I Don't Want A Social Life Anymore: How bands gauge success on Facebook and Twitter
It’s a fairly safe assumption that social networking and its trappings dominate our lives, whether we want them to or not. The proliferation of activity on platforms like Facebook and Twitter has helped millions of people gain access to more information than ever before, and similarly, has enabled musicians reach a much larger audience than ever thought possible, certainly moreso than the days when DIY print zines dominated the music landscape and one had to book tours over a phone system that was in no way smart. Now, all the world’s information—including that of bands, labels and other entities within our scene—is literally at everyone’s fingertips.
With this explosion of available resources, bands are closer to their fanbases than ever before, and with some craftiness are only a couple of steps away from gaining new fans. The term “fan” has a much different meaning than it once did, however: these days, for many fandom is defined by a Facebook “like” or a twitter follow and little else. Conceivably, one can be a “fan” of a band or label without actually being a patron of the arts, in a traditional sense.
Even with those caveats, bands use the power of social networking to update fans on recording, tour dates and much less revelatory minutiae such as their taste in food, clothes and television. Most see it as a valuable tool to help them reach their goals. “The value in being able to tweet a message and have it instantly received by thousands is so huge,” says Eisley frontwoman Sherri DuPree-Bemis. “Whether you're a band on a big label or small label or no label at all, you need to have a way to talk to the people who love and support you. Without having an honest, actual voice, I think it's just 'them' and 'you.' Bands and fans were meant to interact and share news, stories and personal bits.” DuPree-Bemis’ husband, Say Anything frontman Max Bemis, agrees. “It spreads awareness and lets kids know people in bands are always active and creating whether they're playing shows or not,” he says, but also concedes that “it's a challenge to have something relevant to say to thousands of kids at any given time.”
The notion that not all content shared by bands on these platforms is relevant or interesting concerns some. “There's no denying that more [Facebook] “likes” or more Twitter followers will undoubtedly spread the word of your band, but when it comes down to it, the whole thing annoys the hell out of me, and it's actually really disturbing how much bands put out there for everyone to see,” laments Heartsounds guitarist/vocalist Ben Murray. “I don't feel like our fans need to know the intimacies of our personal lives or every single thought [we have], so we don't put that out there. It’s about the music and what that means to people, not about what we ate for lunch today. When bands try to be witty or test out their burgeoning stand-up skills, I get douche-chills like you wouldn't believe.”
Run With The Hunted vocalist Drew Wilkinson sees downsides as well. “Social networking and the internet is a double edged sword; while it's made things easier for us as a band, it's done the same thing for a million other bands too,” he says. “People used to have to seek out bands they wanted to listen to—read liner notes and thank yous on record sleeves and get compilation CDs. Now people are absolutely bombarded with new bands, new songs, new this and new that every time they get online. It’s musical overload for most people and most bands just sort of get lost in the shuffle. It's definitely shortened people's attention span too; personally I sometimes find it difficult to sit through an entire song of a band, which I hate.”
“It's killed show promotion too,” he continues. “Promoters have gotten super lazy and just assume if they make a Facebook event for a show a week before it happens, people will show up. I think overall, ironically, this massive thing that was supposed to connect everybody and integrate things more closely has done largely the opposite. We're more isolated, more introverted and less outgoing because we rely on social networking instead of real communication.”
Another important question in all of this is whether or not Facebook “likes” or twitter followers can measure a band’s reach as accurately as we think. Dawes, a much-ballyhooed Los Angeles rock band with plenty of critical praise behind them, have just over 19,000 Facebook likes at press time, for example. Meanwhile, a critically panned act such as Brokencyde boast over half a million Facebook likes. While there’s no accounting for taste, it’s telling that perhaps the numbers can be skewed based on who’s doing the “liking,” as it were—do Brokencyde have more “fans” and a larger reach than Dawes? Almost definitely, but are those fans as die-hard and, perhaps more importantly, do they have more disposable income to spend on records, t-shirts and concert tickets? It’s hard to say. (Continued on Page 2…)
The numbers game is something with limited value in the grand scheme of things, according to New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki. “We do pay attention to our social networking stats, although it's not something that you can solely rely on as an indicator of how well you are doing overall,” he says. “What does matter with these stats, in my opinion, is trends, and trying to figure out whether certain events and promotions actually work by looking at trends for those specific events.” Bolooki and the rest of the guys in NFG came from a different generation and have had to adapt to the changing landscape. “For NFG, it all started with Napster and MP3 sharing, and although that's not really ‘social networking,’ in a way it was, because we had people who found our music and then shared it with others, much like someone goes on Facebook or Twitter and then either suggests friends or finds new friends through their already established connections on those sites,” he continues. “We always say that if it wasn't for things like Napster, we wouldn't be where we are today; with Facebook and Twitter however, we are fortunate enough that we didn't have to rely on those sites in order to establish our band, but we do actively use those sites to keep our fans aware of everything we are doing, whether it's new tour dates, new media or just to see ‘who’ our fans really are today.”
