mmgt 111 research paper
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My Music, My WayThe Effects of the Rise of Social Media on the MusicIndustry Today
Samantha Juneman
BY SAMANTHA MAY JUNEMAN
Professor Keith Hatschek - November 4th, 2010 MMGT 111
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My Music, My Way: The Effects of the Rise of Social Media on the MusicIndustry Today
In the 1950s, media was all about conformity. A readjusting
society, coming out of wartime, sought for comforts of the home, and
normalcy within their old and familiar social structures. In that respect,
music was being marketing to the masses as one whole. Our societys
music preferences were treated as one ideal notion, and consumers
were told what to think, and what to like by the media. The current
market could not function further from the means of the mass media
approach. The music industry is now focused on the consumer as an
individual, and is focusing on catering to that individuals personal
wants and needs. Social media, which has risen to the forefront of the
Internet industry in the last ten years, has taken over the music
industrys use for mass media. It has become a tool that has given
musicians the ability to cater to their fans on a personal level. The rise
of social media in the last ten years has contributed to the integration
of music and social networking in on a commercial and social level.
Currently, the music industry uses social media to reach consumers
who are part of market segments which were previously hard to reach.
Through this realization of the effectiveness of catering to new
consumers on a more personal and individual level, the industry has
changed its perspective on many of its marketing strategies. The
industry no longer markets to its consumers in the same manner as it
has for the last fifty years beforehand. The rise of social media has
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caused the music industry to shift its focus from a mass marketing
approach to that of targeting the individual.
As a new and rapidly changing science, social media is hard to
define. However, Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haelein, who are avid
researchers of social media, describe it as a group of Internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations
of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user generated
content.i In the case of online music, user generated content relates
to the marketing of digital media with blogs, posts, tweets, and
anything related to the creation of buzz about music content. Major
labels in the music industry have established grass roots marketing
divisions to handle and utilize this user-generated online content
relating to their assets.ii NetReach is a small division within Universal
Music Group Distribution, which is designed to bolster product and
artist awareness through the creation, promotion and management of
online fan groups and communities iii. CEO, Jim Urie, states by
extending our efforts to include online marketing, UMGD is better
positioned to capitalize on the marketing opportunities that exist
across all areas in a more strategic and integrated way.iv This
strategic marketing stance taken by an industry leader reiterates the
importance of reaching a new market segment online, and
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My Music, My Way: The Effects of the Rise of Social Media on the MusicIndustry Today
acknowledges the impact that user generated content has on digital
music sales. Social media is defined by the way users operate within
these applications, and the individual user is what matters here, not
the general public.
Why is social media focused on a different subjectthan mass media?
To begin to understand the psychology behind social media, we
must first understand the strong tie that it shares with the concept of
sub culture. Music marketing within social media strives to offer a wide
variety of music to a single consumer at one time. The selectivity of
the consumer is heavily influenced by the sub cultural nature of
musical preference and the tie that musical inclination has to the
concept of social standing. As personal taste in music has become
much more important to ones own representation, the beginnings of
this trend can be traced to the start of sub cultural growth in popular
music around the late 1970s through the 1980s with the Club
Culture. Ideas of authenticity and hipness, or lack thereof, were
becoming prevalent in the social scene of music.v Club culture was
growing around disco hits mixed especially for club play and an
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underground music movement dependant on rotation within these
venues. Soon, In the United states, where the success of disco
depended, at least at first, on deejay creativity, the music developed
as a singles medium.vi The resurgence of the single meant that the
album was no longer the dominant medium. Styles and selections of
the deejay were now dependant of the individual creative identity of
each single. This new selectivity was fueling the personal tastes of club
goers in sprouting subcultures. The Club culture was the beginning of
a new movement where music was stimulating a social culture in the
late 20th century. Musicologist, Sarah Thornton points out Club crowds
generally congregate(d) on the basis of their shared taste in music,
their consumption of common media and, most importantly, their
preference for people with similar tastes to themselves.vii Music
consumers began to tie their music preferences to their own social
standing.
Ironically, the concept of hipness and authenticity in musical
preference to the masses was not a valuable aspect in musical
subculture. The more something was hip to a larger amount of
people, the less hip it actually became. Anti mass culture was
becoming associated with the idea of higher value in music to those in
the club culture. Approving reports in mass media like tabloids or
television are the subcultural kiss of death.viii Having a mass appeal
to a song showed lack of personal taste and uniqueness, this was
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exactly the opposite of what the club culture was valuing in musical
taste. It was the peoples ability to have control and preference in the
music they surrounded themselves with and chose to identify with in
its subcultural social circles. Similarly social media today provides this
artistic selectivity to anyone with Internet access, not just avid club
goers. It fuels the common day consumers desires to identify with a
subculture and is able to provide those consumers with convenient
access to anti mass media. The Club Culture is an example of a
growing need for mediums of socialization within music, which fueled
the necessity of a medium to be created and available to everyone. In
this way, music inspired the basis of need for social media; to
conveniently find a community with similar interests and
characteristics. Now, music exists at the core of social networking, and
inspires many business functions in the industry of the Internet.
