In addition to music videos, social media has become a major outlet for musicians to foster their images and connections with fans. Chief marketing officer at Buzzfeed, Frank Cooper, explains that ‘“This [social media] is a way to build their ‘brand,’ a way to shore up their fan base”’ (Duboff). Social media offers another space for artists to share exclusive content, including direct fan interactions, to further this brand and relationship with fans. A 2018 report shows that 90% of users engage with music on social media platforms, and 57% follow at least one musician, the highest percentage of all public figure categories (Crupnick 2018) (See Figure 10 Below). This high amount of users interested in the social media pages of artists exemplifies not only audience desires to get to know them on a more personal level, but also shows the large amount of people that artists can reach to help further their brand and connections.
Scooter Braun, manager of popular artists like Justin Bieber and Kanye West, explains a key strategy in effectively using social media to be ‘“intimate interactions”’ (Duboff). In order to stand out amongst the plethora of content, there must be a constant flow of intimate content; artists need to be creative and share more and more about themselves on social media to further an emotional connection with fans (Voogt and Martin; “#2019goals…” 13).
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Accordingly, Forbes also shared that Instagram stories are a popular marketing strategy to enhance these connections (Forbes). Rather than a normal post, Instagram stories allow fans to see live, often exclusive content that offers an inside-look into the daily lives of their favorite artists. Artists can both share what they are doing in their everyday lives and can directly answer fan questions by using Instagram’s built-in questionnaire feature (See Figure 11 Below). Aside from standard promotions, Instagram stories are typically posted by the artists themselves, working to share that much-desired authentic and personal content, enhancing the artist brand and fan relationship.
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