ELEVATOR PITCH:
Hello, my name is Alexa Bober and I am currently a senior at Rutgers University set to
graduate this coming January with a Bachelor's in Communication, minor in DCIM, and
focus in PR. I have a passion for music and a strong interest in social media/digital
communication which I hope to combine by pursuing a career in the music industry
either in a marketing, digital marketing, or publicity department. In addition to interning
at Warner Music Group and currently at RCA Records, I got a head start in fusing
together these two interests of mine by researching how social media presence affects
album sales. In looking for a correlation between the two factors, I hope to provide some
insight to labels and artists on how they might better utilize social media to their
advantage and further their success.
OUTLINE:
Intro- Social Media: Could it be the not-so-secret 21st century weapon for music artists?
Social media allows for a previously inaccessible peek into the everyday lives of
people we don’t know and people we admire, like musicians. If utilized correctly, it can
be a major factor in an artist’s brand development and increase album sales through
personal fan engagement and interaction. But first we must answer, is there a
correlation between an artist or band’s social media presence and album sales? And if
so, what does this suggest about which factor causes the other and why?
Literature ReviewTouch upon relevant findings of prior studies relating to the relationship between social
media and musicians/album sales/personal brand promotion. Highlight supportive
conclusions and data, and provide possible reasons for opposing data, if any should
come up. (Specifically feature Korean pop star example, and social media as brand
promotion platform case study.)
Sub Sections-
Research QuestionsAs previously stated:
1) Does an artist/band’s social media presence impact their album sales? (Is there a
correlation?)
2) If there is a correlation, what does this suggest about which factor causes the other
and why? (do album sales affect social media presence or vice versa?)
Data CollectionThe data I collected came primarily from two general sources, one being Nielson
SoundScan for the actual album sales numbers, and the second being the individual
social media pages of the two artists I am specifically comparing and looking into (The
Arcs & Father John Misty). The specific social media sites I focused on are Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube. I collected quantitative data
like follower counts, post counts, likes/comment counts, etc. Also collected qualitative
data like content characteristics and fan interaction frequency/nature.
Data AnalysisTo analyze my data, I am creating organized charts that will make the numerical data
easier to read and comprehend. It will provide a nice visual for the information yielded. I
also am comparing the data from either artists to search for any commonalities or
differences between the two and how those might play into the success of their
respective album sales.
FindingsTo really tackle the correlation question, I have to spend more time looking into specific
time periods (weekly and monthly) and the artists’ respective social media actions within
those periods to really gauge whether or not one appears to influence the other. That
said, initial analysis shows me social media activity and content plays a key factor not
only in gaining attracting fans and buzz, but also, maintaining the interest of existing
fans and getting them to engage with the artist to make them feel like they know the
singer/band on a more human level and not just as a voice coming out of a speaker.
Data PresentationMy data will be presented in a classic research paper format, supplemented by a visual
multimedia component (I am leaning towards a Prezi) that will neatly convey any charts,
graphs, and infographics relating to my research. Finally, all of the components of my
project, as well as previous DCIM course projects, will be featured on a Wix website
(which I am in the process of fine-tuning at the moment).
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
AMP Music Marketing. (2015). The Musician’s Guide to Social Media – Twitter Tips.
AMP Music Marketing Blog. Retrieved from http://www.ampmusicmarketing.com/themusicians-guide/the-musician%E2%80%99s-guide-to-social-media-%E2%80%93twitter-tips/
Summary: This article/blog post specifically talks about a band or artist’s Twitter profile
and how it should be structured and set up to work as effectively as possible. The article
advises to decide on a general style or theme and maintain that throughout the Twitter
profile as far as heading, background, colors, and design goes. Secondly, it mentions
having some crucial elements added to the profile like official band/artist website and
band images. It also touches upon what kind of content to include in the Tweets
themselves. The article suggests quality content that is cool and exclusive like behind
the scenes music stuff or simply interesting videos—basically anything to leave your
fans and followers wanting more.
Buli, L., & Hu, V. (2012). Data Science And The Music Industry: What Social Media Has
To Do With Record Sales. Hypebot.com. Retrieved from
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/12/data-science-and-the-music-industry-whatsocial-media-has-to-do-with-record-sales.html
Summary: The art of predicting music sales has undoubtedly shifted from radio spins to
social media data. The sales numbers in this article come from iTunes, which today,
may not necessarily be the best indicator of overall album sales. That said, this article’s
data does confirm that social media numbers do indeed correlate to sales, and more
interestingly, that there is a difference in metrics that are relevant to track sales versus
album sales. For track sales, visual content like music videos on YouTube, showed a
strong correlation, while album sales more closely correlated Wikipedia page views of
all things.
Chang, E. A., & Dhar, V. (2009). Does Chatter Matter? The Impact of UserGenerated
Content on Music Sales. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 23, 300
– 307. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2009.07.004
Summary: This study examines the usefulness of user-generated content in forecasting
music sales using data from various social networking platforms. More specifically, the
study monitors and analyzes online buzz/chatter for 108 albums four weeks prior to and
after the albums’ release dates to see what factors impact future album sales most
positively and negatively. Ultimately, the study finds two variables with a positive
correlation–number of blog posts about the album, as well as whether or not the album
was released by a major record label and if it received reviews from major music
publications.
I plan to use this concept of user-generated online buzz and apply it to the artist’s own
contribution to that buzz. I’m looking to see if the number of alum-related posts/social
media content seems to have an affect on sales data.
