Voyno: Is Social Media Killing Your Band?

(# mashsmday #smday)

In the few short years since Social Media has invaded our lives many artists have been steamrolled into picking up the technology, but few have been trained in how to use SM.  Not that there is a huge difference between how an individual uses Twitter vs the way a band uses Twitter, but there is a difference.

Band SM means you must know how to interact on 2 levels. You must have an idea of what is appropriate for your social group (your fans) and what media (twitter, fbook, YouTube) will work for you. Blasting away on Twitter about anything and everything may work for you IF you're a singer songwriter whose already revealed much in your music.

But some (read: many) artists benefit from mystery. Bowie would not have become Bowie if he video blogged his entire career. He had a mystery that intrigued the world. Taking away the mystery may have revealed things that would turn off fans, that would hurt his career.

Of course this is all hypothesis but in today's world of RSS everything there is such a thing as overexposure (Lindsay Lohan anyone). Early on in the NewRockstarPhilosophy book we ask you to make sure you know yourself as an artists. When you have a solid idea of the artist that you are, you can choose the type of SM that works for you. You can keep your fans engaged and still leave them wanting more. So spend some time and figure out what kind of Social being your band is, figure out what SM you are comfortable with, and figure out what part of your artistry/personality you will reveal to your fan base. That way you will be using SM to add to your band rather than simply adding to the noise of your band.

--Voyno, author of NewRockstarPhilosophy