The Role of Social Media Marketing in Music Artist Promotion

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to research the way social media can help music artists get noticed and build their careers. In the last 10 years, social media has taken an increasingly bigger role in how artists promote their music and themselves, connect with their fans and build their personal brand. The theoretical framework covers an examination of the evolution of social media, its integration into music marketing and promotion, and its impact on personal branding. Using existing research and literature, this framework helps the reader to understand the connection between social media platforms and the promotion of music artists. To understand the role of social media marketing in music artist promotion, this study mixes researching theory with conducting qualitative interviews. This thesis features three in-depth interviews with three individuals that occupy different roles in the music industry. This allows the reader to gain perspectives from an experienced talent agent, a marketing specialist and an artist. Key themes that come up in the analysis include the importance of authenticity, evolution of artist-fan relationships, crucial use of social media, data analysis and many others. Ultimately, this thesis helps deepen the understanding of the role of social media in music artist promotion, by giving valuable insights for artists, other professionals in the industry and people interested in the music business. The theoretical research and the qualitative analysis of open question that is done in this thesis both show that today social media has a fundamental role in artists building their careers. In addition to this, artists can control their careers more than ever before.