The shift in music industry marketing over the past decade has been undeniable. The advent of mp3’s and mainstream file sharing has completely changed the way we record, package, distribute, price, sell (…you get the point, the list goes on and on) music today.
Just as undeniable is the way in which social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and the millions of music blogs in syndication, have changed the way artists emerge into the music industry.
Today, the best of new music arguably comes from the Internet.. Now more than ever before, artists can take control of their own publicity and promotion, and can built a personal fanbase with audiences across the world from their own homes, unlike the days of yore, when touring was the only real option for personal connection. In a very short period of time, artists can develop fanbases and communities to a level which would have taken years to achieve with traditional methods.
There are two camps of artists that grew from social networking sites. Actually, there are more, but two of importance to this topic. The first includes artists such as OneRepublic, My Chemical Romance, Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, among others. These artists began on MySpace, and were either picked up by a larger entity who noticed them from MySpace, or they grew gained such massive attention from MySpace that record labels had no choice but to notice them.
You gotta love the OneRepublic example, really. Timbaland finds the group on MySpace, signs them, slaps “featuring Timbaland” onto their song, and BAM! An instant hit!
Then there is the second camp of artists who began on social networking sites, and remain on social networking sites; but in no way is this negative. Social networking sites (chiefly MySpace) allow artists to gain an incredible fanbase and community around the world.
These artists are famous enough and have enough of a demand that they can solely DJ or perform for a living, but they rarely break out larger, either because their music is simply not mainstream or “radio-friendly” enough to make play, or because they love the DJ lifestyle so much they have no desire to become corporatized. This area of music has even developed its own sound. Much of it is now categorized under the label “bloghouse.” I hate categorizing, especially with a genre that is so difficult to define, but the name has stuck.
I find it fascinating how the music industry has completely changed in a very short period of time. Power has shifted somewhat, making industry execs nervous, to say the least. Suddenly artists and audiences have more control over what they listen to and how they get it. Social networking sites have worked to give choice and power back to “the people,” fostering countless socially and economically valuable communities along the way.
This post could continue forever (and I know, it feels like it has), but the resulting conclusion would be the same: social networking sites are a major driver in today’s music scene. If the corporate industry wants to keep up, they have to do so in a meaningful way.
Too often I see corporations (music industry or not) create and applaud their “new corporate blog,” only to produce pages of information that tell me what I could already find out on their website, or worse to put me to sleep. These companies are making unmeaningful blogs either “because everyone else is doing it,” or because they don’t really understand what the role of blogging is (or could be) to their company.
I will leave you with two songs that refer to social networking (yes, both were obtained from social networking sites) The first is a Tegan and Sara track remixed by Tyler Fedchuk, an incredible DJ out of Vancouver. The second is Funk do Orkut by Rodney Dy. It’s a Baile Funk song (in my top three favourite genres) that references Orkut, the social networking site heavily used by Brazilians (or that’s who I use it with at least). It means Orkut Funk (duh). Not the best example of Baile, but definitely fitting for this post.
Click the link to listen. If you like it, right click and save to keep it.
Back In Your Head (Tyler Fedchuk 1/2 Alive RMX) – Tegan and Sarah
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oooo..good dude
The corporate music industry really seems lost in this new terrain. I hope some forward thinking executives get it back on track. Steve Jobs was really the first that I’ve seen with enough of a grasp of technology, and the corporate pull, to make progress. Please enlighten me if there are others of note.
I think it’s great that artists have so many options for getting their music heard. I’ve discovered so many amazing artists and genres since the MP3 came into use.
I LOVE that Tegan and Sara track! I’ve never heard of it remixed this way before. I actually was redirected here looking for that song, and now I have a great remix…thanks Ms. Leung!
But what you say is true. It’s like the execs WANT to help and change and keep up, but they don’t quite know how. Um…why don’t they hire you? (Can I assume you’re in PR?)