauty. Rihanna used social media to gather information from fans and makeup users to find out what they wanted in a beauty line and what they didn’t like. She saw that people wanted a wider variety of foundations to match more skin colors. She learned from her fans and from social media, how to be more successful in this market. She uses social media to interact with her fans as a musician and as a business owner as well. (For more tips about marketing and using social media, read this blog by PR Daily to learn more tips that people can use from Rihanna).
Many musicians solely use social media as a better and simpler way to communicate with fans and to build a fanbase. For example, when One Direction first formed on the X factor in 2010, the boy band used social media to interact and build a fanbase. They started by asking their fans to ask questions on Twitter or YouTube for the band to answer in a video diary that they would post on YouTube. This was a great way to get the fans involved and it allowed people to get to know them and fall in love with them. After they took off and became more and more famous and toured, the boys in the band used technology like Twitcam to engage in live interaction with their fans. Now, of course, they are not together as a band so they now have their own fan bases. However, their time together as a band and interaction with fans made it more possible for them to be successful as individuals. (Read this Adage blog to learn more about how One Direction rose via social media).
Another thing that has taken off for all musicians is fan accounts. On Twitter, there are thousands of fan accounts that are dedicated to posting all things about that musician or celebrity that they are a fan of. This allowed for social networking between fans and the celebrity. This also contributed to the ability of building a fan base. When social media users all care about the same thing, they tend to stick together and this allows for a strong community and support system.
Social Media has made a huge impact on the music industry, from being a foundation for fan bases to being a place where musicians can advertise easily. If you like this blog, please share and like it. Who is your favorite musician? How are they making an impact on your life through social media? Leave a comment to let me know. See ya’ll next time!
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