This one time at Bandcamp...
Posted: Friday 02 September, 2011
Colin Miller
Anyone who has ever recorded their own music, dreams of one day getting their material distributed to the masses. Whilst in the past the chances of a new artist being able to get their music heard was almost impossible, the emergence of social media in recent years has created a whole new DIY platform from which new and emerging artists are now able to successfully shape and manage the distribution of their work without the help of a record label, radio plugger or marketing team.
The perfect example of the opportunities this type of distribution affords can be seen in the recent rise to fame of the Arctic Monkeys, who through an incredible level of self-created hype and presence on social networking site MySpace, enabled the group not only sell out hundreds of early gigs, but played a key part in helping debut single “I bet that you look good on the dancefloor” to number one in the UK. After months of touring and releasing demos as an unsigned band, the group finally went on sign a £1 million publishing deal with EMI Records.
Along with engaging fans through the more traditional platforms such as Facebook and Twitter there are now numerous other services that allow aspiring musicians to effectively act as their own manager, tour coordinator and merchandiser. For example, sites such as Topspin and Bandcamp allow bands to sell both their songs and merchandise directly to their fans at prices they choose while retaining the vast amount of the profits for themselves.
Additionally, the Bandcamp site also provides artists with an embeddable music player, which can be pasted via HTML into a Facebook page or music blog, whereby users can listen to an entire album, and share or “Like” the player on their own walls or proceed to purchase. Award-winning artist Sufjan Stevens even choose to release his most recent album "Age of Adz" entirely through Bandcamp using the embedded player for promotional purposes as apposed to traditional methods, commenting that “the one-stop-shop experience that Bandcamp offers is hard to find elsewhere on the internet”.
Pledgemusic is a more recent addition to the spectrum of sites for helping new and emerging musicians make a living from what they do. The idea behind the project is that fans can donate money to projects such as albums or tours along with being able to buy exclusive merchandise and opportunities, ranging from a personalised t-shirt to going on tour with the artist. Theses ‘pledges’ from the fans enable the artist to continue making music without the backing of a major label while at the same time a portion of the pledge is donated to a charity of the artist’s choosing.
There is no doubt that social media now plays a significant role for both new and established artists. However, for any aspiring musician in this day and age, social media is a gateway to opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach or simply out of budget in previous years.
