1. AC/DC created a 7 part online documentary series, Fannation about the band getting back together. Amazing use of Facebook, Youtube/Vimeo and Twitter.
2. DJ Paul Van Dyk created an iPhone App to help out DJs, check out the tutorial with the man himself here.
3. A Twitter application for Trav$dJam which allowed you to download his latest single if you retweeted about the launch of the deal.
4. DJ Tiga created a satirical interview about the launch of his new c.d
5.A really cool video clip where you control who plays by Cold War Kids
6. There are a number of good bands/artist using Twitter; some of the standouts are MC Hammer, Snob Scrilla, John Van Der Slice, Timmy Trumpet, Eminem (which got a write up in Ad Age)
7. Shoot The Player films musicians playing in interesting locations around Sydney. The idea has been around for awhile, here is the latest video starring Reggie Watts.
Reggie Watts: Sasquatch (for Shoot The Player) from shoottheplayer.com on Vimeo.
8. Kickstart gives bands the chance to get micro-financed for music ventures. At the moment the band The Rural Alberta Advantage are trying to get $3,000 to create a limited run 7" record.
9. Kitsune are giving people the chance to feature on the cover of their new compilation. All you have to do is email your self potrait sketch in and one lucky artist will go on the cover.
10. Possible the best Australian band using social media Short Stack have been amazing with growing their band through Myspace and Youtube. They have a channel on Youtube where they have over 20 episodes from the band.
Other notable artist using vlogs effectively include Imogen Heap, Souljah Boy, and 50 Cent.
11. Short Stack also held a flash mob concert in Pitt St Mall earlier in the year.
12. Short Stack have just announced their SMS pre order deal where you will not only get a copy of the new single but if you are in the first 1,000 they will give you a personal phone call.
12. Mike Skinner released 3 songs through Twitter for the hell of it. (via Sam)
13. Music video clip for ArcadeFire 'Black Fire' where you control what happens similar to the Cold War Kids idea (via Sam)
14. Wilco organised car pools via Facebook to their show, this is an awesome idea. (via Sam)
Thanks to everyone on Twitter who gave suggestions and if you have any other great uses of social media by musicians please share in comments and I will add to the list.
8 comments:
Where the heck is NIN on this list? Trent Reznor was likely one of the first musicians in this space, and by far one of the most experimental (especially for an artist with such a large following). Countless examples of SM use by those guys... I'd be putting them up on the list dude.
I was looking around for the NIN iPhone App but could not find whether it had been banned by Apple or had got through?!?! Any ideas?
Yes, the app is available on the iTS.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=306870500&mt=8
But in addition to that they've done multitudes of cool SM stuff, including releasing many of their albums in their original separated track formats to the community, asking people to mix them up, and re-post them. Their website www.nin.com even has a "remix" section you can check some of it out. They even released most of The Slip as GarageBand files to download. They did similar stuff with their videos.
Great post. A couple more of my favourites...
Wilco have partnered with a Facebook application so that fans can carpool to their shows. http://bit.ly/1LCkWC (facebook link)
Arcade Fire did a similar thing to the CWK video a few years back with Black Mirror, seriously cool - http://rorrimkcalb.com/arcadefire.html
Mike Skinner (The Streets( releasing material via Twitter only - http://twurl.nl/2l7vst
Sorry mate, left these off my tweets!
S
totally Trent Reznor missing! but a really good list of examples anyway, it is nice to see how bands are embracing the social sphere to keep the relationship beyond the purchase cycle.
thx for sharing... this is really useful
Have to agree that NIN would be first on my list for their use of p2p, community-building through iPhone Apps, etc.
Also the various experiments around the launch of Year Zero.
NIN are totally overated so well done for leaving them off!
Really enjoyed this post Jules. Good insights into the rapidly changing music biz. Love the idea of the band who are going to phone 1000 people. Mad!
Hey Sam,
You have been a wealth of knowledge on this ones, thanks so much, I will update the page with your other suggestions when I get a spare minute. Also, I love Mike Skinner twitter song it is a banger! I cannot believe he pumped it out in 3 hours!?!?!
Hey Stan,
Thanks for the compliment, you are a hard man to impress so I am chuffed this post got your approval. Also you should definitely subscribe to Short Stack on Youtube, those guys are doing amazing stuff!
In terms of the NIN stuff, I was trying to get examples from 2009, so that is why I decided to include NIN iPhone App if I could find it and not there other adventures from 08?!?!
Post a Comment