Facebook, YouTube and the Social Media Revolution (III)
- 20somethingmedia
- Nov 16, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 17, 2024
Continuing from last week’s article;
This site tracks and organises what’s being talked about on millions of blogs across the web. It also sorts through other forms of user-generated content (including photos, videos, voting, etc.), which it refers to as “citizen media.” Technorati is the place to go to discover the most popular social media sites, tags and topics.
How to use it: Search Technorati to find the blogs that are covering your style of music and artists similar to you. Then contact the individual bloggers and start a relationship with them. If you publish a blog of your own, be sure to sign up for a free Technorati account and register your blog. Doing so will help other people find you easier.
This online destination is the premier site for “social bookmarking.” It’s designed to be a one-stop site to store links to your favourite articles, blogs, music, reviews, and more – and access them from any computer on the web. You organise bookmarks on Del.icio.us using descriptive tags (mentioned earlier).
How to use it: As you do with Technorati, you can search Del.icio.us by topic and tags. If you play music that appeals to fans of Beck, you could search the site for all bookmarks tagged “Beck.” This could uncover a lot of new promotion sources. Also, if you start your own Del.icio.us account and store your bookmarks there, other surfers may find you based on the tags you use for your own links.
When it comes to places that store and share still photos on the web, Flickr is king of the heap. Millions of people post and tag their images on this mega site. From animals and architecture to water and weddings, you’ll find it here. Now owned by Yahoo, Flickr has free and paid accounts with different levels of features.
How to use it: The primary way to use Flickr is to show your musical self in action. Your music should speak for itself, but offering visual images that your fans and supporters can enjoy adds another layer of credibility to your career. Post photos of you on the stage, in the studio, and on the road. Capture the interesting things you encounter along your musical journey and share them with others.
Digg describes itself as “a user-driven social content website.” What does that mean? The site’s “about us” page explains: “Everything on Digg is submitted by our community (that would be you). After you submit content, other people read your submission and Digg what they like best.” Digg in this context means vote. If your submission receives enough favourable “diggs,” it may be promoted to the front page for millions of visitors to see.
How to use it: Digg has three categories: news, videos and podcasts. If you have created or were featured in an interesting article, video or podcast, register with Digg and submit a link to and description of the item. Then ask your fans to “digg” it. The more diggs you get, the higher your item rises on Digg’s pages – which means more people will find out about you.
Millions of people have been flocking to this virtual reality playground. Second Life is “a 3-D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its residents.” Each user creates an avatar, which represents his or her persona in the virtual world. Once created, your avatar can visit dance clubs, casinos, shopping malls, vampire castles, movie theaters, and more. You can even spend and make money (called Linden Dollars) and buy and sell real estate.
How to use it: Second Life operates very much like the real world, with people offering goods and services in the virtual fantasyland. You can open a nightclub, sell hand-crafted instruments, become a graphic artist or publicist… or put on live music concerts and charge admission, sell merchandise for Linden Dollars (which can be exchanged for very real money), and much more.
It may sound like Big Brother is watching but it really isn’t. Last.fm is a web-based service that records what you listen to on your computer, then presents you with an array of interesting choices based on your tastes – artists you might like, users with similar tastes, personalised radio streams, charts, and more. It’s designed as a tool to help you discover new music, based on stuff you already like.
How to use it: Last.fm is eager to add new music to its database. Register for a free Last.fm user account. Then set up a label account (even if you’re a solo independent artist). This will enable you to add music directly to Last.fm’s streaming radio services and manage your presence on the site. Why do this? Last.fm has a huge and expanding global audience and is specifically designed to aid the spread of music through a social community.
Since 1999, this site has been promoting indie artists to the world. And it does it in a way that’s right in line with the web 2.0 world: by letting ordinary listeners and fans pick the best emerging music. GarageBand claims, “Our vision is to redefine how music is discovered and promoted: by the people, for the people.”
How to use it: Register for a GarageBand artist account (there are various free and fee-based options). Post your songs to your profile page. Reviews are randomly assigned to listeners among the site’s 600,000-plus (update) community of music fans. The higher your songs are rated, the higher they climb GarageBand charts. The highest rated songs get the most exposure and plays. Dozens of bands have been signed as a result of their rating on the site.
This bare-bones site has become the free classified ad supermarket of the world. Founded by Craig Newmark in 1995 as a job-posting site in San Francisco, CraigsList now serves up ads and forums in 450 cities worldwide.
How to use it: You can use CraigsList for a number of music-related purposes. If you need a new bass player, post a free ad in the Musicians section. Promote your shows in the Events area. Let talent buyers know about your services in the Talent Gigs or Event Gigs section. All for free.
As you can, along with internet growth and technological advances come opportunities. As a creative music marketer, it’s your job to examine all of the current tools available online (along with new ones that keep popping up) and figure out the best way to use them to promote your music to the world.
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