Good morning everyone and Happy New Year! Just thought i’d post a little blurb about an alarming “trend” I have seen in recent months. A few artists/bands have hooked up with some marketing firms, more like infomercial style marketing if you are looking for a definition. Anyway, I have been blasted with these ads for whatever reason on Facebook due to my young teenage demographic that I so lovingly belong to. I’m almost 40 going on almost 20, am I right? I have nothing against promoting art/music/products on social media and the web in general, I’ve done it myself for IVM and friends/labels do it for their bands all the time. What I take issue with is this infomercial style barrage of marketing where it sort of amounts to a gimmick. I am not about to attack any one artist (cough cough Manafest cough cough) or call people out for this brand of “hype” but I just wanted to gather everyone’s opinions on this. This does not amount to DIY ethics nor does it promote open and honest dialogue with fans. You can’t “buy” fans or followers on social media. You can “promote” your brand (do we call it that?) and share what you do with people who may have never heard about it but we don’t go beyond that and say “Check out IVM for $49.99 but if you act now we will DOUBLE your offer for same price of $49.99 (you pay shipping and handling). You’ve heard it all before on TV and Radio so let’s leave it out of music. See below for examples of what I’m talking about.
So this is for real and not one of those “Dude, my account got hacked!” Issues? If so, that’s really annoying and in my opinion lame. No artist should have to sink to desperate lows just to get fans. If you’re good, you’re good and people will hear about you without annoying gimmicks.
Yeah this is completely real. I’ve seen the ads for several months but just ignore them and click to the next topic. I guess I just kept seeing them so much that it became more of an irritation than anything else. It was time to share 😉
Agreed Marco.
The only thing I really feel about it is that it is a reflection of the art they are creating. Anyone that resorts to this behavior is someone I just don’t see myself ever listening to.
I can’t even stand the musicians and artists who do nonsense like “leave a like if you agree” , “200 RT’s means the release of my new single” or “if I get 100 new followers by the end of the night, I’m releasing new music”. It’s just atrociously nauseating.
You’re right on the money Brandon! You can’t buy fans and this kind of gimmicky advertising doesn’t get you real, authentic fans who support you. Manafast has a big following (if you look at Facebook page follows / likes), but only a very small proportion of them actually interact with him on social media. And that makes me wonder: how many of his fans actually regularly support him through buying music, merch & the like? I would hazard a guess and say it’s the same small proportion of fans who interact with him on social media. And for me personally,… Read more »
Woa. This came aouta nower, brandog. Startin the new year off wit sum controversy, r we? Lol. Im on both sides of this issue, so i gues im “nutral”. I undastand yur point, howeva, i dont think i wuda wasted my time atakin a felow Christian who has been featured on this site in the past. I tend 2 b of the “dont hate the playa, hate the game” line of thinkin, wen it comes 2 this kinda thing. Ive enjoyd his last few albums, afta not expectin much, so wile this kinda thing is kinda cheezy/ lame, i wil… Read more »
Found this
https://smartmusicbusiness.com
Sounds like a church growth movement gimmick seen so often in pastor conferences. Pukie says I.