Social media, blogs, and online news outlets are typically referred to as “new media.” These channels of communication have far-reaching implications for society, including in business, politics and of course art.
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Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, is another good example of New Media, combining Internet-accessible digital text, images and video with web-links, creative participation of contributors, interactive feedback of users and formation of a participant community of editors and donors for the benefit of non-community readers. Facebook is also a type of New Media, belonging to the category of social media model, in which most users are also participants. Another type of New Media is Twitter which also belongs to the social media category, through which users interact with one another and make announcements to which the public receives. Both Facebook and Twitter have risen in usage in recent years and have become an online resource for acquiring information.
Right after the microphone, television and radio, the internet has birthed new opportunities for artists to reach their target audience through the use of social media.
A recent study by research and analysis firm, Music Watch revealed that nine out of ten social media users do a music-related activity within the framework of the app. The survey was conducted with 800 respondents who make use of top social media platforms; Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook at least once a month. The result of the research reported 75 percent of respondents watching a music video; 69 percent listening to music on terrestrial radio; and 35 percent paying for a music streaming subscription. The audience also skewed young, with 36 percent between the ages of 13 and 24.
In terms of followings, Instagram leads the way, with 56 percent of users following, sharing or tagging musicians; Twitter came next, with 51 percent; and Facebook saw 44 percent of respondents liking a musician or artist, a number that rises to 47 percent among daily users. Among Snapchat users, meanwhile, 68 percent viewed or posted photos from live music events, while 23 percent captioned their posts with song lyrics.
Music Watch reported “Two out of three (63 percent) users agree that they are discovering new artists on social media” and “Almost 60 percent of social media users are visiting streaming services to listen to music after they see an update, tweet or post. On Facebook, the most valued music activity is being able to share links to music from streaming services, including playlists.”
The emergence of the internet has made it easy for relatively unknown artists to build buzz for themselves and attract the attention of labels and other stakeholders within the music industry. This to some degree puts the power in the hands of the artists as American hip hop artist, Chance The Rapper started off by building an online presence on free streaming music app, SoundCloud. Chance went on to win a Grammy Award for his work on the album Coloring Book, without ever signing to a record label or following traditional means of distribution as the project was only released digitally. A different route can also be taken as most artists of today get discovered through social media and get signed to record labels, making their ascent to superstardom much smoother.
New media has also brought new streams of income for entrepreneurs and PR personnel with the role of Social Media Influencer becoming ubiquitous. There is no fixed model of approach to new media as it keeps evolving, innovating and doesn’t distinguish between good and bad press – a trend is a trend.
