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Beyond MySpace:

Social Networking As Online Marketing

By Will Morgan

It was during a panel on digital technology AT CMJ 2006 that the question was raised: With MySpace for promotions and CD Baby for distribution, do independent artists truly need a label to get noticed and sell records? NPR recently aired a story concerning a once-independent-now-major-label-player that is not only greatly indebted to its record company for album production (no surprise there), but is also losing considerable cash on tour due to travel expenses. Would going it alone not be preferable in such a situation? Perhaps, if you could guarantee a true fanbase, one that would purchase merch and fill venues reliably. But today, when musicians look to mobilize their core supporters, they think in terms of mailing lists and MySpace blog entries. Indeed, much of an artist’s buzz and appeal lies within — and relies upon — the online realm, the breeding ground for independent movements. It is, however, very unstable ground.

Early adopters may recall Friendster, which effectively gave rise to the social networking phenomenon with its launch in March of 2003. The company infamously passed up a $30 million buyout from Google that same year, only to suffer from frequent executive turnover and poor operability, causing its value and membership to plummet. Unfortunately for the minds behind Friendster, they were the guinea pigs. From them, newcomers learned that social networking presents an extremely difficult business model, all thanks to a consumer base that is intentionally flighty and prone to fads. That said, there are now hundreds of sites, music- and non-music-related, that cater to every emotion, scene, genre, and origin. The trick here is determining, firstly, which networks will peak next and, secondly, which ones will generate the most value for your intentions.

TARGETING MEMBERSHIP

While no one can truly determine, let alone articulate, why some sites succeed where others fail, it is commonly accepted that Friendster, rather than responding to consumer demand by adding features, has become stagnant by repeatedly focusing on its service’s troubled operability. In contrast, MySpace, although somewhat unsightly and slow, has mastered the art of allowing users to drive the direction of content. But of course, there are those who are willing to venture that even MySpace‘s social potency is beginning to wear off. Ironically, we are now entering into what many are calling Web 2.0. We are increasingly seeing differentiation and specialization among sites as entrepreneurs and software engineers fight for every niche market. And why not? All statistics point to certain demographics flocking to certain sites. Friendster, despite its troubles, still has a very strong foundation in Southeast Asia. Orkut, Google’s entry into the social networking market, has poor visibility in the States, but is the predominant service in Brazil, where more than two-thirds of its members reside. And even music-centric sites are making a charge at MySpace, with ReverbNation.com, voted “Best Music Social Network” in Mashable.com’s 2006 People’s Choice Awards, recently signing a distribution deal with Snocap, the same company that MySpace enlisted to run its MyStore campaign. Given these results, it is in your best interest to research site demographics so as to establish your target market’s highest concentration and focus your online marketing efforts in those areas. If, for instance, you perform at a local freestyle competition once a month, you would do much better by the community at www.rapspace.tv than at Orkut. Likewise, if you land a two-month residency in Charlotte, you might want to explore www.mycityrocks.com to develop a geographically-specific following as opposed to trying to persuade all your friends on Facebook to fly in for the shows. Even if you have a sarcastic song about your dog, the community at www.dogster.com will surely be eager to check out the rest of your music.

CLASSIFYING SOCIAL NETWORKING

As mentioned above, we are seeing the emergence of Web 2.0, and social networking is proving to be the quickest technology to adapt. Now, what can actually be defined as social networking includes a whole host of services that simply enable you to market yourself (and subsequently, your music). When you talk with a fan via AIM or Google Talk, you are generating consumer excitement purely by being social. It is important to remember that social networking succeeds because it allows fans closer interaction with the artists they like. It is, in a certain sense, sensationalistic, and musicians can spawn incredible fanbases by simply feeding that desire to know more and get closer. If you find yourself at a computer while on tour and want to tap into the conversational fervor of instant messaging services, you would be well served by utilizing www.meebo.com, a simple internet site that allows you to sign in to AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN, and Google Talk without the actual software and manage all your buddy lists simultaneously. It excites fans to know that they are talking one-on-one with artists in an informal setting, and it also provides instantaneous access to fan club managers and other important buzz generators.

To understand how vast the social networking realm really is, though, consider the complete opposite end of the spectrum and the massive appeal that online alter-ego universe Second Life (www.secondlife.com) has generated. It is the ultimate testament to sensationalism, an illusory place where the ambitious grade-schooler can be a fictitious rock star. It is also, however, a real place for true musicians to make honest money. The program boasts its own currency that can be converted into U.S. dollars and artists have begun to exploit this new market. Several bands, not the least of which is Duran Duran, have performed concerts, streamed from actual performances, on designated islands within Second Life, for which fans must buy tickets in order to attend. In May of last year, the BBC rented an island in Second Life to host music festivals, which included the likes of Muse and Gnarls Barkley. With roughly 2.7 million “residents” and daily expenditures over $1 million, the site offers dramatic social and financial possibilities.

