Musician-Fan Interaction

“Giving the power back to musicians and their fans is a massive paradigm shift within the music industry. Before musicians began embracing social media, music labels carried a huge majority of the power when it came to what music made it into the hands of consumers.” Zachary Evans

Social media has made it easier for fans to interact with their favorite artists because they have the means to follow and interact with them on numerous platforms. This allows them to establish a close connection to the artists. It is great for the musicians because the closer the fans feel to them the liker their music will be consumed and spread. Through twitter fans have the ability to tweet artists, share information about concerts, sell tickets and even make friends. These platforms like Twitter and Facebook are very important to artists because they can monitor what is being said about their music.

Here are some examples:

After Kanye West decided to go on a rant at one of his concerts talking about Jay-Z, Beyonce and Donald Trump, his fans and other artists like Snoop Dog voiced their opinions online. This is another prime example of social media allowing there to be a direct communication between the artist and the fan.

These are examples of individuals using social media to voice their opinion about one of their favorite artists. It is important because it shows how social media has given these individuals this platform that can impact anyone who is a fan of Kanye.

This is another example of the new type of relationship that came about with social media between artists and fans. Here the lead singer of The 1975 penned a letter to the band's fans to inform them of changes that were coming.

Here we have Taylor Swift's thoughts on her fans. It shows the impact fans have on the artist based on the usage of social. The impact of social media is very evident when she is talking about the puzzle she was given by her fans because it shows that they united worldwide to make her something. Without social media this project would not have been as universal.

On the other hand, here we have G-eazy acknowledging the impact the internet has had on his career. He knows that without it, he would not have reached the large fan-based he now has.

“Social media presents an interesting opportunity. As music fans, most of us turn to Twitter or Facebook to keep updated about our favourite bands, whilst new tracks or videos will 99% of the time get their launch on social channels.” Kate Franklin

Musicians hold a lot of power in this relationship as well because they can market their music on multiple platforms and don’t necessarily have to go through the channels with a record label. Therefore they are responsible for providing their fans with music, tour dates and merchandise. This is essentially important for smaller artists because it allows them use social media to make a name for themselves without the help of a record label. Evans of Social Media Week, interviewed an artist, Michael Franzino, who used Crowdfunding to fund his project. This example provides a new meaning to musician to fan interaction because the fan is transformed into an investor, therefore making it more personal for the fans. “This connection between artist and fan is the absolute best aspect of crowdfunding in music. It creates human connection in a place where that can be difficult to establish" (Evans). Crowdfunding is simply one example of different platforms musicians have at their fingertips to establish a connection with their fans.