18 comments

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  geoffsays

  8 months ago

  Fantastic post Martin. Musicians who are trying new things fascinate me to no end. Really like the examples above of who's doing it right and who's not. Gives a lot of insight.
  
  Personally, I see Twitter as an extremely efficient way to connect to fans. There just isn't a huge number of people using the service yet to make a huge difference.(They still have only less that 4mm people using it). When the mainstream catches up, and hope they do, Twitter will be invaluable to bands everywhere.
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  Dan

  8 months ago

  Hey Martin. Good read! Let's keep tweeting then :-)
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  chris

  8 months ago

  A slight side issue to your (terrific) key points - but it's worth mentioning that Myspace is still taken very seriously in the USA by labels, gig promoters etc. I did the same as you Martin, when Facebook exploded here, let my Myspace slip. Then I got to the USA and realised serious people were assessing and judging me according to the page - not so much hits or songplays (though that's relevent too) but the activity - how much updating and customising has gone on. Many smaller gigs are exclusively (and successfully) promoted on it as well.
  
  By the way, I think the time when acts were 'discovered' through a specific social network has gone as fast as it arrived, simply because now the entire market is spread across the networks and any half serious act will use every network they can realistically administrate.
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  MartinSFP

  8 months ago

  Ha! I've just realised I forgot to include you in this, Chris! Sorry - you're definitely doing it right!
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  chris

  8 months ago

  Thank-you but nah... my Twittering is useless as music promotion, I always forget to tweet the important things. And I can't even use Twitter properly - today I realised I've been replying to people using wrong names and nobody's seen their replies!
  
  You coming to the Manchester FT+T-T gig btw? Should I try to guestlist you?
  
  x
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• 

  Steve Lawson

  8 months ago

  Hi Martin,
  
  Twitter's a great way of turning fans into friends, and curious geeks into fans, and then friends :) I almost see the promotional aspect of Twitter as a positive by-product of just using it to chat to people. I chat about what I do, which happens to be music, and so people go and investigate if I'm interesting enough to them. I can do some low key promo stuff on there, and announce news, post links to new blog posts etc, but that's not the bulk of my chat on there. It's mainly just conversation.
  
  Get to evangelistic for your own product on twitter, as you wisely highlight in the case of the Hussys, just looks ridiculous (even worse was the band I came across this mornin trying to spam Blip.fm... just make some friends already!!!
  
  Twitter rewards honestly, fun, interaction, playfulness and 'interestingness'. Quality interaction breeds quality interaction, and it's a very tough - if not impossible - model to 'game' in any way.
  
  Good stuff - nice to tweet you! :)
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• 

  MartinSFP

  8 months ago

  Yeah, that same band spammed me on Blip.fm too!
  
  On 17 Oct 2008, at 22:43, "Disqus" <notifications-
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• 

  ChrissMari

  8 months ago

  Choo Choo added me a while ago and I got annoyed
  
  which is not to say i unfriended them on twtiter because I just discovered I haven't
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• 

  Kim Berry

  7 months ago

  Thanks, Martin for an insightful post. I was directed here by Derek Sivers (CD Baby) and am brand-new to Twitter. I echo the sentiments of Chris, below, as well: it's the human interaction side of Twitter that's most intriguing -- a window into each other's lives in real time. I guess you could say it's a 'kinder, gentler' social network . . .
  
  Thanks and Cheers,
  Kim
  Kim
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• 

  sirmercy

  7 months ago

  Thanks for the article. I am new to this and I sent out a few "tweets" today. I had hoped I didn't go overboard. I do not want any "game" to be associated with me. Once again..thank you for a very informative article. Also....props to Derek Sivers.
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  Gabriel N.

  5 months ago

  Great article.. I've been managing a list of Musicians/Bands on Twitter (http://bitly.com/4LqM) so I've been seeing how different bands/artists/musicians are using Twitter... it is a mixed bad.
  
  Some artists are extremely engaging while others post once or twice and disappear... worst is when PR/management type post really half-baked banal tweets.
  
  Twitter does work if you are willing to be engaged... it does however take time and knowing the time constraints many of us face, it might not be easy to make the time with crazy schedules or be committed to it.
  
  Funny thing is, once you figure out how to use Twitter and are totally into it, it does become a bit addicting!
  
  Bottom line, find what works for you... just because there is a big buzz behind something doesn't mean that it will fit into your overall promo plans. Just be open to new ways of doing things...
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  Industry Music Group

  4 months ago

  Great post, great blog...
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  Ramon Ryder

  3 months ago

  Twitter is an excellent tool for promoting music and keeping your fans up to date with what's going on. Unfortunately I feel like in a few years, Twitter will be just another fad. I remember a time when myspace was cool and everyone was welcoming of new music and new friends, now almost every account is blocked and virtually everyone is tired of getting spammed.
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  MartinSFP

  3 months ago

  The difference with Twitter is that it's easy to ignore the spammers. Don't follow them back and they can't DM you so you never have to deal with them!
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• 

  therockstar76

  3 months ago

  this is really great information, I'm still getting the hang of twitter as far as effectively promoting myself as an artist, I'll definitely pass this info on.
  
  www.rnbhiphoprockstar.com
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  Carina K

  2 months ago

  Great article, I feel sort of the same way about MySpace. I've had very little interaction with a large group on MySpace, but I'm answering hundreds of messages a day on Twitter... Haven't figured out what to do with Facebook yet... sigh... People want to sign up under my main Facebook page as friends, but only 5000 are allowed. Then people have to go to a 'Fan' page, and they feel like 2nd class citizens. It's such a idea, but not really designed for music... I've been just not mentioning Facebook.
  
  Carina K
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• 

  rachael chatoor

  2 months ago

  Excellent work, I agree completely about how useful it can be.
  
  It helps for people to define what they want to do with thier music as well. Not everyone is a recording artist trying to become the next big thing. I am a working singer/musician, so I use Twitter like anyone else with a business, twitter helps me get gigs, helps me get songs placed, and introduces me to the people who are buying talent for thier coprorate events, etc, etc......
  
  Along the way I connect and help people that cross paths with me in a meaningful way, and we spread messages for each other. Tiwtter is great if it is used well.
  
  I think Jann Arden is an excellent example of being funny and interactive on Twitter, she is worth looking up.
  
  I think the one big mistake that the big celebs are making, is to not follow back. It just doesn't look good.
  
  Some Musicians like Matthew Good and Collective soul, are excellent examples of big name artists who follow back equally and connect with thier audience. I admire them a great deal for not being exclusive and for not mis-using twitter. All celebs and artists could learn from them.
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  MartinSFP

  2 months ago

  Hi Rachael, thanks for the comment and the suggestions of other good twittering musicians. I'm planning a follow-up post soon.
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