Aspiring musicians are always looking for their big break,
their “leap to fame”, if you will. Truth is, most won’t ever find it. But every
year there are a select few who breakout and become almost instantly famous.
Those few who do find huge success in the modern music entertainment industry, just how do they do it? (Before I give you the secret to stardom, let me reassure you
it is in no way a shortcut, and even less so a secret) That being said, more
and more often we are seeing breakout careers ignite directly from the World
Wide Web.
It is not uncommon these days to see a musician’s success originate from
Youtube. Tons of free websites allow you to instantly upload music files
for the world to listen to for free, such as Youtube, Soundcloud and Facebook
to name a few. These sites generate millions of page views per day, producing
loads of opportunities for a musician’s work to be noticed. But not all
success stories are as immediate as Bieber’s. These sites create a mass
medium for the musician to share music content with the public. However,
there are other aspects of the social medias, which young musicians cannot
neglect. Musicians must also communicate with their
followers. These websites along with Twitter and personal blogs provide
the musician with an opportunity to receive feedback from their listeners. This
is crucial in appealing to your fan base and keeping them around.
Sophomore student at the University of Miami and aspiring musician, Adam
Grossman has digitally set himself up for success. Creating a Twitter
account, Facebook page, and Soundcloud profile, he has put himself out
there. When asked if he would offer his songs for free download on a
public blog, Grossman responded “Definitely.
Asking someone to pay money for my music, for something they may have
never heard is just ridiculous. Today, more people stream music than own
music, making it hard to get people to download songs as is.” Grossman
continued “Once the artist has built up a fan base that they feel is large
enough, maybe they can move to profitable services, such as Spotify, Pandora,
and iTunes.”
There will always be those who manage to bypass the universal, digital-system,
but what is clear is that more and more often we are hearing of talent being
discovered online. Social medias have taken over the way society thinks
and works. It is affecting more professions everyday and the music
industry is experiencing this first-hand.
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ReplyDeleteThis was a great post and you have a solid argument about your views on emerging artist of today and what they have to do in order to succeed. I agree with the assertion that you made referencing most musicians will not reach their claim to fame and it is kind of unfair because there is so much talent. However, those on the track to becoming famous have put in a lot of preparatory work and commitment to their fan base, as you have mentioned. I know that when I was in seventh grade, all upcoming artists were using Myspace to get their music out to the public. For example, Aubrey Graham, better known as “Drake” claimed his fame through releasing free music through Myspace and welcomed critique from his listeners which I think gave him a competitive edge. Since Myspace is kind of obsolete these days, aspiring musicians have switched to different mediums like Youtube. I agree with you on your statement that upcoming artist should not charge their listeners for their music because they are trying to cultivate their fan base. A lot of upcoming artist are beginning to release mixtapes and these mixtapes are free music showcasing their talent. Here is the website to a mixtape site that list many known and unknown artist, who are trying and continuing to establish their fan base, which is a very important business practice in branding their selves, http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/mixtapes/. However, are artist who are being discovered through these different mediums on the Internet, taking the shallow way out and compromising their talent? Are discoveries like this just based on how many views one gets as opposed to sheer talent, like the Rebecca Black’s song, “Friday”. Maybe those who never reach their claim to fame are more talented then those who get “lucky” with the Internet. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteSeemingly every industry has had to adapt to the rise of social media, and I agree with Rob that the music industry is no exception. These days, talent is not the only ingredient of success. Musicians must also utilize the World Wide Web in order to promote themselves across a mass medium. Consequently, musicians make themselves available to diverse audiences across the nation. Justin Bieber is a popular example of this, as Rob mentioned. Beginning on the video-sharing website, YouTube, Justin Bieber is now a household name across the United States. Without YouTube, it is unlikely Usher would have discovered Bieber. Furthermore, the group Karmin also began on YouTube, uploading covers of mainstream songs. Although less popular than Justin Bieber, Karmin has produced several Billboard hits and can be heard regularly on the radio. Based on several current artists, it is evident that social media is an effective means of promoting yourself. And as Rob stated and University of Miami student, Adam Grossman, affirmed, there are various mediums other than YouTube. Other forms include Tweet for a Track, RootMusic, and Fanbridge, which are used for Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail, respectively. With the available programs, musicians have the ability to target audiences across the most widely used forms of social media. With the magnitude of users on these popular social media networks, missing such an opportunity would be inexcusable.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-tools/top-social-media-marketing-tools-for-musicians/
I thought you did a good job with your blog posting. I thought it was a good idea to use Justin Bieber as a gateway to your key points. I think it is very important for upcoming artists to involve themselves with their fans. Fans are what create fame, obviously, so in order to get anywhere; it’s what they need to do. They should spend a good deal of time promoting their music, and reaching out to fans. I also agree that upcoming musicians should probably not try and sell their music. People rarely pay for music in this digital age as it is, so I agree when you say, why would anyone pay for music they don’t know will be good or worth the money? When someone is trying to become famous from their music, I believe, building a fan base is the most important thing and what better way to build a fan base than releasing free music?
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