(live Twitter Stream of @iamjayali)
We all know what happened to Myspace. Friend Bots, comment SPAM and really just a lot of noise.
The problem is that it seems musicians are not learning from the past. Especially in the hip-hop genre (sorry to call you out, but it seems like you keep coming back like, well, use your freaky on the weekend imaginations).
Last night, as I put the iPhone on the charger I get a buzz. It’s a Twitter DM (I still get them to my phone because I have a lot of clients and close associates that like to get in touch quickly that way). The Tweet below for everyone to see:
(DM from PROMOMAN to check out his brand new free download)
Here is the issue I have with this one Tweet and I’ll get into more specifics in a minute.
Yes, @PROTOMANIA I am following you so that opens up the communications channel to send DM’s. But before you send me some track from you and a producer I never heard of, maybe you should have started a conversation with me. Maybe you could have noticed that I just got off an hour and a half call with 200+ musicians on music marketing and merchandising.
You could have asked how it was. Sorry you missed it. Then slipped in the, “Hey man, I know you are busy but I’d love your feedback on this track because…“
You should also know that I don’t review artists here. I plug some Label 2.0 members every once in a while, but that’s the extent of it.
Lastly – don’t send me bullshit links from spammy sharing sites. Use something professional like BandCamp or SoundCloud. Or, look at hosting the tracks on your own domain (here’s a great price on hosting!) or use Amazon S3.
Here Is the Overall Problem With Artists And Twitter
Twitter is a two-way communication platform. That means a discussion, talking back and forth. Yes, it is a platform for you to communicate with fans. To share messages. I certainly do. I use it to announce calls, new products, new posts. But I also use it to talk to musicians, bloggers, friends and others. I use it to share helpful information, fun blog posts, videos or cool stuff that I think my followers will like.
Chris Brogan wrote a homerun post called “Stop Talking About Yourself.” This is certainly a tough concept for the ego-centric music business to take in, but here is some knowledge for you to take in:
“Check your last 10 blog posts, your last 10 tweets. Are they all about you. Are they all about your products, your services, whatever it is you’re pushing? How many are about you versus those that are about others (either directly about them or empowering them)?”
- Are you empowering your fans?
- Are you involving them in some way – maybe the creative process, a contest, soliciting feedback, etc?
- Are you building and strengthening relationships with music industry professionals (I know more than I can count that love to chat, respond and help on Twitter – are you spamming them with listen to my music requests or looking for build long term relationships)?
Get back to basics in your music marketing approach. How are you going to make people care about you? Then they can care about your music.
Stop using Twitter like Myspace. Learn from the past and build real relationships. Build a real career, a real business.
Who’s down with that?
-Greg
Tags: Music Marketing, twitter
Leave A Reply (12 comments So Far)
The comments are closed.
Carmen
703 days ago
Yes!!! I am so tired of receiving this kind of junk and often wonder if the people sending it really think it is doing themselves or their businesses any favor. I unfollow as soon as I get it! Thanks for stating it so clearly
RL
703 days ago
This is all true stuff, I use to be into marketing about 2 3 years ago and found that no matter what i did, I always came off as spammy. I had no intention to spam anyone but I did want to push the products and services, which was the wrong way for me. After I put marketing behind me i found that it was much easier to communicate and share great stuff online with people. One thing i found was that every time I took the time to look at people profiles and read up about them I was more connected with them, When we chat for the first time its like we already know each other for years. I guess if goes back the the saying “treat others how you would like to be treated”
New York Samba School
703 days ago
I think you are so right! Your post caught my attention exactly because I am always looking into learn how to use the new social tool better. Some people just do not care about it/ That is why they keep on repeating the same mistake over and over. Congratulation.
Wicked D
703 days ago
Yep, there’s a reason it’s called ‘building a relationship’. Great post! It forced me to look at my last 10 tweets, as of the time of this comment.
From @Wicked_D
5 were regarding recommendations for people whom I admire
4 were @ replies mostly passing on industry info
1 was a plug for a hip hop/comedy act I manage, but I didn’t ask anyone to ‘check them out’, I simply made a statement about how funny I thought they were w/a link to their website.
This method appears to be working rather well for me!
gregrollett
702 days ago
@Carmen
And that unfollow comes at a high cost. I’d love to see someone show we a positive return on investment from Twitter spam.
gregrollett
702 days ago
@RL
that’s a great point. Doing some due diligence and research before reaching out always make the conversations flow that much better. You already have a grasp of where you want the chat to go and there are more positives that come out.
Not all marketing is evil however. Permission marketing is the way to go though. Add value and get people into your pipeline to push out content.
gregrollett
702 days ago
@Wicked D
Thanks for the taking the last 10 Tweet test. Something told me yours would look something like that. Keep up the great work man!
Deborah
702 days ago
I understand where you’re coming from. I wonder if you would consider a quick DM with a link to your Twitter tips page and thank the artist for thinking of you. You make solid sense and relationships matter.
Deborah Diak
“The Music Marketing Maven”
http://www.risingstarartists.com
Marcus Taylor
692 days ago
Good post Greg, I am relieved that Twitter has disabled all of the bulk follow / unfollow tools and gone to great efforts in the last few months to improve the quality of Twitter and it seems to be working!
Marcus