Counterparts vocalist Brendan Murphy largely agrees, but also sees the benefit of increased “like” numbers on Facebook. “If we were in the same place we are now, and had three likes on Facebook, I would still be very content with how we're doing. At the end of the day, it's how many people actually appreciate the music,” he says. “Obviously social networking is a huge part of being in a band in 2011. I guess the numbers help to a certain extent, to get attention of people who don't know your band. But if your band sucks, your band sucks. It won't matter how many people ‘like’ you on Facebook. When no one comes out the shows, buys records and merch or shows support in general, you just look like a tool with big numbers and no way to back them up.”
Conversely, Sleeping With Sirens make great use of their stats, according to vocalist Kellin Quinn. “Stats and ‘likes’ help us to gauge what our listeners are stoked on, and where we need to improve,” he says. “‘Likes’ can be useful especially if we were to do some sort of contest. Getting ‘adds’ or ‘likes’ help our fans rally for the band, but for the most part it's just cool to see our fans taking the time to hop online and let us know they are involved.” Quinn even goes to acknowledge that many within the business side of the scene rank a band’s pull based on these stats. “Promoters, agents and labels always look at your social networking. It's the fastest way to see what the band is worth, other than record sales. Our band has seen a lot of positive growth by keeping up with our online networking.”
The Ready Set’s Jordan Witzigreuter takes a similar approach, not just when tweeting on behalf of his own band but when checking out other accounts as well. “If somebody sees a Twitter account with hundreds of thousands of followers, they may be more likely to check it out because that person must have something interesting to say, or be entertaining at least,” he says. “There is less privacy [on these networks], but that's a trade you kind of have to be willing to make in order to reach a ton of people. Sometimes the line between ‘Internet follower’ and ‘friend’ can be blurred too, which is weird for everybody. I think if you balance everything well there's really not a huge downside to social networking, but it depends on the person or band.”
More and more young bands are spending copious amounts of time on social networks building their following, including The Bunny The Bear. “Our social networking numbers mean a lot to me, only because I know how we utilize such outlets and I know Facebook has benefited us extensively,” says vocalist Matt Tybor. “I spend countless hours on The Bunny The Bear's Facebook, and I think fans notice. They appreciate the attention I show them and how in tune we are with all our fans which in turn, I've noticed, makes them a lot more active in their support and overall promotion of our band.”
The influx of information, not to mention its ease of use, has undoubtedly devalued the practice of promotion in the eyes of many, according to Make Do And Mend drummer Matthew Carroll. “Because it is so easy to be on these networks, just the onslaught of info that kids are being hit with has made it overwhelming,” he says. “People have to be a little more selective; I know I am. Also, information holds less meaning on the Internet. There's a million blogs with new stories, interviews, reviews, etc. It used to be you would pick up Alternative Press to read the interview with Blink-182 where they talk about their new album; now its posted on a ton of different music sites way quicker than a magazine can do it.”
Meaning or impression is a tough thing to measure on social networks, and regardless of how many “likes” or followers a band has on these networks and how much or how little time they spend on them, most agree that the best way to support a band you like (but maybe don’t “like” just yet) is to attend shows and buy merch. “I don't think that social networking stats are necessarily the end-all-be-all,” says Close Your Eyes drummer Tim Friesen. “The number of 'likes' still can't save a band if their product is sub-par. I've seen a few band pages become obsessed with spreading their presence on Facebook, to the extent that they spent more time 'getting the word out' than they did honing their music and improving as a band. I think every band likes seeing higher numbers on Facebook likes, but to me the real number that matters is the kids that come out to shows. That's where I really am interested.” alt
So what do you think? Should bands pay more or less attention to their social networks? Is there something to be said for bands that build their brand through these networks, only to have their focus skewed and their shows poorly attended? As fans, what trends have you noticed?
