Social Media Can Make History, and Your Artist

Welcome back friends. Some of my recent interests have led me on a search for great speakers that discuss social media and how it can impact certain businesses in the online world today. One of the most impressive and interesting speeches I have come across comes from TED.com and a great speaker by the name of Clay Shirky. The speech is titled "How Social Media Can Change History" and discusses the new and developing role of social media and I believe it offers an innovative insight into world of marketing for companies, and for self-promotion of artists.


The first portion of Clay's speech discusses major changes in the way the internet and online groups have changed media as a whole. The major changes, as highlighted by Shirky, can be summed up in 3 key points:

1. Native support for groups and conversation at the same time. The telephone developed a connection of one person to another. Print media and television developed a pattern of one-to-many. The new social media age has opened a new channel of many-to-many.  
2. The internet has become "media carriages" for all other form of media. As the internet becomes more and more powerful, the more that news, television, film, and all media outlets are shifting to online platforms. The internet has become more than a source of info, it has developed into a form of coordination for all of that info. 
3. The consumers have an incredibly easy transformation into producers. Shirky compares the ability of a consumer to become a producer so easily in this internet media world to getting a free printing press when you buy a book or a newspaper. It is increasingly easy for the consumers to become the producers through social media, voicing to the people what they feel most passionate about. 

After Clay pointed out these 3 key attributes, he went on to discuss a couple key historical points to back his claim. The main event discussed was the major earthquake in the Suchuan Province in China. The initial resorts on this event was communicated through cell phones, internet uploaded pictures, and social media sites like Twitter. In fact, Shirky notes that the BBC channel first heard of the terrible events through Twitter. The government heard about the events through it's citizens. 

China has long been recognized as one of the major government controllers of what their citizens may view via the internet. The Great Wall of Fire, as its commonly called, really had it's hands full during the tragic events of this quake. The amount of traffic on Twitter and other social media sites was so overwhelming that even the government could not continue it's usual dominance on blocking "bad" content. 

Shifting back to the artist management realm, I believe our industry can take key notes to how powerful this media is. It's not only a way to share photos or what you are doing on a Saturday night, it is a key marketing tool that MUST be used to ensure an artist's success. There is no shortage of stories these days of artists who get known through a viral video, youtube clip, or Facebook and Twitter presence. 

Along with history, social media has the ability to change the way we look at artist marketing, a term that seems to be replacing artist management for unsigned artists. It is increasingly more and more important to  focus on branding and marketing your artist as if they were a business you were marketing, and their music, image, and style is the product. Use ALL of the tools available, and use the power of social media for good, not for fun. 

 Thanks again for stopping by, I'll see you again soon. 

DK