Repurposed media

Through my years of being a social media 'guinea pig', I have observed a particular pattern occurring with well known artists, who are aiming to give further exposure to their musical content through the varying social media platforms. Although I'm sure that I don't understand the entire scope of their networking, here's a demonstration of what bands do to release their music to the greatest audience.

It's March 2015 and a well known band is planning to release a 'comeback' single ahead of their keenly awaited new album. Even though content from the band is coveted, the wider public isn't overly expectant for new material, as they haven't released an album for many years. In those years, several members of the band have recorded and performed as solo artists, with their own social media platforms through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter... but we'll get back to that later.

The record company and management have a vested interest in the band's success... how will we reach the widest audience? The question is hollow however, they have a great amount of experience in this field of advertisement. They arm all their planning with this in mind. They know that the best time to release content through certain forms of social media is around 1pm. Their marketing team creates a template for each particular platform. How the message is formed. The links to other content. This is all completed before the content is released, to create a seamless, business-like transition.

It's the day prior to release and each social platform releases a teaser, bidding fans to go on their Facebook page at 1PM the next day to view a video announcement. The fans are in a frenzy, trying to guess what the announcement could be about. Optimists correctly guess that a new album is in the works, even after that many years; whilst pessimists are less certain, thinking that a new concert gig will be the news, safe in the knowledge that they have been proven right in the past. Regardless of the audience's opinions as to what the announcement will be about, the band's management are pleased, they have engaged their audience and built conjecture and awareness of the band's announcement through their fans.

The video announcement streams from Facebook at 1PM. The band are joined by a well-known radio host at a conference, with an audience full of music industry heavies and journalists. They tease and build suspense from their audience, stating that they are indeed going on a tour. However they soon state that the reason behind the tour is their first album in many years. At the conference, the band's new single is played, with the appropriate links to purchase and pre-order mentioned. Immediately after finishing the video, fans are greeted with an amalgamation of social media platforms with links to appropriate content.

A music video for the new single is released on YouTube, with a link to their iTunes account as the video finishes. The single is able to be purchased through iTunes with the pre-order of their new album. The band's Instagram followers are greeted with an 8 second teaser of their music video. There are links to the music clip and iTunes account through the band's Facebook, as well as their individual's solo social media platforms. The reach of their content is amazing. The band members have all conducted interviews with various radio stations after their conference, further consolidating their reach. By the end of the day, the band's comeback album is the talk of the town.

The hypothetical band I mentioned above were Blur, pioneers of the Brit-pop scene in the 1990's. Amazingly, due to the advancements in the sharing and reach of music through the expansion of the internet, the band have increased their audience despite their long absence. As a huge fan of the band, I was able to analyze all of this content live. It is extremely interesting how well-oiled their advertising machine was. Despite viewing this all purely as a fan, I learned from my observations and was given an insight into how companies operate when releasing their product.