After much skepticism and convincing myself I didn’t have the time to tackle yet another social networking site, I joined Twitter just over a month ago and have since posted 109 tweets. I wasn’t really sure at first the utility of it but by following many different types of accounts (celebrities, blogs, bands, companies, etc.) I’ve quickly realized what kinds of tweets “work” and which ones will push people to click the dread “Remove” button to take you out of their updates stream.
Being more interested in music than anything else (of course), I was eager to find bands and musicians to follow – hoping to get an inside scoop on their latest concert or pictures/audio from a recent studio session. Surprisingly enough, very few artists seem to be using Twitter in this way. In fact, while the number is growing, the music community in general stills seems very underrepresented on Twitter.
That’s why I was thrilled to find this article today on Digg from TechCrunch:
“On April 3, Moonalice, which also includes ex-Saturday Night Live guitarist G.E. Smith, held its first live Twitter-integrated concert at a venue in San Francisco. Immediately following each song during the show, Moonalice’s sound team took the song’s audio, digitized it, uploaded it and then “Tweeted” about its availability — all before the group finished playing the next song at the live concert. The sound team used TinyURL to Tweet a link to a site where users could listen and download the song. Moonalice saw such a resounding response from followers on Twitter and fans that the band decided to do the same thing for the next two concerts. Because of the live Twitter integration, Moonalice says that its seen 3000 downloads of its music in the past week and a half (from just the tweets and retweeting).”
For the rest of the article – Roger McNamee’s Band Moonalice Gets 3000 Downloads From Twitter Concerts
How freaking cool is that?!? Imagine a show you wanted to see sells out but you can still virtually listen along song-by-song…genius. I’m sure major label bands will be tentative to do this because the bigwigs are worried nobody will buy concert tickets anymore (which is ridiculous because everyone knows a live CD, while a great remembrance of a how is in now way a adequate substitute). However, this is a seriously creative idea for bands trying to make a name for themselves and prove their live chops.
Reading this article got me thinking – what are some ways that bands are successfully using Twitter to expand their fan base? And for bands out there looking to improve their fans’ Twitter experience, what are some tools they can use? The topic has seen a bit of controversy, with some bands preferring to keep up their cool, inaccessible rock star image by avoiding social network sites, but I’m inclined to think they’ll be on the bandwagon soon enough.
Based on further research and my own experiences, here is my Bands vs. Twitter internet roundup:
SXSW: Social Networking Rocks – But Only For Some Bands, via Wired
Imogen Heap on Twitter: Real-Time, Real-World Creative Process, via Create Digital Music
Mike Skinner to premiere new songs via Twitter, via MSN
Twitter Application Listento.fm, via TwiTip
How To Make Twitter Sound Like Music To Your Ears, via TechCrunch
Grow Your Band’s Following With Twitter! via Serve The Song
10 Twitter Tips For Musicians And Bands, via Sound Citizen
Bands To Follow – A Twitter feed that tells you the latest bands to join
John Mayer and Demi Lovato Exchange Compliments on Twitter, via People
That’s a good start for anyone wanting to catch up on music in the Twittersphere. If you have a link to a good resource that I didn’t find, share it in the comments!
