Independent Artists

“Social media marketing also offers a cost-effective solution for bands and their managers to build buzz. For all up-and-coming bands still playing concerts in mom's basement, this has been a real game-changer. With the potential to reach an audience of millions through a retweet by an influencer, artists can launch their career before it even starts.” AJ Agrawal

"Bands also have to draw a line between publicity and privacy. Overuse Twitter and fans will be more miffed when you don’t respond to their direct messages. Start a blog but don’t post for weeks, and they might feel abandoned” Matt Bonney

Social media has offered independent artists multiple platforms where they can make a name for themselves. They can be involved in every aspect of their rise to fame. Prior social media it would have been more difficult for independent artists to make a name for themselves because the music executives controlled the music industry. That meant that they controlled which artists got the most exposure, so in general which artists would make it or break it. Matt Bonney touches the idea of publicity verus privacy in his article Social Networking’s Impact On The Music Industry, this topic is very important in terms of independent artists, since they are responsible for their publicity. Indie artists need to find a balance between their publicity and creating a connection with fans by interacting or sharing personal details.

Pigeons and Planes created a guide called The Independent Musician's Guide to Social Media, which provided the do’s and don’ts for up and coming artists on how to use social media. I will state a few of these do’s and don’ts, then analyze 2 independent artists’ social media pages. One of the first things Pigeons and Planes tells the reader to do is to reply to fans, or literally “don't think that you’re ever too good to respond to a fan”. It also tells them not constantly publicize your new music or new product. Also figure out if you want to share about your private life or not.

Night Riots a “synth-heavy dance-rock” band from California (Spotify). By looking at their twitter there is an equal distribution of promoting their gigs and replying to fans. They also incorporate glimpse of tour life and themselves through videos and pictures. They also have a Facebook, a main website and an instagram (not including their own personal accounts). They share similar content on all sites, but focus on sharing more about their private lives on their individual instagrams. Under the guide, the Night Riots are doing everything right, but should now focus on making more connections with more popular artists to get more exposure.

“Fickle Friends is an English indie pop band from Brighton” (Wikipedia). Similarly to the Night Riots, Fickle Friends have an even distribution of replies to fans to promoting their gigs. Members also have their own personal twitter, which are equally as active as their band twitter. They also have their own main site, a Facebook, twitters, band and personal twitters all containing similar content, with exceptions to their personal accounts, which allow the fan a more intimate look at the individuals private life. Their next step should be the same as the Night Riots', to establish connections with larger artists.