Indie bands and musicians - What can we learn, if anything, from the viral marketing techniques employed by the world’s biggest pop star (except Justin Bieber of course), Lady GaGa? If at this point you’re grumbling “Not my thing” or “I hate pop music” you’ve quite possibly closed some of the potential doors available to you and sorely missed out as a result. Let’s also forget the obvious point that GaGa has millions of followers anticipating her every move. I plan to use this individual simply as a conversation starter on the topics of controversy and originality, which are becoming ever-more important in today’s music industry.
While so many independent musicians are still repelling success by wasting their precious time spamming their friends and would-be fans on social networks such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Reverbnation, Lady GaGa’s marketing team focuses on a much overlooked aspect of music marketing: controversy. Whether you think her single “Judas” is a catchy tune or you think she is the spawn of Satan sent to destroy our children is wholly irrelevant. They would both fall under the opinion category. The point at the end of the day when it comes to promoting music is - does it work? If you can approach this topic with some neutrality and genuine inspiration then you may be in a position to start planning your hype machine.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a pop music fan or not, or whether you agree with what Lady GaGa is doing. It works. These days, if you strike where the iron is hot, it can really pay back in spades. Now that anyone, for better or worse, can upload media on innumerable websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, anyone is a prospect for a strong reaction. Take, for example, the poor, misinformed young girl who generated over 750,000 views with her “Lady GaGa’s Judas is evil” YouTube post (it has since been removed for unknown reasons. Negative feedback could be the cause - similar to the Rebecca Black controversy) Guess who this is helping? Since this girl has no products to sell and no blog to sell them through, this solely feeds the GaGa machine.
Granted, these tactics work much better when you have millions of people anticipating your record. If you go back to the drawing board, though, and come up with a strong idea that resonates with an aspect of humanity, you can start a conversation. Conversations get started when something is OUTSIDE OF THE BOX. I’d advise any independent musician to scour their material and see if there is anything genuinely controversial (not necessarily shocking. Will it start conversations?) or if it could be easily dismissed.
Keep in mind that many topics you may think are shocking typically are simply tired.
Take the metal genre, for example, which has in some cases become a parody of itself, with numerous releases annually exploring the anti-Christian agenda. They are certainly projecting something, but no one pays much attention, and for good reason. The topics and arguments are tired and boring. Now, if you were a Satanic electro-pop duo with an image to match, you may just have a potent idea brewing. If you are simply towing the line for your particular scene, you’re not shocking. Why not introduce ideas where they are not typically welcome?
Towing the line for your scene would mean sitting in full agreement with it’s chosen philosophy. It’s the reason you sometimes feel like you’ve stepped into a cult meeting when you go to a local show. This can work well for the teenage post-hardcore band selling t-shirts in the school gymnasium to young girls, but with such an oversaturated music market, it’s important for genuine artists to put effort into individualizing themselves as much as possible. Sometimes this means saying goodbye to the expectations and comforts associated with bands of your type.
This is not to say that if you are a folk band that plays pleasant music about the good old days, you should automatically start writing a concept album inspired by Zeitgeist 3. Play what fits. But for God’s sakes, guys, open your minds and stop spamming people on social networks. Studies have shown this to be grossly ineffective. You’re going to need real press to gain footing in the industry. If you’re creative, which you should be, there are many ways custom fit to your band to get people talking. The bands who are getting attention on the music blogs these days have a one of a kind image. They are not the hardcore bands talking about perseverance or the punk bands with leftist leanings. For better or worse, there is no one else like them.
Ask yourself - are you truly an original in every way or are you kissing up to your genre elites in hopes of being accepted and getting coverage?