Part 1: How Social Media Changed the Entertainment Industry
Ottawa, ON, Canada - 14/1/2023
Now audiences are measured through proof of numbers: who has viewed, engaged or converted to streaming or buying your music. This is a popular way to quantify fans, which is important when marketing or managing new talent or artists. Advertisers want to know how much audience talent or content can generate, and creators or artists want to know the guaranteed numbers of exposure. Especially because advertising isn't free.
Musicians are already paying upfront to distribute their music, and now they also pay for the marketing of the music. Before digital media overtook our social dynamics, industry connections and PR (public relations) were all celebrities and popular artists needed to succeed. Besides the fact that all production was being handled by the major labels. Now, the digital divide has lessened for music production. Being a producer simply means being good with numbers and computers, because that is how the DAW (Digital Audio Workstations) like Logic, Ableton, and Audition work.
Nowadays, flyers and posters now look like social media notifications, or emails from Spotify and Live Nation. Now, you don't need the artists' team around while the music is playing for us, the audience, to know who it is. That's what we use Shazam, and the artists' Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Music profiles for. While new-age digital marketers are experimenting with new ways to navigate this digital sphere, they come up with clever means to distribute content and music all over the world. And the best part is they share this on Tik Tok and Instagram under hashtags like #contentcreator #digitalmarketing.
Some PR specialists I've conversed with in 2020 believed Tik Tok was a fluke. I knew better. Tik Tok is on the first popular social platform to prioritize music and sound as the means of distribution. People go viral from using trending sounds. This is a platform that allows producers to find new talent; allows dancers to make quality performances with their iPhone and a tripod; and allows solo artists and independent teams to churn out content regularly, capturing their audience, and then maximizing that attention once the (banger) the main single is released. Look at LiBianca.
What this scene allows for is never-ended emerging and new talent. If these artists have the required means for production: a smartphone with a great camera like iPhone and a laptop with a processor that can handle your recording and DAW software, then they can become successful using content marketing and social media standards.
We can navigate back in time and reflect on what the traditional music industry was, before these digital advancements. This industry was an exclusive selective group of elites who allowed only their preferred performers to enter fame. The "it" factor was biased. This was an industry that people struggled to let their children pursue in fear of drowning in drugs and violence. It's ironic that the media painted artists as unstable, when the industry itself was unstable and unproductive.
Does it really matter how someone looks to sing a song well? Does it matter what identity the performer subscribes to for the audience to fall in love with the sound? How does that traditional logic define artists like Burna Boy and Popcaan? And why did it become popular for popular artists to create their own labels after amassing their own fame? Think Roc Nation, OVO Sound, and Dreamville Records. Lastly, why does it matter for those labels to have brands of different sounds if they're all owned by the same parent label? What difference does that make for the artist?
A major thing social media has normalized, is blowing up from home. UGC promoters and Content Creators on Tik Tok explain how they make the appearance of their content up to 'industry standard'. To the point that major brands only need to recruit such talent to do their product photography and publish customer-centric videos all while their producers live at home. It begs the question of why Hollywood is still so exclusive?
In a way digital divide is always disguised as a big bully of the world, wherein it's always separating the have and have-nots. But what about that middle ground of talented people who never had access to resources, simply because they didn't have the connections required to produce and publish 'industry-standard' content. And it begs the question as why it took so long for these new methods of production and publishing to become popularized, until social media normalized the trend of sharing this information publicly?
A lot of boomers talk about us in our 20s as the generation that doesn't respect privacy. But I think the better way to describe this social change, is our need to share and build community. What's the point of being the most talented if you have no one to share it with? It's similar to why certain people who are capable of doing everything themselves, don't bother to because they rather work with a team. It's more efficient and productive.
The last phenomena to call to attention is the new age of indie producers. Not just music producers, but TV and film producers. Never forget that Jordan Peele used his YouTube as a portfolio of his skit, director and production skills. Furthermore, platforms like Netflix have brought indie productions side-by-side to major productions spanning all the way back into the 1960s. Frankly, the audience can't tell the difference in production quality. Except now, the content is more interesting.
Now the playing field has been levelled in a way new brands can enter this industry and bring even more viewpoints and share insights. Simply, you need a team of talent. Give these talents more access to what you deem professional equipment and production, and see how they shine. Now, they have the means. They always had the vision and direction. And a diploma or degree doesn't qualify good production. Look online. Look at portfolios. People have done more independently or with their talented group of friends than your entire production company combined, and it's time to come to terms with that.
What’s the conclusion? Times have changed. Technology and those with access to it are closer than ever to digital and creative creation. Before, you might have needed a transportation company to support your advertising strategy. But now, you need a laptop and a creative director. The more we share techniques online, the more independent producers are being made. And the more independent projects, the more widespread cultures are being initiated into the entertainment industry.