Also, be sure to explore sites that are centered around a group function, such as www.tribe.net. Tribe allows for users with very specific interests to find each other and establish mini-communities. All groups are localized by city, very similar to the way craigslist.com is organized, enabling users to create distinct relationships that can be easily enhanced with face-to-face meetings (at a concert, for example). Facebook might be the most widely acknowledged proponent of the group function, as users can set up any kind of group with any title and purpose without needing permission of any kind. Orkut also offers a group function.

If you are looking to establish a more concrete online fan club, as groups are often seen as trivial and purely for fun, try an invite-only site such as www.wallop.com. By positioning your Wallop page as an exclusive, members-only area, you can easily develop consumer incentive to join. Here, you can post unreleased tracks and behind-the-scene pictures to further fans’ interest. Additionally, it can be used as a means for generating return benefits from your fans by, say, sending invitations to each person who buys $50 or more in merch or posts flyers for your upcoming shows. Be careful, however, to limit your invitations, as you may dull the value that Wallop provides by being a closed network.

Social networking, however, is not simply for accruing fans. It is indeed an extremely potent channel for online marketing and, more and more, industry decision-makers are looking to these networks for online buzz bands. A vast majority of A&R reps, music supervisors, publicists and the like rely on the fairly transparent popularity ratings provided by social networking sites. Likewise, these individuals place a lot of value on professionalism and, as such, it can be beneficial to be part of a network that eschews random (and potentially embarrassing) wall postings and instead focuses on creating contacts and generating business. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is perhaps the most popular example, with over 9 million users representing 130 industries. The site serves as a hotspot for business opportunities where clients and service providers can engage. The principles, however, are the same as with any social networking site. You can search amongst friends and friends’ friends or by industry and interests.

There are also sites that can compete with the tour diary. Try Flagr (www.flagr.com), a Google Maps-powered service that allows users to pinpoint their favorite locations internationally and write a brief review. An artist could easily track the progress of his or her tour by venues, roadside diners, motels, etc. and fans can then, effectively, live vicariously through their favorite musicians. Flags can be placed from the user’s cell phone for instant pinpointing. The customizable maps can also be embedded on a user’s MySpace, LiveJournal, and Blogger pages.

Lastly, look to the mobile realm as the next extension of the social networking web. MySpace has partnered with Helio to offer MySpace Mobile, giving you access to your fans at any time, anywhere. Likewise, Facebook now offers Mobile Web, Uploads, and Texts through most Cingular, Nextel, Verizon, Sprint, Boost, and Virgin phones. Also, new music-specific online marketing sites are emerging to enable artists to take advantage of the rise in mobile technology. GroupieTunes (www.groupietunes.com), a service devoted to independent and unsigned musicians, boasts a moblog feature that allows artists to take pictures on their phone and then immediately send them to their blog on their GroupieTunes page, along with a message. Users can also sell ringtones and full tracks from the site.

TOOLS OF THE TREND

Friendster, as mentioned earlier, has dropped out of the social networking lexicon on account of its failure to add new features that heighten the level of interaction between users and enable increased posting of content. Therefore, in picking social networking sites to target, choose those with wall, comment, or message functions, as these open forums encourage repeat views. Because the majority of comments made from one user to another are visible to an entire network of friends, users inherently see how their friends interact with others. Now, users make these comments knowing that others will be reading them, and so a game of one-upmanship ensues. A perfect example would be the comments portion of each MySpace page, where messages either border on the ridiculous and nonsensical or are in actuality advertisements and links for other bands. Likewise, sites that include blog features are highly successful on account of the same addiction — people are curious to see the latest updates, jokes, confessions, etc. Ultimately, the number of page views is linked directly with the rate at which new content is posted.

Should you become overwhelmed with the number of social networking sites you are trying to keep recent and fresh, there are several services that can help you manage this full-time task. People Aggregator (www.peopleaggregator.com) allows you to synchronize all of your various profiles, lets you make connections across different networks, and post content from anywhere. You can also experiment with Pageflakes (www.pageflakes.com), a service designed to create your ultimate customizable start page. Flakes are miniaturized windows that open within your Pakeflakes page and can be anything from web browsers to to-do-lists to address books to maps. The Bitty Browser flake allows you to monitor as many web pages (perhaps your social networking sites) as you like. You can also send free text messages from the site and every user receives 1GB of free storage.

Finally, take advantage of the top sites in each media category. MySpace for music, YouTube for videos, Flickr for photos, and so on. Just because you can easily post all of this content to one page does not mean you should ignore the powerful, buzz-driven communities driving the remaining networks.

Music:

www.ruckusnetwork.com

www.sonicgarden.com