Edmondson, J. (2013). How Social Media and Streaming Have Influenced the Music
Industry. Socialnomics. Retrieved from http://www.socialnomics.net/2013/12/02/howsocial-media-and-streaming-have-influenced-the-music-industry/
Summary: This article talks about the impact of streaming and subscription based music
listening services have impacted the music industry. A few important things it mentions
is, one, despite once having been believed to be the Achille’s heel of the industry that
would ultimately lead to its tragic demise, streaming is actually quite beneficial to artists
and to the industry as a whole. Streaming is, in fact, listening, and it allows for much
easier music discovery and music sharing amongst peers and fans. This all plays into
social media and how those platforms are used to fuel the sharing of albums and music,
which is something artists can really exploit to their advantage in their own personal
social media presences.
Holmes, C. (2015). The Independent Musician’s Guide to Social Media. Pigeons and
Planes. Retrieved from http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2015/06/social-media-tips-forindependent-musicians/s/518965/
Summary: Provides a list of helpful tips and tricks for independent musicians to take full
advantage of social media by engaging their fans. Developing and establishing a fan
base takes a lot of time, dedication, and resources but in following the suggested steps
in this article, the author ensures social media success. Some of the tips include make
an effort to respond to fan comments/interactions (you are not too good to respond to a
fan), don’t bombarding music influencers/bloggers right off the bat (form relationships
first), don’t buy followers, share your personal life (but not too much), don’t flaunt
wealth/success you don’t have, don’t feel like you have to be on every social media site,
maintain consistency on the outlets you are active on, keep posts positive, and finally
don’t over post about promotional stuff.
Hudson, R., & Hudson, S. (2013) Engaging With Consumers Using Social Media: A
Case Study of Music Festivals, International Journal of Event and Festival
Management, 4 (3), 206 – 223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-06-2013-0012
Summary: Since recent advances in social media technology, the consumer decision
process has fundamentally changed. In addition to researching a product before
purchase, consumers are now also able to enter in an open relationship with a brand
post-purchase, providing feedback and review directly to a company/brand. This paper
describes the new consumer decision journey, and then adds to the body of research
on events and festivals management by applying this new model to events and
festivals.
If I think of the conclusion in the context of a single artist/band as opposed to an entire
music festival, I can apply the concept of the article’s conclusion to my own research.
Just like festival marketers can utilize social media to emphasize the relevance of the
“evaluate” and “advocate” stages of a consumer’s decision journey, a musician can do
the same for themselves via their own social media platforms, and that is something I
plan to keep in mind as I further analyze my two subjects’ social media data.
Jung, E. Y. (2014). Transnational Migrations and YouTube Sensations: Korean
Americans, Popular Music, and Social Media. Ethnomusicology, 58, 54 – 82.
doi:10.5406/ethnomusicology.58.1.0054
Summary: This study uses data from three case studies of different Korean American
musicians, two of which have prominent presence on social media sites like YouTube,
and compares/analyzes the data to examine how social media presence impacts their
careers, specifically in regard to success and fame overseas.
This information will serve as an example of just how impactful and important social
media can be to an artist’s career and even their album sales if utilized correctly and to
their full potential.
Kumar, V., Ramani, G., & Saboo, A. R. (2015). Evaluating the Impact of Social Media
Activities on Human Brand Sales. International Journal of Research in
Marketing. doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.02.007
Summary: This article uses Social Identity Theory as a general guiding principle,
suggesting that consumers work towards increasing the attractiveness of the groups to
which they belong. Applying this principle to the music industry, the article ultimately
proposes that consumers engage in three main social media activities to enhance such
attractiveness. The study uses data form 36 artists over a 72-week period of time and
looks at the consumer activities of sampling music, following music artists on social
media sites, and commenting on artists’ social media sites. In conclusion, the study
finds how the consumer buying process is influenced by social media activities.
Oh, I., Park, G. S. (2012) From B2C to B2B: Selling Korean Pop Music in the Age of
New Social Media. Korea Observer, 43 (3), 365397. http://www.tobiashubinette.se/hallyu_2.pdf
Summary: Using both archival and in-depth interview data, the article discusses the
impact of new social media on the sudden explosion of K-pop popularity. It argues that
the entertainment industry is rapidly changing its conventional business model from the
audience-based B2C strategy to a new social-media dependent B2B model. Ultimately,
it concludes that major talent agencies in Korea exploit large profit potential through
new social media and the B2B model.
This article highlights an interesting point that I now consider when looking at my data:
artists use social media not only to gain a fan-base but to also potentially attract a major
business partnership like the case with Girls’ Generation and Intel. This suggests artists
might present themselves a particular way on social media, that makes them more
appealing to companies and brands, not just potential fans.
Titlow, J. P. (2012). Yup, Social Media Really Does Drive Music Sales. ReadWrite.
Retrieved from http://readwrite.com/2012/12/06/social-media-drives-album-sales
Summary: This article pretty much explicitly answers my research questions, although
the article is three years old and I have to consider time as a factor of change and
transformation here. One major takeaway, however, is that data from NextBigSound
suggests that Facebook page views have/had a much higher correlation with album
sales than simple Facebook page likes. Basically, this implies it’s not enough for a fan
to just be there (on the artist’s profile by liking it), they have to be engaged and
constantly interacted with.