It's interesting seeing the difference in the way music moves on the web since 2000. It used to be that an artist could put up a website, get listed on a few music sites (like mp3.com and cdbaby) and fans of the artist's genre would simply find them and buy cds (yeah, the things that crackle in the microwave). The number of fans (or friends) was dramatically lower, but the intensity of those fans was much higher - as a music listener it was cool to find a new artist with a great record - it was activity on the part of the listener that created the initial contact, that sparked the new musical relationship.
Enter 2010, when the search of a genre like "rock" brings up hundreds of thousands of artists. As a fan, what do you do if you're looking for new music? (Seriously, music fans, what do you do? lol) Sites like last.fm and Pandora offer a good option by playing song that they see as similar to an artist you already like, but sometimes the suggestions are way off. You can wander around MySpace or facebook, but it's easy to get bored trying to sift through all the content looking for something you like.
From the perspective of the artist, the challenge is to rise above the din. How do I get you to check out my music video instead of the 15 other videos your friends posted on facebook today (of babies or sports bloopers or Lady Gaga)? Access to everything sometimes turns into interest in nothing. What I want (as an artist) is a small piece of your time, a chance to spark interest with the eventual goal of selling a song or an album. Leaning how to get you to spend your online time with me instead of Bejewelled is the question....
But the upside is the potential, the scope of contact, the number of ways an artist can be in contact with fans and the public. The technology that makes us invisible can also make us famous. More on that coming soon....
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