Social Media and Music

The prevalence of social media, in my opinion, has drastically changed the celebrity landscape from twenty years ago to today.  Social media has become a necessary marketing tool in business for any sort of company or brand to succeed.  If a brand does not regularly advertise themselves, another similar brand will and if successful, will become the more dominant force. 

However, in music I believe that those who shout the loudest seem to gain the most attention. What better example to use than Miley Cyrus? Granted, she was handed her role on Hannah Montana and had established fame through Disney.  But given the amount of opportunities she has now I wonder if any of them would have arisen if she had not used social media the way she did.  In this week alone she is releasing a new album, releasing a documentary on her 'metamorphosis', and hosting Saturday Night Live.  In the past year she has been on numerous magazine covers.  I can say with 100% certainty none of this would have happened if she had not been so outrageous in the past year.  Most of her provocative images come from her Twitter and Instagram accounts, and through other social media sources the general public is constantly talking about her.  Good or bad, she has remained in the spotlight which I believe says something about public's fascination on her whether or not people want to admit it.

In the past three years, a female rapper with almost the exact same image tried to grace the musical scene.  Her musical name was Kreayshawn and she produced music with the same tone and content as Miley Cyrus does now.  Kreayshawn's Twitter account was much more tame and there was no Instagram, so I think her brand never took off because she did not have the same approach.  Take a listen to Miley Cyrus' verse from "23" by Mike Will Made It and "Gucci Gucci" by Kreayshawn -- you won't be able to tell two different women are rapping.

I also do not think Lorde, a sixteen year old musical artist from New Zealand, would have succeeded in America if it were not for social media.  With blogs, youtube, iTunes, and other various mediums, people were constantly sharing her music.  Now she is in the top 10 on Billboard and is all over the radio.

Even though these are only two examples, I am sure everyone can think of at least another example.  Social media has changed the way people succeed today and I'm not sure if it has been in the most beneficial way.