Editorial Articles

Miles Lewis, Senior Vice President at Last.fm, considers the impact of social media on the way music is made, distributed, marketed and consumed

What impact has social media had on the way fans consume music?
Actually, way before the term 'social media' was coined, consumers empowered by this new way of communicating (the internet), began to realise the power of sharing. Music became one of the largest categories of content to be shared very quickly. They began to realise the power of social media to broadcast the finding of a band before the band broke into everyday awareness. Some wanted the kudos of scale: 'I've shared more music than anyone else'; 'I am the authority on this artist/band/genre'. Therefore the biggest impact of all was and remains: choice.

The ability to explore the long-tail of music, whenever, however, from all corners of the globe at very low cost is beyond some people’s comprehension. Our repertoire of music is no longer 25-50 artists or bands but thousands, tens of thousands if you have the time. Social media has extended this to the mainstream and the ease with which it is possible to broadcast what you are listening to, the gig you are going to, the venue you are at or any amount of information around music is phenomenal. 

What has been the biggest impact for artists and the music industry?
For artists the internet and the rise of social functionality has been a mixed blessing. On the one hand you can broadcast yourself to the world, unencumbered by interference from anyone not associated with you or your band. Your creativity can shine through, your song-writing skills are there to be heard and enjoyed, you control your music.

On the other hand, how do you get yourself heard? And if you are heard how do you make a living? Digital Natives (those consumers born roughly after 1990) began sharing music years before the music labels understood their businesses were about to be shaken to the core and an entire generation was finding music for free, or at least choosing individual tracks to purchase rather than an entire album (if they were that way inclined). Has this had an impact on creativity? Almost certainly if you think about the quality of music that has been produced in the last five years compared to the proceeding ten (X Factor, American Idol juggernauts aside, that is). 

What issues should marketers be thinking about when they launch a social media campaign?
There are reams and reams of solid, well-debated suggestions, recommendations and strategies to answer this question. From Last.fm's perspective it is really simple: any campaign utilising social elements will never die, it will live forever. Old school planning around campaign start and end dates is obsolete across all forms of social media. Marketing communications in a Digital Native's world needs resource and once launched constant dialogue. It is simply negative for a brand to start something and let it wither.

How do you measure success in social media marketing? Is it all about ROI, or are engagement, reputation and advocacy just as important?
Let's be honest: any marketing spend is ultimately ROI based. The journey marketing communications takes and the strategy around this journey will of course be different brand to brand and campaign to campaign so the answer depends on the strategy for using social media in the first place. For instance: ASOS launches a Facebook store: there will be a causal effect on awareness but ultimately it’s a store and it sells clothes, so here is its ROI. Cadbury's create a Spots v Stripes area: multi-million pound advertising spend raises awareness of the initiative to a degree and social media builds engagement in the campaign strategy (the media-multiplier effect). Selling more Dairy Milk is the end goal but here engagement and advocacy are primary goals. Measure activity based on the strategy - this is the maxim of all marketing communications, social media included. 

How important are issues surrounding privacy and data to marketers using social media?
This is really simple: treat consumers online as you do off. Would you walk up to the front door of a potential customer and stick a huge BOGOF poster slap bang in the middle of it? Don't do it online either. Aggregate data, treat customers privacy as you would your own and use data to help shape strategy. 

Miles Lewis, Senior VP, Last.fm

http://www.last.fm/