As a music marketer, you need to be aware of new technologies that can help promote your bands. As an undergraduate in Northwestern’s IMC program, I have been studying the use of social technologies and the power they can have in promotional campaigns. I’ve found that the social power of Twitter combined with the new #music platform can help build online buzz about an artist’s music and have a couple of articles for you to review on this topic.
According to an article by Wired's Mat Honan last week, the new app has “got amazing viral possibilities that are great for artists.” For example, he says that if Lady Gaga tweets a new single, it immediately gets sent out to her 36 million followers, who then have the opportunity to retweet the single, amplifying its reach and popularity. If a Gaga-sized account were to tweet about some obscure band the effects and hype surrounding that band could be tremendous.
The viral possibilities for artist on #music has to do with the social aspect of music consumption according to an article in The Guardian by Alex Moss. When people hear music they like, they share it with their friends. This is an important social exchange because musical taste represents individual’s identities in a lot of ways. You wouldn’t share a Justin Bieber song, unless you really liked him and didn't mind if your friends thought of you as a Bieliber. In addition, when you share, your friends are likely to be influenced by these musical suggestions because they trust the taste of the recommender. So how can you harness the social power of #music to promote your artists? From my review of these two articles and other work at Northwestern, there are three action items you need to immediately consider implementing.
1. Get verified - To be on Twitter’s #music charts, you need to be a verified artist account on Twitter. The verification process can be tricky, but Gizmodo offers some insight on the process.
2. Use Spotify - According to Billboard, Spotify is more popular than iTunes and Rdio on #music. Since more people are choosing to link their Spotify accounts--most likely because it is free— you want to make sure your artist’s music is on that streaming service so listeners have a chance to find it.
3. Be a tastemaker - The #NowPlaying feature allows users to see what their followees are listening to. Have the artist become a source of new music for his or her followers by frequently posting original tracks as well as tracks by other artists they admire. Being a consistent tastemaker will retain current fans satisfied and help draw in new ones as well.
By following these steps, you will be on your way to creating an effective music marketing strategy by harnessing Twitter #music's social power.
Meghan Cetera is an Integrated Marketing Communications student living in Chicago. She is interested in music marketing and social media. You can reach her with questions or comments on Twitter @meghancetera.
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