The Power of Social Media
The promotion and marketing that takes place for an artist's music is one of the key factors in whether or not the music becomes commercially successful. Music promotion in the past essentially consisted of radio airplay of a song followed by the album's release and touring to promote the album, but the advances we have today allow for much broader and unique ways to get music out. In a world where topics on social media are being discussed at a rapid pace, music artists big and small have taken to the internet and platforms like Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and many others in order to expose their music. Artists today are able to go on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and create band pages where they can announce music releases, concert dates and other promotional material they wish. They can go onto Instagram and post pictures of the band's travels and appearances, and can use Youtube to release music videos and other videos related to their work. The possibilities to advertise and get music out there is virtually limitless thanks to the capabilities of the internet. These sites give artists opportunities to find and try different ways to promote and release their music.
One such case deals with famous R&B singer Beyoncé .At midnight on Friday, December 13, 2013, she released a simple Instagram video announcing her self-titled album that was released without any other notice that day. Beyoncé’s method that was against traditional advertising paid off, and her album was a huge success. The news of the album’s quick release generated intense twitter feedback; it was reported that over 1.2 million tweets were posted within the first twelve hours of the release. The sales of the album were just as successful, with over 365,000 copies of the album being sold in the first day alone (8).
The reception of the album as well as the way the album was released has become an obvious example of how social media’s influence has affected the music industry. Through the album's sudden release, Beyoncé invalidated the music business's tried and true method of heavy promotion through singles, television performances and radio airplay. Beyoncé herself said she released the album as a whole so that her fans could appreciate the album as an entire artistic experience. In his article written in the New York Times titled Beyoncé Rejects Tradition for Social Media’s Power, writer Ben Sasario predicts the impact of Beyoncé’s advertising methods, saying, “Though very few acts could attract the same attention as Beyoncé, the episode contains some lessons — and possibly a future blueprint — for the music industry. In bypassing the industry’s traditional promotional machinery, she demonstrated social media’s power to amplify news and to forge a direct connection to her audience (8).” Indeed, Beyoncé is a huge star whose following on Instagram was what made the success of her release possible. Even still, the idea of direct connection to her core audience is what made the method stand out. Beyoncé herself agreed with Sasario, saying, “I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans (8).”
Despite the immediate success and acclaim Beyonce received, there was criticism and anger over the album's exclusive release on Itunes. Itunes was given the album a week in advance of other distributors, and sold over 1 million copies in that week. Amazon and Target were two such distributors angry over what had happened. Both corporations felt cheated from the sales they would have earned from the album had it been released simultaneously. The two companies decided to refuse to sell the album outright. The video below describes the incident in full detail (2).
One such case deals with famous R&B singer Beyoncé .At midnight on Friday, December 13, 2013, she released a simple Instagram video announcing her self-titled album that was released without any other notice that day. Beyoncé’s method that was against traditional advertising paid off, and her album was a huge success. The news of the album’s quick release generated intense twitter feedback; it was reported that over 1.2 million tweets were posted within the first twelve hours of the release. The sales of the album were just as successful, with over 365,000 copies of the album being sold in the first day alone (8).
The reception of the album as well as the way the album was released has become an obvious example of how social media’s influence has affected the music industry. Through the album's sudden release, Beyoncé invalidated the music business's tried and true method of heavy promotion through singles, television performances and radio airplay. Beyoncé herself said she released the album as a whole so that her fans could appreciate the album as an entire artistic experience. In his article written in the New York Times titled Beyoncé Rejects Tradition for Social Media’s Power, writer Ben Sasario predicts the impact of Beyoncé’s advertising methods, saying, “Though very few acts could attract the same attention as Beyoncé, the episode contains some lessons — and possibly a future blueprint — for the music industry. In bypassing the industry’s traditional promotional machinery, she demonstrated social media’s power to amplify news and to forge a direct connection to her audience (8).” Indeed, Beyoncé is a huge star whose following on Instagram was what made the success of her release possible. Even still, the idea of direct connection to her core audience is what made the method stand out. Beyoncé herself agreed with Sasario, saying, “I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans (8).”
Despite the immediate success and acclaim Beyonce received, there was criticism and anger over the album's exclusive release on Itunes. Itunes was given the album a week in advance of other distributors, and sold over 1 million copies in that week. Amazon and Target were two such distributors angry over what had happened. Both corporations felt cheated from the sales they would have earned from the album had it been released simultaneously. The two companies decided to refuse to sell the album outright. The video below describes the incident in full detail (2).
