Scott Wong
A persons reputation is going to best be defined by their actions and presentation, right? If so, how important is it to maintain a positive reputation? Musicians and celebrities nowadays are learning how to better brand and mold their image to connect with their fans. As social media applications expand into the laptop, tablet, and mobile device markets, they’re bridging the gap between audience and agency; fan and entertainer. More than ever before, it’s becoming the standard for every up-and-coming artists or celebrity to have a social media page for consumers to fans at.
In a study done by Viacom on millennials, they concluded through a survey of approximately 500 15-29 year olds that artists who were more open about themselves tend to have a stronger connection with their listeners (Hillhouse).There is almost the expectation that in order for an artist to stay relevant, he/she has to be easily reachable. For instance, through platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram, the survey concluded that 53% of surveyors felt closer to the artists the more they shared about themselves. Whether it’s an intimate picture on Instagram, or a funny remark on Twitter; the different media channels are helping to humanize the musicians and make them more relatable to the fans.
Is there’s a direct relation between music sales and positive social media clout? If you look at the top 10 album charts of 2013, the year end figures from Nielsen Soundscan has Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience” at the top, with 2.43 million copies sold (Lewis). Notable mentions on the list included Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” (1.73 million), Bruno Mars’ “Unorthodox Jukebox” (1.4 million), Drakes “Nothing Was the Same” (1.34 million), Beyonce’s “Beyonce” (1.35 million), all of whom have over 10 million followers on Twitter according to FriendorFollow.com. But when compared to Justin Timberlake’s 31 million followers; the distinction is clear. JT is just on a whole other level. You could argue Justin’s talent and acting has done more to help his sales and image than his tweets, but it definitely can’t hurt when you consider he has just as large of a Twitter following as the President of The United States.
If you look who else is in the Twitter top 10, Justin clocks in at #10 amongst the likes of Katy Perry (No.1, 51 million), Justin Bieber (No.2, 50 million), The POTUS (No.3, 42 million), Lady Gaga (No. 4, 41 million), Taylor Swift (No. 6, 39 million), Britney Spears (No. 7, 36 million), and Rhianna (No. 8, 34 million). It is worth mentioning that also on the top 10 most followed list are social media platforms Youtube (No. 5, 40 million), and Instagram (No. 9, 31 million). Social media platforms themselves need a channel to interact with their users. The fact that those accounts have the capacity to reach tens of millions of people at the whim of a keystroke is impressive. Not to solely focus on Twitter, but can you name another social media platform that does what it does when it comes to level of engagement?
The level of engagement and intimacy between music producer and consumer matters more today than it has ever. Another artist that’s capitalizing on social media to improve their brand is independant artist Macklemore and his producer Ryan Lewis. The duo made waves this year, opting out of major label deals to pursue stardom on their own. Beating out indie-favorites Mumford and Sons in first week album sales, Macklemore and Lewis has been touted as the latest “indie rags-to-riches” story according to Rolling Stone (Knopper). Their single, “Thrift Shop” sold 6.15 million copies in 2013. The only one of two singles to hit the 6 million sales mark this year; with the later being Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”.
How is it that a non-major label artist managed to reach No. 2 in top 10 single sales for 2013? We can’t even say his Twitter follow is anything substantial, with only 2.21 million followers. So is it the music? At the time of the album release, Macklemore’s two singles, “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love”, garnered a total of 13 million views (Knopper). Personally, I had “Thrift Shop” playing on repeat for days. I believe it’s catchiness and virality definitely helped propel Macklemore into the mainstream spotlight. From there, his next track to go viral is a bit of a change of tune and touches on a much more intimate issue. The song, “Same Love”, deals with hip-hops homophobic outlook towards samesex marriage. In the song, Macklemore depicts himself as a confused 13 yr-old boy, with difficulty understanding an article his mother sent him about a gay teenager who killed himself. Talk about heavy. From second-hand clothes, to same-sex marriage, is Macklemore’s rise an indication of what the people view as topical issues? And can we expect to see more artists mentioning topical issues in their songs?
Regardless of whether or not social media is for you, the fact of the matter is it’s become a substantial resource for musicians and celebrities. No other platform can give you an audience of millions through a mobile device. It’s been shown that connecting with the fans as a source of content has helped artists maintain relevancy. So for an artist who is looking to break into the spotlight, would branding through social media be the best place to start? Is JT’s top 10 Twitter spot an indication of why the man is still ruling the pop-music industry? And what would you say about an artist such as Kanye West, who doesn’t really utilize social media to connect with his fans, but whose reputation is unmistakable?
Works Cited:
Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.
Knopper, Steve. "On the Charts: Mumford & Sons Slip, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Impress." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone Music, 17 Oct. 2012. Web.
Lewis, Randy. "Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke Post 2013's Top-Selling Album, Single." Los Angeles Times 3 Jan. 2014. Web.
"Who Unfollowed Me? | Friend or Follow." Who Unfollowed Me? | Friend or Follow. N.p., n.d. Web.
