Social media brings fans to Athens music

Allison Weiss, performing at a local venue, puts all of her tour photos on her Flickr page.

By Megan Thornton

Edited by Cole Landfried

ATHENS, Ga.—Slapping up flyers downtown for upcoming concerts may soon be a thing of the past.

“There has been so many times where people see my flyers the day after my show and ask when my next show is. It’s so frustrating,” said Allison Weiss, local musician and recent UGA graduate of graphic design.

To ease her frustrations, Weiss has turned to social media sites such as Facebook that allow her to interact more directly with her fans.

Social media has become an efficient way to publicize artists, music and upcoming concerts in Athens. However, there is no handbook or manual for aspiring local artists to figure out which social media sites suit their needs.

“I’m an early adopter when it comes to most new Web sites” says Weiss. “It helps me promote my music to friends easily and quickly, like I did when MySpace first became popular.”

Weiss, a guitar player and singer/songwriter, describes her music as “indiepopfolkrock” on her Web site. While attending UGA, she gained a large following with her grassroots marketing techniques and continues to tour throughout the country.

Not all musicians have to be technology savvy to break into social media, she said.

“Just having an e-mail list is important. You might have 1,000 Twitter followers, but e-mail keeps people in touch,” said Weiss.

“Even if your band can’t figure out how to make a Web site, Facebook makes it easy to create a fan page for your band. There are options out there for everyone.”

Most importantly, the band’s updates have to be more than just dates of their next shows.

“The key point to make social media work is keeping it organic and personal. If you keep it interesting, people will keep reading and following,” said Weiss.

To stay in the spotlight, a band can’t become complacent with the sites they have always used.

“I use Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook, but that’s only because most of my fans are using those sites. You always have to be jumping on the next wave,” said Weiss.

Social media use is growing even more on the business side of the music industry. Students in the music business program at UGA learn to use social media as a promotional tool.

“Local student musicians should strongly consider entering the music business program to learn more about marketing themselves,” said Ellen Mundy, a junior Spanish and management major in the music business program.

“I didn’t know what Twitter was before I joined the program. The teachers tell us how to use LinkedIn and how to blog for musicians,” said Mundy.

Paul Prae, a senior cognitive science major in the music business program, emphasizes the need for creativity and inventiveness when promoting music.

“Most people don’t realize that the new media departments of large music companies use the same social media tools as startups that everyone else can use” said Prae.

“Social media is accessible to everyone.”

But in the end, it all comes down to what you have to say.

“Tell people what you’ve been up to,” said Prae.

“Make sure you link fans to your page that advertises your show or link a new download.”

As they say, time is money. Prae believes the way to make the most of social media is linking up all your sites to update simultaneously.

“Twitter takes little time and effort, and when I update that site, it updates Google Buzz and my Facebook profile as well.”

Professor of public relations Karen Russell agrees.

“All of these sites may be free to use, but musicians need to consider whether spending all their time on every site is reaching their target audience,” said Russell.

“If you are trying to reach an older demographic, you need to go to the sites they are using. Younger fans tend to be located on Facebook. The answer may be found within age or demographic.”