Use of Social Media in Promotion

Dictionary definition for Social Media: "forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos) "

Social media is used in order to promote artists and their work. Certain social medias are more restrictive than others, yet all serve a purpose. I have looked at the ways in which both Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are used in order to promote artists.

Facebook is a massively used social network, with roughly 1 billion active users around the world. This is therefore an ideal form of social media to use for music promotion. Facebook allows anybody to “like” their favourite artists in order to get updates on their work, music and achievements.  This is also an effective way to promote their albums and tours with further information available via links etc. Links to their new videos can also be displayed on their walls. Hints to their new songs/music videos/tours/albums can also be found on their facebook pages. This creates a hype among their fans, anticipating their new material. However, in my opinion, facebook is relatively constricting in the sense of promoting an artist. I find it singularly about the artist's work and less about the artist them self.

A more current use of social media in promotion is twitter. This is very popular among artists as it gives them a chance to connect directly with their fans. It also allows them to promote their music, gigs etc. As you can see, Marina & the Diamonds is even promoting her album through her twitter profile. The unique element of twitter which appeals to most people is the fact the artists and fans can communicate to one another. This gives them a chance to see the artist for themselves and not simply through their music. Fans can also be regularly updated on the artist’s work and achievements. For example, the artist may tweet about their song writing. This makes the fans seem in touch with their music. I think Twitter is an excellent way of promoting through social media, as it allows for all types of promotion and is made feel more personal from the artist to the fans.

Instagram is yet another type of social media used for promotion. This application allows anyone to follow whichever artist they like, in order to see any photographs they post. Instagram may be used alongside with Twitter. For example, the artist may tweet in order to create hype about their new album. A photograph of the new album cover may then be distributed onto instagram and linked through Twitter. Photographs of gigs may also be posted, along with photographs of the artist themselves or any personal pictures they wish to share. Much like twitter, instagram is a rather personal concept and again allows fans to see more from the artist themselves.

YouTube allows users to subscribe to an artist’s “channel”. This allows them to view the artist’s music videos. YouTube also gives subscribers the opportunity to pre order the artist’s singles/albums via iTunes or Amazon. This network is focused mainly on the fans in order for them to enjoy their favourite artist’s music videos. There is also the option of commenting on the videos in order to give your own opinion on the song or video itself. This allows the fans themselves to communicate with each other over the artist. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, the artist themselves are not communicating directly to their fans.