I think your arguments about Macklemore are really interesting. As someone who is not even remotely a fan of Macklemore (rewind to 2005 and listen to the “Penis Song”, I still can’t even believe I said that and all these years later, it’s still stuck in my head), I think Macklemore can really thank his overt success to social media. When “Thrift Shop” came out, I know from being a user of Tumblr that it blew up on everyone’s dashboard. Literally, every other post, GIF and like was all related to that one song by a then virtually unknown artist, and if we use the social media tracker to go even further back, it was because the song first blew up on YouTube. It really became a viral hit because of the quirky video and song lyrics. This from a man who sang about his shortcomings!
ReplyDeleteBut aside from that, I think brand recognition throughout social media platforms is incredibly important in the success of both established and emerging companies. Increased visibility is something that consumers desire; they want to know what’s behind the product, whether it’s clothing, music, or any other consumable product (also known as everything). I think Lady Gaga’s team really does a good job of presenting her as incredibly visible and available to her fans. She seems to be everywhere, even when she had hip surgery, her connections with her fans was still incredibly popular. I just wonder if it is pure authenticism.
Constant updates to Facebook, Instagram and now Tumblr mean that fans have constant access into her life. But that also causes a problem, because realistically, they don’t. Gaga creates an issue when she discusses closeness only understood by her and her millions (that’s not close) of fans. Regardless of how many times Gaga calls us “monsters” or says “I only do it for them”, the question remains: who are they and does she use the idea of “relating to our problems” to sell her brand?
Do they expect to have a personal relationship with what can be considered a brand through social media and consuming media products (and stunts) like music? As Allison Hillhouse suggests, “Today, there’s an expectation for direct interaction between fans and musicians. Millennials crave intimate glimpses into the mundane daily activities of their favorite celebrities” (Hillhouse). That “glimpse” is an illusion to distract the fans, perhaps, from their “mundane daily activities” as a persuasive agent used to create a relationship between fan and artist. To me, something doesn’t add up.
On the flipside, she does give her fans a lot of access to unique content, even if they have to pay. As Nielsen suggests, “An app like Lady Gaga’s, for example, not only gives her Little Monsters access to interesting content, but it keeps the artist on the forefront of her fans’ minds” (Nielsen). When Artpop was released, the media onslaught surrounding it was almost unbearable. And while it didn’t necessarily give you insight into Gaga’s life, it did allow users to keep Gaga on the “forefront” of her fans minds. Whether or not they realized the marketing tactic. is another story. Cynicism aside, however, it allowed users a chance to create and interact with brand Gaga and her music in a way that seemed safer than the continued illusion of being “one” with a celebrity or brand. So perhaps what needs to happen is a type of accessibility that focuses less on befriending your favorite artist and more on connecting with their work.
George Fracasse
Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.
"Getting Appy: How Artists Use Music Apps to Engage Fans." Nielsen.com 21 Nov. 2013. Web.
With all the media people have access to, maintaining a positive reputation is extremely important. Fans can follow everything their favorite celebrities do. Celebrities now need to maintain a positive reputation out in public as well as on the Internet. However, if used correctly, social media can be used to build a persons brand. In fact, according to Alison Hillhouse, “91% say it’s OK if an artist has some flaws – it makes them human and likeable.” In today’s society, social media is a wonderful tool for musicians. Hillhouse also says, “Social media has made it easier for Millennial music fans to be exposed to different music genres. They are savvy at using different tools, apps, sites and Wikis to dive into genres or artists from the past – a Millennial list of “fave artists” might be as diverse as One Direction, Etta James, Lil Wayne and The Supremes.” Social media works and people, of the Millennial generation especially, love spending time on these sites. In my opinion, there is a direct relation between music sales and positive social media. I think that Twitter has a very large role in this. Taking a look at the statistic provided in this blog, it is shown how many people follow musicians. These people are also able to engage with the performers via Twitter, making the artists more likeable. People want to buy from people they like in order to support them. To answer the question about other social media platforms offer a similar level of engagement as Twitter I believe YouTube offers that. It is a different kind of engagement but the performer is able to post their performances and people can feel free to post their opinions on the performer and their performance. As I have been saying, social media can have a huge impact on an artist and their music. For example, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video caused quite the controversy. The video currently has almost 300 million views. I believe the buzz surrounding the video helped drive up the songs sales. According to Randy Lewis, “Robin Thicke ruled the singles chart with the runaway hit “Blurred Lines”… Thicke’s hit, which featured Pharrell and T.I., was the top seller with 6.5 million units…” Lewis also states that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” made 6.15 million, which was the number 2 song behind “Blurred Lines”. In regards as to how a non-major label artist reached the number 2 spot, it’s all about networking. People hear a song on YouTube and if they like it they share it with their friends. This is how songs can become viral. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis do take on some serious issues like same-sex marriage which I do think that is an indication of what the people view as topical issues. However, I don’t think that we can expect to see more artists mentioning topical issues in their songs because they need to stick to their brand. I do believe that if you are new artist looking to break into the spotlight that social media is a great place to start. Overall, I think that social media is a great place for artists or any kind of celebrity to create their brand.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.
Lewis, Randy. "Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke Post 2013's Top-Selling Album, Single." Los Angeles Times 3 Jan. 2014. Web.
