Social media allows for direct communication between artists and audiences, and anyone can cultivate a platform. This change is beneficial because it allows for a more diverse selection of music, and record labels aren’t integral to an artist’s success.
UO junior Jaden Bales promotes his solo music as j mac and his band scumbag on Instagram. He said he gets a lot of views and traction from Snapchat. Bales makes music videos for every song and incorporates visual elements into each of his social media posts.
“TikTok tends to do the best in terms of if you wanted to get as many faces on you as possible, especially new faces. But in terms of … the audience that actually … wants to come to shows … it’s definitely gonna be Instagram,” Bales said. “That’s where your well-established fan base (is).”
Bales’ social media promotion starts with a “pre-save” campaign, where he rewards his followers for downloading his music before the release date. Previously, he said he has given away merchandise to followers, and he said he has incorporated the names of some followers into a music video.
In the month leading up to a music release, Bales tries to post on his Instagram story at least once a day.
Although Bales recommends consistent cross-platform posting to establish a following, he believes fame curated on TikTok “won’t cement you as a long-term artist.”
A snapshot from October of this year determined that social media has 5.22 billion user identities worldwide, a figure comparable to 63.8% percent of the world.
Social media has a huge impact on song popularity. If they garner attention through TikTok, decades-old songs can chart higher than modern releases. With the daily global time spent online averaging at 2 hours and 27 minutes, musicians cannot afford to ignore these trends.
Local band Common Koi primarily promotes their music through Instagram. The band consists of Stephen Strong, drummer; Wyatt Qualiana, guitarist; Skylar Coy, guitarist and vocalist; and Kira Gelbaugh, who plays the bass and arranges booking and promotion.
The band members emphasized how digital means have helped shape their fanbase. “I would say 90% of promotion for shows, for dropping our music — everything is through Instagram,” Strong said in an interview with the band.
Qualiana said short-form content like TikTok often highlights an “accessible” part of music but does not “[earn] the catharsis” he said music should have.
However, Common Koi posts their music “everywhere,” according to Gelbaugh. They have just under 2,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and 3,378 followers on Instagram. The band also runs “an insane amount of newspaper ads,” according to Coy.
Overall, prospective musicians cannot ignore social media if they wish to reach an audience, and this is especially true for Eugene.
Both groups emphasized making connections through Instagram as the best way to establish an audience within the Eugene music scene. They said direct messaging bands and performing at local shows can boost audience engagement. Gelbaugh and Bales said social media has brought more diversity to music by lending anyone the opportunity to become an artist.
“Record companies don’t maintain the same level of influence they used to,” Qualiana said. “Now you have a lot more thriving local scenes … you can guarantee if there’s a house show on a weekend, all of the voices within that scene are kind of propping it up, and so it does become a very involved community.