In the end, Beyoncé’s star power and fame in the music industry was what made the album’s advertising success so great. Her willingness to go directly to her fans with her new music will be a method that will be copied again and again. After the release of the instagram video, social media and the internet were able to advertise the album for her. While Beyoncé is a big star who would have probably had a successful album if she had stuck with traditional advertising methods, other artists have to start smaller to get there music exposed.
Spotify: Good or Bad?
Many small time artists and bands rely on social media and other platforms as a relatively free and convenient way to get their music exposed. These artists are those that lack radio airplay, or coverage on any music websites or television. Using the internet to promote themselves and to release their own music has proved to be the method used. As there are too many streaming platforms on the internet to name or discuss, I focused my research towards one of the largest and most well known: Spotify. Spotify was founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon with the goal to create an online platform with a vast catalog of music selections. Since 2006, the platform has had over 26 million users and 6 million paying subscribers. Described as Music's Last Best Hope by Businessweek, Spotify has worked to help pay artists and publishers their fair share of money from the plays Spotify receives as well as reduce the piracy of music online (3).
In the full interview, Ek does his best to keep focus on Spotify, describing the work that the site has done and what it hopes to achieve. Ek believes that Spotify and the streaming services such as Netflix and Youtube will become the main sources of online entertainment. He believes that the immediate ability to stream music will allow listeners to listen and discover more music, which will in turn compel the listener will care more and be willing to pay for the music on sites like Itunes and going to concerts. Spotify's efforts to reduce music piracy has been able to help a financially dying music industry and allow artists to benefit from the exposure that they have received through Spotify's success. Not only has Spotify been able to help with sales, but has also changed the attitudes of music listeners when it comes to buying music at all (4). Cellist Nick Ogawa, who performs under the name Takénobu, is an Atlanta-based artist who has benefited from the plays his music receives from Spotify, as well as earning money from sales on Itunes. Speaking with Mashable, Ogawa notes of the personal change Spotify has changed the way his friends view buying music: “I have friends who swore that they would never buy music again, basically since Napster happened. But once there was a streaming service that had everything available for $10 a month, they were like, 'Okay, I will begin paying for music again (3)'" (3).
New York based band Spirit Animal can attest to the success and exposure that Spotify has helped give them. Spirit Animal's single titled "The Black Jack White" was released in the spring of 2013, and was randomly added the the private playlist of Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster. The song was played over 450,000 times upon being added to the list, and Spirit Animal has received royalties due to the plays. The band hasn't been able to get rich off the royalties, but has at least helped them in touring aspects such as touring costs for the band. Guitarist Cal Stamp has also noticed that more people have attended their concerts, no doubt in part due to Spotify's influence. Still, the band still believes it must follow traditional steps of advertising in order to get their music fully out there. “I don't know if [Spotify’s] a game-changer,” Stamp tells Mashable. “It's definitely helpful. It's a tool in the box of tools (3)"(3).
Despite the success and praise Spotify has received from various sources in the music industry, there have been many detractors questioning the legitimacy of Spotify. Many question whether Spotify will be able to keep its promise to continue to give them listening royalties regarding music plays. Max Blau's article on Mashable describes some of the fears artists and producers have regarding the platform. Blau summarizes that should Spotify go public, the record labels that allowed their artists' music to be streamed on Spotify will receive a great deal of money, while the artists themselves will not (3).
Musician Damon Krukowski of Galaxie 500 is still wary of Spotify's motives. His own revenue generated from streaming services paints a sad picture for other artists hoping to profit from Spotify listens. In Krukowski's article titled Making Cents on Pitchfork, he relates the amount of money he has received from Spotify's royalty check on Galaxie 500's song called"Tugboat." According to Krukowski, the song was played 5960 times in the first quarter of 2012, and the group received only $1.05. He also calculates that the song would have to be played over 45,000 times in order to receive the same profits as only one record sale (5).
Another artist who can attribute their success to Spotify is the young artist named Lorde. The 17 year old Grammy winning artist's song titled "Royals" was put on Sean Parker's personal playlist, catalyzing a huge wave of success for the artist. "It was on our viral charts for weeks, which almost never happens (9)," says Sachin Doshi, the head of content and distribution at Spotify (9).
For better or worse, Spotify's role as a music streaming service has greatly affected the way musicians are getting their music to its audience, changing the simple method of radio play and release that has existed for years. Spotify, and streaming services in general have given unknown artists a simple and easy way to release their music, as well as being rewarded, in whatever amount that may be. Spirit Animal's success through Spotify is an example of the good the company can do for an unknown, while Damon Krukowski's reports show how Spotify may not be as noble as it appears. Either way, Spotify and all streaming services offered online have made artists and music companies rethink how to release and advertise their own music, something that will most assuredly continue to develop as social media does as well.