Hey Indie Music Act, FaceBook Will Not Be Your Marketing Friend
Posted on | March 1, 2012 | 1 Comment
Remember a few days ago when I was ranting, rambling, blowing and going on about, among a lot of other things, the problems with relying on social networks, such as your good friend FaceBook, to market music?…No? Didn’t think so; here’s the relevant part for today’s discussion…
And, it brings up thoughts of how these social networks make it difficult to promote music effectively. I know that your FaceBook news feed is probably chock full of people pushing the same tracks over and over but, it’s not effective.
If the platform did not include friend limits and allowed a way for artists to locate possible fans then, indie artists could use it to build an audience. MySpace, was like that in a way but corrupted and corrupt. They allowed some to spew rampant spam and effectively shut down others when the numbers showed promise. FB evidently learned some lessons there.
The bottom line with big social networks is; they already have the traffic and you feel that’s why you need to be there. They control the revenue and would just as soon not have people leaving the site to buy your product…unless you are part of the corporate empire that drives the ad revenue.
Well, take a look at what they’re saying today over at DMN…
Facebook can – and will – change the rules on you overnight, often with little or no advance warning. These could be annoying alterations, excellent enhancements, or dramatic shifts that could utterly shock your business model. Which is exactly what happened on Wednesday, leaving everyone else scrambling to adapt.
This is all part of a major layout overhaul that revolves around Timeline, and the changes could have a dramatic impact on artists and Facebook-centric businesses.
The biggest of the changes seems to be this: as part of the shift, bands can no longer make their app page their default landing page (for example, RootMusic’s BandPage). Instead, all visitors will be sent to the Timeline-loaded front page, with apps relegated to a tab (though bands can direct-link). Which means far less control for artists, and a potentially monstrous setback for businesses like RootMusic (and to a lesser extent, FanBridge, ReverbNation, and others).
But wait! There are more game-changing shifts being splashed in your face, most likely with little-or-no advanced warning. That includes certain limitations on your gigantically-revamped, 815×320 masthead photo. For example, a band cannot incorporate any marketing language, special offers, Like buttons, or any calls-to-action into this showcase pic.
Hey, I don’t “Like” the sound of that.
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March 3rd, 2012 @ 11:59 am
All I really want is GOD on my masthead!! What’s so difficult to understand, Jeeeezzz.