Social Media’s Effect on the Music Industry

Kevin Burns | July 26th, 2010

Your favorite band is coming to town, and because you know what the internet is, you should definitely know about their concert. Just in case you are not aware of the extensive presence of online marketing geared towards upcoming concerts, here is a collection of websites that will keep you in the loop all summer. This blog will also be comparing the two approaches, niche and mass marketing in this industry.

Let’s start with the basics, if you have a Facebook account you also have a direct link with everything your favorite band is up to. For example I went to Phoenix’s band page, and I could easily find a list of their upcoming shows, download free MP3′s, buy tickets to their shows, connect with other fans, see videos of past concerts and much more. The great thing about finding your bands on Facebook is being constantly aware of all the updates that your band is posting. Staying up to date on secret shows and new releases is always a plus.

If Facebook is too sophomoric for you, here is a website to obtain free remixes and upcoming show announcements for all of your favorite bands. Hype Machine aggregates music websites from around the world to bring you the most current releases of all types of genres. While adding fresh tracks to your iTunes library, there is a quick list of upcoming concerts for whatever band you are searching for, and a link to buy the tickets.

Just to save some time here is a quick combo of sites that enables users to find new bands, obtain free MP3′s, and then get updates on upcoming shows. Flavor Pill and Earplug are great websites because they are quickly becoming social networks where people share information about upcoming bands and smaller concerts. Two more websites that highlight the release of music from new small bands, is EarMilk and rcrdlbl. These websites feature bios from up and coming bands and is usually the first sites to receive releases, so they are an amazing place to hear music before Kiss FM overplays it.

These websites are great vehicles for niche marketing because bands can advertise their concerts, promote their music and reach out to their die hard fans. These websites were once an area where enthusiastic fans could obtain new tracks and leave, but now because of the social media approach all of these websites have adopted, advertisers can speak directly to an audience that is undoubtedly excited about the content they are viewing. Websites that focus on a specific niche, whether it be up and coming dub steppers or crocheting fanatics, are amazing online destinations that are not overwhelmingly saturated with advertisers but are definitely populated by attentive fans.