Who are the people using it?
In 2009, author Eamonn Forde suggested Digital music is firmly
ingrained in consumption habits among teenage and pre-college
consumers in the US.ix With an audience survey performed by the NPD
group, Fordes study shows that music is an integral part of social
networking activity and occupies a large amount of time within the
teenage and pre-college demographic. A majority of the activity from
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this age bracket involved with digital music is focused on the discovery
and consumption of new musical artists and content. This shift in
consumer behavior is revealed in the rise of recommendation sites
such as Last.Fm, and Pandora.x Also reported was the fact that almost
a fifth of Social Networking consumers listen to music via Social
Networking sites, and in spite of this, legal downloading is increasing
on the web. This study shows the consumers response to the growth
of the Internet and new technology. It also reveals the perspective in
which the music industry sees new potential for online sales. With a
growing market of youth, who are willing to purchase content legally,
and are dependant on convenient consumption and social musical
association, social networking is the obvious platform of use to reach
the Industrys target of consumers.xi
How much do they use it, and how important is it tothe users?
Music is an integral part in the usage of social media among our
youth culture, but how much is social media involved in our lives, and
how? The Pew Internet and American Life Project did a study on the
content, and platform use of social networking, finding just how much
of our lives are involved with social networking. 93% of teenagers use
the Internetand 64% of online teens have participated in a wide
range of content-creating activities on the Internet.xii Teens are very
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involved with content creation, sharing, and remixing online, whether
or not that content be audio or visual. You can see in the table below a
significant increase in the percentage of teens using multiple platforms
to create content online from 2004 to 2006.
xiii
The article does not mention music content specifically, but it
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does specify which platforms teens use the most to create content
online. The study goes on to show that Social Networking applications
and websites such as Facebook and Myspace integrate many of these
content-creating behaviors and the opportunity to display content
created elsewhere into one centralized location.xiv Again, the
importance of convenience is brought up as an integral part as to why
consumers choose one platform over the other. The music industry
both acknowledges the significance of online content creation, and the
users who are creating it. They target users of these websites who
create the most content online.
Do the marketing strategies affect theseusers? Is the music industry targeting theseusers specifically?
With the majority of content creators online being teenagers, it
poses the question if these are the main consumers of digital music,
and does the music industry target this demographic specifically?
Online music retailers actually target individuals within the age bracket
of 25-45 years old.xv According to researcher Maria Styven, these
individuals have a higher-than-average interest in music, low
concerns about risk, and are experienced users of the Internet and
digital music overall.xvi This demographic is categorized as a group of
busier internet users who may be using social networking for
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professional use, and may not spend as much time online as a
teenager. With these characteristics in mind, convenience and visual
appeal are important in the strategies accompanying the marketing
process for digital music. It is important to quickly establish appeal in a
consumers eye, but it is also important to offer then an easy and fast
purchasing process. This strategy proves to be integral in keeping
users engaged. Along with making things easy and convenient for
customers through platform efficiency, they also need to be offered a
choice of quality and incentive to want to purchase quality digital
content as opposed to downloading it illegally. Maria Styven states that
Customer-perceived value of downloadable music, in terms of
expected value for money, was found to be quite low. Value could,
however, be increased by improving the most important benefits.xvii
Convenience benefits are important because online consumers
generally hold online content at an extremely low value and compare it
to free, but illegal, content they could be getting instead. The key to
getting consumers to spend their money on music is to offer a
convenient, easy, and visually appealing platform in which to purchase
it from.
How is the music industry taking advantage of socialmedia?