Scott, the points you make throughout this blog post are thought provoking and mostly correlate with how I view building a brand via social media. As artists begin to develop an increased online presence, their ability to interact with fans becomes much easier. I regularly see friends retweet responses they receive from a celebrity on Twitter. This enables musicians to find their niche fan base and interact with those individuals "at the whim of a keystroke," as you put it. The more reachable an artist is, the more the fan can relate to them on a personal level. This allows the fan to seemingly build a relationship with their favorite artists, and empowers a connection that drives fans to purchase albums when they could have illegally downloaded a copy online.
ReplyDeleteYou pose a question and take a stance about the importance of maintaining a "positive" reputation online. While this is true in the majority of cases, it is definitely an ambiguous question. For instance, look at how Miley Cyrus has rocketed to superstardom over the past year. Through controversial performances and songs, she was able to turn her every move into an online viral hit. I would argue that is it not about maintaining a "positive" reputation, but it is about building a reputation, positive or negative, that people become interested in.
The study done by Viacom illustrates the necessity for artists to have an online profile that allows for fans to view their favorite artists as a peer rather than a celebrity. The fact that 53% of the people surveyed felt closer to the artists the more they shared verifies why some artists have been able to build such cult followings (Hillhouse). Seven of the top ten most followed accounts on Twitter are musicians. All of these individuals humanize themselves to some extent, enabling them to build rabid fan bases. For example, Lady Gaga has her "little monsters" and Justin Bieber has his "beliebers." These fans congregate on social media in communities that have been built as a result of the reachable persona their artist of choice portrays. If it was not for social networks, who knows if any of the artists with major Twitter followings would have been able to find the success they have thrived off of.
I agree completely with the comments George Fracasse makes in regards to Macklemore's rise to fame. Without social media, I don't think he would have been able be so successful in such a short period of time. With his two singles accumulating over 13 million views, he was able to produce a top 10 album without the backing of a major label (Knopper). I find this very relevant, as I am a huge fan of Mac Miller, an artist who achieved fame in a similar way. Mac Miller has expertly utilized social media from the start, building a huge YouTube and Twitter following. He was able to accomplish this through releasing videos that made him appear to be a normal teenager going through the trials and tribulations of a young adults life. I personally feel as if I am a friend of Millers, being that I have grown with him as he has gone from a high school rapper to a global superstar. The reason I feel this way is that he has allowed me into his life on an everyday basis through the means of social media. To answer your question about the best way to break into the spotlight, social media is 100% the way to go.
Works Cited:
Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.
Knopper, Steve. "On the Charts: Mumford & Sons Slip, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Impress." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone Music, 17 Oct. 2012. Web.
It goes without saying that social media is absolutely necessary for a well-rounded marketing strategy, whether it’s being structured around corporate businesses or music artists. While I’m not sure if the correlation between Justin Timberlake’s massive follower-base and his fans being dedicated enough to buy the album is coincidental, I do believe that without social media, there’s no way to connect to fans on a level that would make them want to buy an artist’s work. Given the fact that when a millennial purchases an album “…it’s because they want to support an artist that they respect and connect with” (Hillhouse), it’s important for that last half, the “connect” half, to be present in their self-marketing tactics.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I believe that Justin Timberlake is a unique case. He has been in the public eye for over a decade, which means he’s had loyal fans for much longer than Robin Thicke, Katy Perry, or Justin Bieber, all of whom have regularly topped the charts over the last few years. When you ask about Kanye West, I’m not even sure if he’s relevant in the discussion – he’s gone backwards, in a sense, to the traditional form of self-promotion through publicity stunts and romantic celebrity affairs (which he may not even realize he’s doing), and therefore has lost much of his fan base from my personal observations. While in most cases I advocate social media as the driving force behind why consumers pick one brand over another, music is quite different. YouTube is in a league of it’s own, breeding new artists and spreading the word of indie music, but it’s also a site where nine times out of ten the polished, famous version of the artist or band goes viral rather than the realistic version, which is more likely to go viral on Twitter or Instagram.
In the end, I feel as if this conversation may not even need to exist in the near future, because rather than album sales the artist will solely focus on the number of times their song or album was streamed via YouTube, Pandora, Jango, or any other free-music platform. What I’m trying to say is, Vevo may just become the next Jive Records as a middleman between the artist and the public (or in Vevo’s case, between the artist and social media); controlling the quality of music people hear and how much access they have to the original album copies and music videos that they produce. Since “…artists and labels can amp up their revenue streams by offering fans access to exclusive content” (Nielsen.com) at this very moment, this can arguably be the only way that companies can fathom hope for making money off of record sales in the future. Merchandise, ticket sales, and appearance fees will likely carry more weight in the artist’s revenue as well.
The most important part of personal branding in the music industry is for the artist to fully understand that even some of their biggest fan want their music for free, and just about everyone may have to pull a Radiohead and let the fans decide whether or not they pay for the product – advertising it, of course, through Facebook and Twitter.
Works Cited:
"Getting Appy: How Artists Use Music Apps to Engage Fans." Nielsen.com 21 Nov. 2013. Web.
Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.