Research into social media sites including, youtube, facebook, twitter etc.

2. Social Media
 According to Wikipedia marketing is ‘the process of communicating the value of a
product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service’.
As the music industry is a diverse global market which continues to expand into
new areas, marketing effectively is greatly important for securing an audience and
developing a fan base. Social media are ‘computer-mediated tools that allow
people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in
virtual communities and networks’ (Wikipedia). These tools have become ever-
present in today's society and are most important for networking, content sharing,
online access to music and other forms of media. Social media has made it
possible for artist and record companies to easily reach music consumers
worldwide. Audiences naturally congregate, forming their own communities and
sharing their experiences of bands and artists. As online streaming and download
sites replace CD sales, analysing online consumer behaviour is increasingly
important for labels as a way to identify how successful an artist or band really is
and therefore social media is extremely valuable and influential in today's society.

3. YouTube
 YouTube is the world’s largest free video sharing and
streaming website. Users can upload, view and share an
array of video content including music videos, news stories,
film clips, tutorials, educational videos etc. Not only is
YouTube a social networking site; it is now a giant marketing
tool used by companies, groups and organisations
worldwide. Video marketing is a new form of advertising
which has been developed to increase audiences exposure
to brands and artists’, and with viewers being able to
subscribe to channels they can receive constant updates
thus establishing a community of supporters.
 As Melina is new and upcoming artist, YouTube is a great
place to promote herself as a musician and develop a
global fan base. Music videos, live performances and
interviews can be uploaded and also shared on other sites
to keep viewers and subscribers up-to-date.

4. Soundcloud
 ‘Founded in Berlin in 2007, SoundCloud has since
expanded to an extensive app that encompasses a
streaming service, a distribution platform and an
online community’ (MashableUK). Musicians - famous
or not can up load, share and allow fans to download
certain content. As a streaming service, users can
continuously listen to music anywhere and on any
device including Smartphone and Tablet. Soundcloud
is a unique online service which provides its users with
“stems” from songs and other audio which is signed to
labels allowing users to remix them into tracks and
share their work.
 Melina can share original music and covers of her
favourite songs on Soundcloud. By using the ‘tag’ tool
she can also connect with others worldwide who
follow certain ‘tags’ and artist, which will benefit the
expansion of her personal audience.

5. Twitter
 Often described as a micro-blog Twitter ‘is an online
social networking service that enables users to send
and read short 140-character messages called
"tweets“ (Wikipedia). To use this site individuals must
be registered to read and post tweets, whereas
unregistered users can only read them. Users can
use Twitter as a personal blog to share their opinions,
comment on stories and upload links to other media
forms. Twitter is an effective social networking site
used for messaging, news reporting, content sharing
and most of all online media marketing.
 Our artist can ‘tweet’ her followers links to new music,
things she’s into, articles/interviews as well as keep
them up-to-date with upcoming performances.
Twitter is a quick way to connect with an audience
and is less time consuming.

6. Facebook
 Facebook is a free social networking site which
allows registered users to create personal (public or
private) profiles, upload photos and videos, interact
with friends and family via it’s messaging/wall post
tool and become part of a group. Additionally,
people can read, share and comment on things
which are important to them or just catch there
attention. Accessible in over 38 countries, Facebook
reaches a wide audience and is favoured by a
variety of record labels and companies as a means
of marketing artists and brands etc.
 Melina’s public Facebook page can act as a blog in
which she can post about her life as a musician as
well as interact with her fans.

7. Instagram
 Instagram ‘is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-
sharing and social networking service that enables
its users to take pictures and videos, and share
them on a variety of social networking platforms,
such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.’
(Wikipedia). This social networking app allows
registered users to edit using various creative tools,
and instantly share personal and public photos and
videos from a Smartphone. Based around
‘following’ Instagram allows users and companies to
‘follow’ others and update their own followers.
 Our artist can use this app to capture her
adventures and journey as a singer/songwriter and
share it with her followers.

8. Case Study: Chloe Howl
 Chloe Howl is a singer-songwriter who is
set to release her debut studio album in
2015. Howl’s use of social media is vast
her music, videos and other content is
available via her own website,
Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Songkick,
Youtube and Instagram. These websites
allow Chole Howl and her record
company to market and promote her
work worldwide. Through these outlets
she can keep her fans up-to-date with
live shows, new music, videos and
interviews. As technology evolves,
social media has become greatly
important to all types of music artist, as it
is a easy and effective way to gain an
audience.

9. Social Media: Music - Marketing and Promotion
Positives Negatives
1. Artist and Musicians can establish a
worldwide fan base as social media
has the potential of reaching a wide
audience, allowing artist to go
beyond their targeted demographic
market.
2. It is a fast way of sharing new
information and updating fans as
social networking sites can be
synchronised.
1. Marketing via social media is greatly
time consuming as content must be
created, edited, approved and
published; comments must be
responded to and sites and pages
must be maintained.
2. Artist signed to label loose a certain
amount of control over the content
which is placed on these websites.