How many times do you see music advertised on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube? Your friend has shared a video of Katy Perry showing how much of a ‘Dark Horse’ she really is or how ‘Under Control’ Calvin Harris is.
Whatever your song preference, I am sure you will have seen a video shared or tweeted about. It’s fair to say social media really has had an impact for artists and their songs. Social media increases awareness and encourages Internet users to watch them and to tell friends about them; what could be bad about that? Well, let the radio stations explain this one…
Kiss is a largely popular radio station, probably most famously known for their classic ‘Kisstory’. Kiss often use Twitter and Facebook to engage with listeners about the show. They persuade their listeners to tune in between 11am-12 noon and during that time, the popular hashtag of #Kisstory starts trending. Listeners can use this hashtag and tag @kissfmuk in a tweet to request their favourite songs.
According to Internet Live Stats, there are currently 2,948,407,843 users online as I write this piece. The good old AM/FM radio which you used to have to tune to listen to whilst making your breakfast may have gone and been replaced by a laptop or a more recent stereo system with Sonos speakers, but the radio stations still remain and you can tune in anytime you like. Digital radio is modern haven for music lovers. iTunes allows their users to listen to radio-stations online, which means you can listen to them whilst chatting to your friends on Facebook, Tweeting to your favourite celebrity, or even replying to a job offer you’ve seen on LinkedIn.
We can’t forget that the generations of younger people now grown into young adults with their own music tastes, have done so in a digitalized world. Spotify allows people to listen to whatever music and however much of it they like for a low price – or even free if you don’t mind having limitations on your listening. Apps like Spotify and TuneIn mean that people don’t have to reach further than their phones to get great music.
I suppose social media is a great ‘encouraging’ marketing tool for radio stations. Not only do they inform but they gain followers and audiences online, so the stations know that their regular updates will be known. Connecting with their listeners is much easier too at the touch of a hashtag.
By Content Assistant – Matthew Clifton – @mattcliffy25
