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Social Media: Effects on the Music and Entertainment Industry Alix Shapiro Alec Diaz
| Date post: | 31-Oct-2014 |
| Category: |
Technology |
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Social Media: Effects on
the Music and
Entertainment Industry
Alix Shapiro
Alec Diaz
Social Media
Social Networking sites, Smart Phone applications, video/music-streaming sites, and the evolution of the Internet has all changed the Music and Entertainment Industry.
Underground and not well known artists get the chance to be heard, and get their name out.
Keys to social media and artists/entertainers: Awareness, Interaction, and Connection.
Social Media
Social media has become a way for artists to interact directly with their fans.
Celebrities can share and express personal or professional information to help promote themselves and create awareness.
Many entertainers use social media to educate on upcoming events, projects, shows, etc.
Social Networking Sites
YouTube
Music Streaming Sites
YouTube
Possibly the most influential for artists not only to be heard, but to be seen. All it takes is a simple upload, and you have gone viral.
Unlike major cable networks, YouTube offers an endless amount of “channels” which gives the user control of what they want to watch.
Promotional videos, film trailers, album samples, and even dated videos of memorial/historical events give YouTube an archive-like quality.
YouTube: Justin Beiber
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQOFRZ1wNLw
At only 12 years old, Justin posted videos of himself on YouTube just as any other artist would.
With this viral power of YouTube, he was noticed by Scooter Braun and was flown out to Atlanta to meet Usher
Signed with Def Jam Records, and a star was born!
Free and easy way to connect with fans, friends, pages, groups, etc. Very user-friendly and interactive.
Connecting with fans, and staying connected through posts, likes, status updates and pictures is the key benefit to social media.
Interconnected with other networking sites such as YouTube, Twitter, SoundCloud, and Spotify.
Unique to most social networking sites, the ability to “like” and “share.”
Instantly links the site, page, song, video, artist, brand, product and anything else on the web for others to see.
These features increase exposure that will be spread to others who view, like or share the same thing, creating a snowball effect.
Facebook & Spotify
Spotify appears to benefit the most from Facebook – According to f8 (Developers and innovators creating a more social web)
Facebook says Spotify has added "well over 4 million" new users since F8 Developers Conference.
AppData currently puts Spotify at 2.5 million daily average users (DAU) and 7.4 million monthly average users (MAU). (This is only after linking with Facebook)
Twitter is a very useful service for artists and bands to communicate directly with their fans.
Where direct contact with the consumer used to be at live events or limited to email, Twitter enabled direct conversation.
Artists are utilizing Twitter as a free marketing tool.
Constant, real-time updates and live feed of “tweets” from artists and celebrities provide followers/fans a personal connection to whom they follow.
Though it may seem like just a free marketing tool, the real power lies in sharing, following, conversing, and building relationships consistently. It’s like word of mouth, digitally.
The advantage of this is that it can be monitored and used by the artist to respond and spark conversation.
A relationship that brings the fan closer and more involved with the artist, motivates sales.
Music Streaming Sites
Legal streaming of music available for purchase and download, Internet Radio, and many other sites dedicated to providing music to listeners instantly.
Grooveshark, Naptster, SoundCloud, BeatPort, Spotify, Pandora, Podcasts, FratMusic, etc.
Often linked though Facebook and Twitter accounts, creating an even larger network for artists to increase awareness and share their music.
These sites, aside from iTunes contribute a large percentage of revenue for musicians.
Myspace
Though seems to be outdated and old, Myspace was once the leader in combining a social network with a music/artist section.
However, one crucial highlight and benefit to it is the ability to create your own flash on your profile.
By using CSS and HTML codes your page looks more professional, so when fans visit your profile, your band/product is taken more seriously.
“SPARC”In our generation of “Digital Natives,” ruled by technology, digital music products must have certain qualities to meet emerging consumer demand.
Social: Put the crowd in the cloud.
Participate: Make them interactive and immersive.
Accessible: Ownership still matters but access matters more.
Relevant: Ensure fans co-exist and join the dots in the fragmented digital environment.
Connected: Music fans are connected and expect their music experiences to do the same.
Negative Effects?
MegaUpload
Online Piracy
BitTorrents
Hurting physical album sales,
Downfall
Napster was a crucial shift from the “distribution era,” where everything was sold in units, to the all-access model.
The problem is that the majority of the music products currently available don’t grasp this concept.
The first wave of the digital youth, went for Kazaa instead of iTunes, and for that reason, unless a new wave of products/technology embraced ad-supported or subscription services, music sales would decline to the point of possible end to the industry itself.
Who Is At Fault?
Emergence of the PC, Internet, and technology, you could download what you wanted when you wanted, taking as much as you please.
This digitization process put you, the audience, in control.
Who do you think is at fault??
