Social Media and the Music Industry

Since entering my Master's Program for Entertainment Business this fall, there has been much discussion regarding social media. In one particular class, I was asked to set up various accounts on social networking sites. I already had a Facebook account prior to the class and therefore, decided to try Twitter and LinkedIn. Since I am focusing on the music industry, I figured that these networks would be a great way to link up with other managers, artists, promoters and marketing networks. LinkedIn is a great professional network. It has different groups that one can join to get insight. It's also a great way to look at the resumes of the people you would like to get to know or work with.

I must admit that I am slightly disappointed in Twitter. I have been able to follow some people and vice versa but I am not really gaining any information regarding the music industry. In my personal opinion, Twitter has become more of a personal site. I just recently asked myself: "Is Twitter replacing Texting?" You notice siblings and even famous people tweeting unimportant information. They could be literally sitting beside each other and tweeting something that could be texted.  I am saying this jokingly, but I would not be surprised if they tweeted "I am currently in a public restroom and there is no toilet paper." 

So how is one to use Social Media to break into an industry (my case the music industry)? One must notate the reason for using the network and also know which networks to use. If you are going to have a personal page, create one separately from your professional page. One thing that I have found with Twitter is that it can be used as a promotion tool.  The record labels that I am following and even some of the artist use Twitter to promote upcoming albums or performance locations.  Myspace has seemingly lost its flare (I never had a page to begin with). I really do not see too many people using or talking about it. However, I found through reading articles that it wouldn't hurt to have a page. Nexweb.com mentions 10 Tips for using social media successfully.  For a list of sites that would be beneficial to all those music minded please click the following article.