The Industry holds great importance to the platform interface of
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their online markets. A new social media site that incorporates
attributes like ease of use, convenience, and visual appeal, is
RootMusic. The creation of RootMusic, a website devoted to retailing
and marketing music online within the convenience of Facebook, gives
specific examples as to how it competes with other music marketing
tools online in both convenience, and simplicity. The new platform is
described, by Music Week writer, Eamonn Forde, as much cleaner
than its main competitor, Myspace.xviii Hayes Metzger, the product
manager, mentions that the main goal behind RootMusic was to
replace the physical idea of a street team, and use those resources to
reach more potential customers on a wider geographic level.xix
RootMusic is reaching out to fans and customers on an individual basis
by providing simple and convenient platforms of information that cater
to all of the specific personal tastes. The creators of RootMusic
designed this platform by looking at already established examples,
realizing their market segment on an individual basis, and focusing on
catering to personal tastes and convenience, which their competitors
had not been keeping in mind. Taking the example of an aesthetically
pleasing layout from Myspace, and integrating it in to Facebook with a
cleaner music player and added features for sharing, RootMusic has
essentially tried to combine the best of both social networking sites,
and offer convenience and aesthetic changes to music consumers to
keep them engaged with music. This creation inspires online content to
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be created concerning online music. It targets the user demographics
of Facebook, and offers its users the freedom of variety of choice, and
is simple and easy to use. Industry leaders are taking many other
actions like RootMusic, and moving towards offering their consumers
more choices and marketing to them as individuals.xx
Why Focus on the individual?
The movement towards marketing music through social media
has gravitated towards focusing on the individual rather than the
masses. When marketing music, or any other content online, a firm will
find one person is viewing their product at a time using his or her own
personal computers. Consumers are coming into contact with content
on their own personal time, through their own mediums, and without
the reactions or commentary of others around them. Their personal
impressions of online content are completely original and uninfluenced
by the people around them at first glance. This privacy that exists in
the relationship between product and the online consumer is what the
music industry has noticed and is focusing on.
Why is Mass Media no longer the only method of
marketing music?
In some ways, the methods of mass media are still effective, but
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currently only successful with the older generations of consumers.
Social media has replaced what mass media used to be for our youth
culture. Teenagers and young adults grew up with new technology and
depend on their social networking sites; they want to display their
created content and music preferences within its media. In analyzing
the decline of mass media, Aaron Cohen states, the introduction of
digital technology has created the most creative generation that has
ever lived.xxi This generation has grown up with technology framing
their lives, and in many cases, still strive to remain a vital story line in
the content.xxii Cohen goes on to explain that the Internet gives us
that opportunity to feel included and connected; Everybody wants an
audience, and on the Internet an audience of only one person is still an
audience.xxiii Mass media has begun to decline as the most effective
method of marketing music because of the vast amount of online
content available to everyone. With an endless amount of different
media influencing consumers online, the music industry is loosing
leverage with the mass marketing approach. This trend is causing the
music industry to struggle with creating hit makers.xxiv However,
social media is not killing the music marketers job, it is offering
marketing tools like international distribution, fan communication, and
content creation to help them market music in a different manner.
Music marketers must realize that they are catering towards a
generation who is a lot more involved with music than just listening to
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it.
How will the Music Industry change?
Social media is sometimes viewed as an obstacle to the music
industry. Newer industry leaders see the contrary and embrace the
opportunities that social networking have to offer. The music industry
needs to change its methods and realize the current market they are
catering to; shrinking artist rosters and shooting million-dollar videos
is not the correct strategy.
xxv
Aaron Cohen suggests, Labels should
consider organizing the participant generation. Alternative approaches
that allow bands to their way onto the Internet may lead to a whole
new meaning of A&R.xxvi It is safe to say that the Music Industry has
noticed the shift in success from mass media approaches to those that
encompass social media and its new generation. However this is not to
say that the music industry has abandoned the mass media approach
all together.
Is mass media completely irrelevant now?
Mass media still exists today and is a large function of marketing
and media in our current society. Its decline has obviously taken a
large structural toll on the music marketing industry, but has not
abandoned it. One example of the success of mass media today would
be the show American Idol. This television series offers one large
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encompassing audience the availability of popular music via public
television. It employs the mass marketing strategies similar to that of
American Band Stand. American Idol is one of the largest examples of
mass media still existing today. However, it is a perfect example of the
integration between mass media and social networking. Each
individual contestant of American Idol must receive votes from their
fans to stay in the competition. This employs the use of online
campaigns for the artists done by themselves and family and friends.
At this point, a label or company does not support these artists, and
marketing efforts are done on their own terms. The industry can use
this as an example of the effectiveness of grass roots marketing done
online. Ultimately, the winner is chosen by the personal tastes of the
audience; this includes both the purposes behind social media and
mass media together. In this way, mass media and social work
beautifully together in terms of marketing media. They both further the
aims of each other, and one can argue that they cannot exist without
the other. However, mass media has now been forced to share the
limelight of success with social media. Mass marketing can no longer
be considered the only successful means of marketing in the music
industry.
Where is social media now?
Social media has been rising to the forefront of media for the last
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ten years, and continues to work its magic on the marketing world.
The online industry, regarding much more than just music, is growing
monetarily and with continually added influential power. The future of
social media will not negate the theories and practices of mass media
all together, because in the end, marketing efforts are about getting
the attention of the most amount of people with the most amount of
money. However, its successful methods of reaching a new culture that
prides its self in individuality and personal identity prove to be helpful.
