Stage 1: The context of social networking and its relevance with musicians

I've tried to keep this short - I'm sorry, it's not!             
          Social networks are BIG (if you hadn't noticed). Facebook has over 500 million members - that is nearly 15% of the world's population (Google Public Data, Jess' calculations). 90% of Britain is online; news sites all over the web (BBC, Guardian, Times) have social networking areas, reporting specifically about the influence and happenings in the social networking world. 

• News
• Media
• Social networking

           Though there are few theorists on the subject, social networking is providing a lot of reading matter with ‘how to’ books. The few theorists on social media, generally appreciate that social networking is the result of the Web 2.0 phenomenon – which is often seen as outdated now.
         The term Web 2.0 emerged in the mid 2000s as the web saw an increase of forums and file sharing sites, a contrast to the hands off world wide web of the 90s. There was a general view that the content of the web was provided by ‘boffins’ in Silicon Valley; as the popularity of user driven sites increased, the term Web 2.0 came about highlighting a new era of internet use where the public decided what information was on the web. This coincided with the development of sites such as Wikipedia and the rise in social networks.

This works with Charles Leadbeater, who encourages this information sharing theory in ‘We Think’ where he discusses the web as a mass of conversation; leading to mass innovation. This mass of conversation is often found through social media.

There was no one off invention of the social network, but more of an evolution of interaction and socialising online. The internet was originally a professional development tool for technical experts in Silicon Valley; it evolved to the mainstream, and with it came more mainstream sites. For example, when Microsoft developed MSN and Hotmail, they allowed their hotmail users to instant message, from that they developed profiles, let them create their own microsites that users and friends could comment on. The social side of email, evolved to a social network of sorts.

A social network's success, due to its nature, is driven by its users. If one person invites five of their friends to a network to share pictures, comments and chat, then each of those friends will invite five of their friends and the domino effect will come into place. This is just the initial stage of a new social network; once a network is established, there is a more complex system of friends finding each other on the network. Facebook started out as a university based network, then as the popularity grew, the media became interested, as did game developers and so the expansion also came from those curious about the phenomenon.

With the increase in popularity of these networks socially – as a place where friends can meet and share photos and comments; musicians began to take advantage of this. There was the ability to play and publish their own music and share it with their friends online. Social networks became an accessible, easy way to reach hundreds of potential fans.

A good example of this is MySpace, which evolved from a social network for users to socialise with friends, to a major site for new, independent and signed musicians looking to promote themselves. Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys found success through the site gaining a huge following online before being recognised by a major record label. But as a wise guardian journalist says - for every Allen, there are thousands of musicians who don't get recognised. But it is still regarded as a good starting point for any musician looking to get online and promote their music through a free, and popular avenue. 

Now there is Facebook and Twitter, Reverbnation as well as other social networks that musicians can use to promote themselves directly to fans. The odd occurrence is that there is hardly anything written about how musicians use these sites, and more importantly, what their fans think of social networking as an avenue of music marketing and promotion. 

This is what I'm going to look at in my research. I'll try to apply some Social Media theory written about independent businesses using these sites as a marketing tool, to musicians. 

Over the summer, I conducted an online survey (through Survey Monkey), through which I gathered 97 participants. These were a range of people online, who may or may not use social networking, answering questions on their online use and whether they follow musicians on social networks. I also analysed the methods in which three specific musicians used social networks to promote themselves online and assessed whether their methods coincided with those reported by my 97 participants. This research allows my to assess both sides of social media, music marketing and promotion, and therefore draw to a more rounded conclusion.