Social media, marketing and independent artists

Photo/David H. Thomas

A couple of weeks ago I posted a short multimedia project on independent artists, social media and marketing, highlighting how some are utilizing the many social networks available to them to engage and interact with their fans. Included in that post were Moonlight Social, an alt-country-rock duo based out of Austin, Texas–who officially formed in early 2011 but has accrued over 12,000 Twitter followers as well as a coveted showcase at SXSW alongside Ray Benson, frontman for Grammy-winning band Asleep at the Wheel.

Mixing powerful vocals, lyrics and melodies, the tandem crew was also crowned the winners of the 2011 Austin Chronicle Sound Wars, which included 100 other Austin bands. I simply wanted to showcase how the two use social media including Twitter (where they RT‘d my blog post!); YouTube, Facebook, ReverbNation and a host of other sites to market and connect to fans. Their debut-release, the full-length Heading South was even fan-funded via a Kickstarter campaign last year.

Music industry consultant Loren Weisman

Nevertheless, I also included a September 2010 podcast interview with author and music consultant Loren Weisman. The industry expert spoke with Bob Andelman of ”Mr. Media Interviews” about the impact and importance of social media in an independent artist’s promotional and marketing plan.

In the interview he says, “It’s not the music…of course, the music is the foundation and the root, but it’s the content, the graphics, the marketing, the promotion, the branding that’s bringing people into a very over-saturated market to look at someone and say, “Okay, maybe they standout.” He continues, “It’s really about standing out initially from areas outside of music to get people into hear your music.”

Remember, this was two years ago but it is just as relevant today. Now it seems that if you are a band or singer-songwriter, new media is key to marketing yourself as not only an artist but as a real person. I know Moonlight Social has a series of YouTube videos where they talked about tracks for the new album before it even released. And from personal experience, when an artist responds or RTs a comment I make about their music on Twitter, I become an even bigger fan because they’ve now added that “human aspect” to it.

But I wanted to go a step further. To get a loose idea of the music-buying habits and social networking patterns of readers, I created a survey called “Music and social media.” I asked a series of questions on how readers find new music and whether or not they interact with artists online now that the capability exists.

Photo/Lovell Communications

Not surprisingly, iTunes was number one for discovering new sounds and more than half of the survey-participants login to their Twitter or Facebook pages several times a day–thereby creating more opportunity for artists to engage–but many fans now do take the time to chat up musicians via social channels.

So this led me to agree with Weisman: It is evermore important for an indie artist to utilize these platforms to not only share their music with the buying public, but to also “connect” as a human being.

Bottom line: If you are a musician or singer or songwriter, not only share your lovely sounds with us, but also be someone who engages as well!

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