D.I.Y.

5 Social Media Trends Artists Need To Understand

This guest post is by Jonathan Ostrow (@miccontrol); he is the co-founder of MicControl, a music blogging network based on a social networking platform.

image from www.sportsagentblog.com For musicians, proper marketing and networking using social media can be tough. The possibilities are seemingly endless and as such, musicians are likely to spread themselves too thin. But not all forms of social media will give you the big pay-off. In fact, some methods are a complete waste of time for musicians looking to grow their fanbase, sell more albums, tracks and tickets, and who are ultimately achieve enough success to sustain a viable career within the industry.

It is very important for musicians not to get caught up in the semantics of every new thing, yet is just as crucial to follow and understand the current trends of social media so that their efforts are not in the wrong place. Why is it important to follow the trends? Simply put, the bigger the trend, the more likely it will be that you see quicker and more significant advancements within.

The following are 5 current trends in social media that all musicians NEED to know about. Not every trend will apply to every artist, but not understanding and assessing if they are right for you is a wasted opportunity:

1) Fan-Funding Campaigns:

Finding the funding for an upcoming project can be an extremely difficult process, as more than ever before, labels are only looking to invest in artists and bands with proven high-volume sales records. Tom Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records, has stated that the 10,000 units (albums) sold mark is called the 'obscurity line' – upon this achievement, you are no longer seen as an obscure artist within the industry, and it is not until this point that labels will take an interest in you.

This new trend in social media is one that absolutely every musician should take a look into. Fan-funding (or crowdfunding) is the simple concept of empowering the fans to raise money for you- to FUND your project. Typically this is done through an incentive system, in which the artist will set a monetary goal, and has a set amount of time to reach said goal. There are then different levels of rewards that vary based on the amount a fan contributes towards the project.

A fan-funding campaign is an excellent way for emerging musicians to create a grassroots marketing campaign around their next passion project. But be forewarned, this takes both significant amounts of time and effort in preparation and execution. Most fan funding platforms, such as Kickstarter, Pledge Music and Rockethub, require that the entire goal be hit before the artist sees any of the money.

2) Metrics:

The internet has made it easier than ever for artists to make effective, informed decisions about who, when and where to target their audience. But a bunch of analytics/ insights start-up companies have set out to make this process even easier and effective, by giving artists the ability to obtain actionable data about their music and their fans.

Each start up offers a slightly different variation, but the goal is to supply artists with analytical data based on fanbase growth, fan engagement and/ or online music streams across multiple platforms. Many of the services can even track the geolocation of the plays and/or fans helping artists understand where their fanbase is the strongest. Tip: This is HUGE for when you are preparing your first tour. Some of the most popular music analytical services are:

Band Metrics
Next Big Sound
GigsWiz
Music Metric
RockDex

3) Social Currency:

Social currency is the evolved idea of giving music away for free. The myth that giving away music for free would garner new fans has been (somewhat) busted, as more often than not, the music will be given away, yet the new 'fans' will never return. The exchange was off-balance.

With social currency, musicians create an even-exchange by 'charging' for their music through an exchange of a track or an album for a tangible return that will increase their reputation and reach, rather than their bank account. The most ideal choice of social currency is to exchange music for an email address (and location if possible -this will come into play next), as it gives artists a direct connection to their fans. Bandcamp does an excellent job of facilitating this exchange for artists.

Other forms of social currency that have recently become popular are tweeting for a download, and a similar idea of a Facebook wall post for a download. Both of these options have the pitfalls of being less beneficial for the artist in a long term sense, and are unfortunately seen by many as just a new form of spam. A few popular tweet-for-a-download services are Tweet For A Track and Pay With A Tweet.

4) Geolocation Marketing:

In the past year, the use of geolocation has become one of the most important advancements in social media. Through services such as Four Square, Gowalla and more recently, Facebook Places, users can 'check in', leaving an update focused on their current location rather than their current activities. While most geolocation based social networks include some form of gaming component, rewarding long-term use and excessive exploration with unlock-able badges and the like, it would be easy to overlook the benefits that these services offer to musicians.

