Social media is here to stay...or is it? So just assuming that you all reading this have (in some form) an account with any or all of the major social media outlets. I'm talking Facebook, MySpace, Google, Twitter, etc.
Some of you log onto your account(s) everyday for a glimpse at what others are up to, gossip, news, and anything else that will satisfy your needs and wants to social interaction. But how many of you are using social media to your advantage? How many of you use social media for entrepreneurship? I see quite a few of my friends and family setting up shop online for their chance to pursue a life at music, photography, fashion, online discount services and anything else you can think of to make $.
I use AFGM as an example. Since starting up this blog/social hub in 2011, I can honestly say I have NEVER SPENT A SINGLE CENT on this project. I never had some big idea behind it or even a concept. I had two reasons to start this project up and use social media to it's advantage.
1. I just got sick of the constant amount of trolling and negative influence on my favourite sites.
2. I had people on a constant basis asking me about their favourite band's next show/album/appearance.
I wanted something where people could talk about new bands they see, new shows coming to town and veer away from gossip, negative attitudes and be cool with WHATEVER level of engagement they have towards music. So moving on, I was sifting through my daily news and video when I came across a Scion A/V featuring Metal Blade Records. In the video, bands and label management discuss the relevancy of social media, how it plays a role in exposure and how it effectively increases interest and activity to that said band.
"You HAVE to connect with those people because... well, that's your audience."
Well said by a few of the people in the video. Its a great and easy way to make yourself heard, get noticed or possibly even signed. Many people in the past did not have to rely on American Idol/Got Talent or others to jump start their career (that's another rant in itself), they did it with their own knowledge and dedication AND had somewhere for fans and newcomers to find out about them. Websites cost money and show no extra gain in readers, but social media is FREE!
This wasn't a piece to convince you that social media the ONLY way to do business, but it helps. With the ever growing population permanently online, the room for physical media just seems to be slipping. Nothing we have done directly to halt it, it's just technology. Did we uproar when cassette replaced vinyl? When CD replaced cassette? The online world has just opened the market from a few hundred bands to now a few thousand (and counting). Everyone wants to be a rockstar, but who will be the fans to buy your material?
Very interesting read. Decided to tell a story here, some may find it interesting, some may not! Years ago I wasn`t into the whole ``WWW`` thing. But I still had a vast knowledge of the music I liked by reading vinyl albums back and forth. Learning who produced them, what year they came out, what musicians played on the album, etc. When I finally turned on my dad`s computer, I started to ``search`` bands and artists that I had been fans of for the past years and started to connect with fans. My first reach across the web was searching information on my favourite musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield. I only knew from what I read on the album Tubular Bells that my brother had at his parties. That`s it, nothing else. And then hearing the Tubular Bells theme on the Exorcist movie. I did not know any other fan of Mike Oldfield, albeit the people at my brother`s parties loved Tubular Bells but no one knew about any other albums from him. And since my local record shop didn`t have a vast album collection of Mike, I had no idea if he was making records still or died away like a one-hit wonder. And now to get to my point, when I search Mike Oldfield on the computer, I came across a Yahoo Group called Mike Oldfield fan Group. Run by an Italian named Marco, and had many fans from all over the world. And I joined and I learned everything I could from those that knew all about this artist. I am still friends with the members of that group, we even have a Facebook page as well. If it wasn`t for social media I wouldn`t have known what I know now and that is a good thing. And that is why I love to promote artists like Mike Oldfield to anyone that is willing to listen, or any other band or artist out there. We all have something we listen to and we want to share. And where else will we share it so people are going to listen? Well right here obviously, and the countless other social media sites. Information and communication of that is key. If it didn`t happen to me years ago I wouldn`t have bought other Mike Oldfield albums and expanded my knowledge of his music and then conduct interviews with great musicians that worked with him, and then get into music they had done, and of course make friends from all over the world that share my love and passion for music.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for sharing that story as it is a real life experience to how you use social media and the online world.
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