Social media will continue to serve this purpose to our society and will
more than likely move even closer towards the benefits of enticing
aesthetics and convenience. Catering to the individual is what social
media is focused on, and the music industry has followed suit.
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i . Kaplan, Andreas M; Michael Haelein, Users of the world, unite! The challengesand opportunities of Social Media, (Business Horizons, Indiana University, 2010),53.
ii . Universal Music Group Distribution, Universal Music and Video DistributionEstablishes NetReach, A New Media Division Dedicated to Online Grassroots
Marketing, (Corporate History, Santa Monica, CA, 2002),http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105
iii . Universal Music Group Distribution, Universal Music and Video DistributionEstablishes NetReach, A New Media Division Dedicated to Online GrassrootsMarketing, (Corporate History, Santa Monica, CA, 2002),http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105
iv. Universal Music Group Distribution, Universal Music and Video DistributionEstablishes NetReach, A New Media Division Dedicated to Online GrassrootsMarketing, (Corporate History, Santa Monica, CA, 2002),
http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105v. Sarah Thornton, Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Sub Culture Capital,(Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 1996), 3
vi. Reebee Garafalo, Rockin Out; Popular Music in the U.S.A., (University ofMassachusetts, Boston, 2010) 286.
vii. Sarah Thornton, Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Sub Culture Capital,(Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 1996), 4
viii
. Sarah Thornton, Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Sub Culture Capital,(Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 1996), 6
ix. Eamonn Forde, Digital: Music at the Core of Social Networking, Survey Reveals,Music Week, (28 March 2009) 9.
x. Eamonn Forde, Digital: Music at the Core of Social Networking, Survey Reveals,Music Week, (28 March 2009) 9.
xi Eamonn Forde, Digital: Music at the Core of Social Networking, Survey Reveals,Music Week, (28 March 2009) 9.
xii. Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Alexandra Rankin Macgill, Aaron Smith, Teensand Social Music, (PEW Internet and American Life Project, Washington DC, 2007)2
xiii Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Alexandra Rankin Macgill, Aaron Smith, Teensand Social Music, (PEW Internet and American Life Project, Washington DC, 2007)12
http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105 -
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xiv. Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Alexandra Rankin Macgill, Aaron Smith, Teensand Social Music, (PEW Internet and American Life Project, Washington DC, 2007)11xv. Maria Styven, Exploring the Online Music Market: Consumer Characteristics andValue Perceptions, (Lulea University of Technology, 2007) 25
xvi. Maria Styven, Exploring the Online Music Market: Consumer Characteristicsand Value Perceptions, (Lulea University of Technology, 2007) 6xvii. Maria Styven, Exploring the Online Music Market: Consumer Characteristicsand Value Perceptions, (Lulea University of Technology, 2007) 6
xviii. Eamonn Forde, Social Networking: Is RootMusic a Myspace Killer? , MusicWeek (10 July 2010) 9.
xix. Eamonn Forde, Social Networking: Is RootMusic a Myspace Killer? , Music Week
(10 July 2010) 9.xx Eamonn Forde, Social Networking: Is RootMusic a Myspace Killer? , Music Week(10 July 2010) 9.
xxi. Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.
xxii Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.
xxiii
. Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.xxiv. Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.
xxv. Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.xxvi. Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.
Bibliography
1. Aaron Cohen, Pete Seeger, Social Networking and the Decline of Mass Media,Billboard, 118:22 (3 June 2006) 8.
2. Andreas M Kaplan; Michael Haelein, Users of the world, unite! The challengesand opportunities of Social Media, (Business Horizons, Indiana University, 2010),
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53.
3. Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Alexandra Rankin Macgill, Aaron Smith, Teensand Social Music, (PEW Internet and American Life Project, Washington DC, 2007)2-12
4. Eamonn Forde, Digital: Music at the Core of Social Networking, Survey Reveals,Music Week, (28 March 2009) 9.
5. Eamonn Forde, Social Networking: Is RootMusic a Myspace Killer? , Music Week(10 July 2010) 9.
6. Maria Styven, Exploring the Online Music Market: Consumer Characteristics andValue Perceptions, (Lulea University of Technology, 2007) 6-25
7. Sarah Thornton, Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Sub Culture Capital,(Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 1996), 4-6
8. Reebee Garafalo, Rockin Out; Popular Music in the U.S.A., (University ofMassachusetts, Boston, 2010) 286.
9. Universal Music Group Distribution, Universal Music and Video DistributionEstablishes NetReach, A New Media Division Dedicated to Online GrassrootsMarketing, (Corporate History, Santa Monica, CA, 2002),http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105
http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35105