Two of the most popular mailing list services, Fan Bridge and Mail Chimp, have both included a geolocation feature called Geo-Targeting, which allows artists to send out location specific announcements/ updates. In other words, if you have a show in NYC next week, you can send out an announcement of the show or special offer to those on your mailing list who are located within and around the NYC area.

Geolocation marketing also gives artists new opportunities for fan engagement. The idea that an artist or even the fans can now 'check in' when and where they arrived at a specific location creates new possibilities for the artist to engage with the fanbase through competitions (i.e. first 10 people to check in at a specific location gets a free album), scavenger hunts for free tickets, and even unannounced concerts.

5) Streaming Video:

The Youtube craze has been sweeping the emerging music community for quite some time now, but streaming video, through services such as UStream and LiveStream, is a trend that is just starting to explode. There are numerous ways that artists can use real-time streaming to offer additional value for fans, such as streaming live performances for fans who cannot attend, stream jam sessions or intimate acoustic performances from the comfort of their own home, or even engage directly with fans through a real-time question and answer session or even a fan request performance.

Share on:

8 Comments

  1. Thank you guys for the opportunity to guest post here on Hypebot! I encourage anyone and everyone to speak up about these trends – whether you agree or disagree or think there are more important trends out there. Speak your voice! It can only help to give artists the info the need.
    Leave some feedback here or contact me on twitter (@miccontrol)

  2. Great guest post, Jon.
    You hit on something that I’ve been noticing quite a bit in my daily life at the beginning of the post. It really seems that most artists don’t have a clue where to begin. Sort of like trying to boil the ocean, or eat an entire pie… the analogies could go on, but the point is really that there’s so much to do an so many places they can use, they don’t really know where to start.
    I absolutely think that geo-location can be used to help artists connect with their fans, promote their music, and provide a really cool experience for all involved. A lot of brands are jumping on the bandwagon, and we also have startups like superglued that are trying to connect fans at the event, and AFTER the event.
    One thing to keep in mind is privacy. It often times seems like the quiet kid sulking in the corner, who pops up to say something nasty every once in awhile then quiets down again. Artists need to pay attention to how their fans are connecting with them. Do they respond better to emails? Do they like Twitter? How should Facebook fit in? With everything being so public online it’s important to discern between when it’s OK to jump in and promote your stuff (or even just say “hi”), and when anything you want to say is just better left unsaid.
    It really seems like social currency is the new hot way of saying “tying everything together”. If you get my music, I want something from you – that something will usually help me market my stuff to you in the future, and a lot of the methods I’ve seen focus on tying one channel (social) to another (other digital or direct marketing opportunities).
    Thanks for the great post!
    Katie
    Community Manager | Radian6

  3. Hey Jon, great post on the different steps every musician needs to take to both build their fan base and eventually gain a huge following.
    It was surprising to me that the sites listed do not give the artists their money until the goal is hit. So, I’d like to suggest a different site for the fan-funding campaigns. Feed The Muse (http://www.feedthemuse.net/) is a similar site to those, but pays the artists every month. I’ve personally seen it help small bands, venues, and others in the arts fund their various projects. It’s definitely a site to consider among the rest that are listed!

  4. There are also some social media methods are a complete waste of time for new music discovery.

  5. Hey Jon,
    Great wrap up and insight. My company Culture Jam built the first ever Tweet to download promotion just over a year ago -> http://tcrn.ch/cspk6z. We have worked with a ton of artists both big and small and creating a genuine social currency exchange has always been our goal. Social is the front line in the battle to find new fans and building awareness for your music. We have evolved from Tweet to download into a variety of campaigns including enter to wins, tweet for discount codes, tweet listening parties, etc… all exchanging ones social currency (insert ‘advocacy’ as well) for a song, experience, and a chance to participate with that artist.
    We just opened the technology to the public at http://PromoJam.com and now anyone can build high quality social currency promotions easily and cost effectively. As the social graph grows ever larger, I think we will see the term social currency take on a whole lot more value (pun intended) in the next few years.
    – Matt

  6. Great comments. I wonder if alot of artists (outside of marketing circles) would still consider the exchange of a free download for an email – still “just giving it away” for “nothing.”
    Do you think the social currency of gaining an email is valued highly enough by artists?
    All best, Deb

Comments are closed.