Social Media in the Music Industry - Have Things Changed or What?

The days of the rock star are dead.   You know, the rock star with the long hair, earrings, spinning their guitar around their neck and having groupies following them city to city.   Back then, as a fan, you could not wait for that Van Halen, Michael Jackson or Duran Duran album.  You always wondered what where they going to look like and had to wait till that new album came out to get your answer watching MTV.  Success was measured on how many albums were sold and how many t-shirts were sold on tour.  But besides shows and celebrity appearances, how did yesterday's rock star understand if their music is making a difference?  MTV was basically one-way communication.

Fast forward to 2014, and yesterday's rock star has now become today's social media celebrity musician.

 Instead of album sales, it is how much hits on their You Tube video which determines the artist's popularity.
Speaking of You Tube, it is simply the most powerful social media platform there is for musicians today.   Musicians can post interviews, test new music, and engage with fans.  Also You Tube is the new MTV.  For a while there in the late 1990s into the early 2000s, music videos hit a lull and a lot of bands didn't think of the music video as a powerful promotional tool.   With You Tube, it is now essential to have a music video for that hit single or it will not be a successful single.

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are also powerful tools for promoting music.    Why? Simply fan engagement.   Today's successful music stars all focus on engagement.   A musician will know if a new musical direction will work by asking fans to let them know what they think before they spend money on cutting an album.  An example is if a song is posted on Facebook, a musician can review the comments and even ask for their fan's opinions on that guitar solo on one of their demo songs.  A musician can also easily post pictures of their fans at shows via their mobile devices and make the fan's day.   Pretty powerful stuff.   Finally, Twitter can be used to announce that surprise appearance or that secret song they just wrote.

I can go on with other examples, but it is obvious that social media is the new channel for music today.    Now if only today's musician not be too corporate and be more "rock star", we would be in a perfect world.   With most bands, you cannot tell if the singer fronting a band is a banker or a musician.  That said, unfortunately, the days of the rock star is dead, and the days of the social media star are now here.

My Love For Boston

There is no city in the world that means more to me than Boston.   It all started at Northeastern University back in the early 1990s.   I was only one of two people in my high school class at Cranston High School  East in Rhode Island that made the move to that big city 50 miles to the north to begin my journey into the world of college and eventually the professional world.  I remembered my first week in Boston, meeting new people, walking around my new city and attending orientation when Northeastern President Ryder mentioned "Look to Your Left, then Look to Your Right speech" where chances are, the people you are next to, may not make the vigorous life of college.   His statement held true considering that none of my roommates in my first semester graduated college with me.   However, what I remembered most, was those walks around this great city.

Boston is one of the most walkable cities in America, but for a former Rhode Islander, it is an overwhelming place with the hustle and bustle, the subway, the diversity, and the taxicabs all over the place.  Now that I have lived here for over 20 years I realize that it is a small city.  Take me anywhere in Boston, and I cannot get lost, unless it is in the maze of the financial district.    Don't get me wrong, some of the larger cities I have been to like New York, Chicago, LA and overseas in London, Paris and Munich are great cities with similar qualities of Boston, but I would not live in any of these cities since they do not have the charm or skills of its sports teams.

This past winter really tested my willingness to stay in Boston.  With my sudden career change, the brutal winter weather and a trip to sunny Florida, I was almost convinced to pack it up and head south.   I thought about it for a while and then came to my senses.   After the tragedy of the Marathon Bombing and seeing how this city came together.  After the Red Sox came from nowhere and won the World Series.  Most of all, after all the new people I have met and the great friends I have, I could never leave this city.  The weather is still a little shaky but think about it, if everyone moved to that perfect weather place, San Diego would be the biggest city in America.   Of course it is expensive to live here, but again think about it, there is a reason.  Of course, you can buy a house in Cleveland or Detroit for under $100k, but would you want to live there?

I'll take Boston any day.   Sports, history, diversity, smart people, pubs, scenery and my friends.    I am not going anywhere.