The Growing Independence Of The Music Industry Part III: The Social Media Bandwagon
With social media, managing and controlling your band and music is easier than ever. In the past, musicians relied on record labels to take care of the business side of music and propel their career into stardom. Record companies provided the resources necessary for mass-production of albums in order for their musicians music to reach the largest audience possible. In return for this service, musicians signed contracts that came with terms and conditions that they would have to fulfill. These goals were not always realistic and beneficial to the career development of each particular musician and their aspirations. This style of business plagued the music industry for decades until digital music and social media came to the rescue.
Thanks to digital music and social media, there is no longer a need to mass-produce physical copies of albums to sell around the world. Instead, music can be spread worldwide in a matter of minutes over the internet through a number of social media sites. Along with this enhanced ability to share music, social media sites have also made managing bands and organizing tours substantially easier. With applications such as BandPage, musicians can customize their Facebook page in order to better fit their music and style. BandPage allows for users to stream music off of Facebook as well as display important information such as concert dates, photos, music videos and status updates by the musician. BandPage basically allows for musicians to accomplish the business orientated parts of their band without the assistance of a record company. With digital music and social media, there is no longer a need for record companies to perform all of the dirty work for musicians that was once necessary to spread their music to larger audiences. Thus allowing for musicians to manage their own careers in the direction that they truly desire.