Donna in LA for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Day 2 (Social Media Summit)

Is social media changing the way artists communicate with their fans? How do we as fans interact with music these days?

The first event that I attended on Friday, 11 February 2011 was the Social Media Rock Stars Summit that was held at the Conga Room at L.A. Live. Don't ask me why but every time I hear the words "Conga Room", I smile. Maybe it reminds me of an "I Love Lucy" episode or something. :P

Anyway...

Those questions about social media and more were answered by a panel moderated by former MTV personality and music journalist John Norris (farthest to the right in the photo below). The members of the panel (from left to right) were Naveen Selvadurai, Foursquare co-founder; Ethan Beard, director of Facebook's developer network; Tim Westergren, Pandora founder and chief strategy officer; GRAMMY-winning southern rapper Chamillionaire and GRAMMY-nominated vocalist, American Idol alum Adam Lambert.

One of the main points that I got from the Summit is that these internet players (Pandora, Facebook and Foursquare) on the stage (along with other services that weren't repped) are trying their best to make the music experience more social for the consumers.

That could be by letting you know via Foursquare (when you check into a place via their app)  that a friend of yours saw a similar kind of band at the same venue a few weeks earlier. With this information about the band that your friend saw live, you may be compelled to find the band's music on Pandora. If you find yourself liking their music, you may decide to "Like" them on Facebook to find out more about the members of the newly discovered band, learn about upcoming releases + tours and maybe even become friends with some of the fanbase. I'm paraphrasing an example that was given by a few members of the panel.

Chamillionaire and Adam Lambert shared with us how they use social media as artists:

 The major difference that I heard in how both of the artists use social media is that Chamillionaire seems to be actively tweaking his interaction. He's more "hands on" with the nuts and bolts of the internet. Adam Lambert is heavily involved with his fanbase, too, but I got the impression that he leaves things like "analytics" and "app" development to his web team. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with either approach.

Was there a pronoucement made about the future of social media, the internet and music? Facebook's Ethan Beard stated that "...technological advances will totally be coupled with all things mobile." I think that's a safe bet. If you're a developer out there, the sky's the limit.

After a short question and answer period with the audience (an overwhelming number were exuberant Adam Lambert fans), the Summit ended and there was a reception for the attendees in the Conga Room.

 I didn't stay long because I had to go back to the hotel to change for the next event - the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Barbra Streisand!

~~~

Comments

[Ian]

Wow, this is very interesting. I always wanted to look how technology has changed the way we view music and how it has opened doors for artists to share their music. I find, especially in jazz, technology has been a way to connect and try to attract a broader audience, especially twitter. When I first got a twitter, I was blown away by how lively and influential social networks can be. Now, technology has allowed us to watch live performances through webcasts, share our experiences in blogs, promote an artists music, share great moments on youtube, etc. I only wonder how the music industry would have turned out if there was none of this type of technology. Great post again! Love your site and your contributions to the jazz community!

[Donna M]

Hi, Ian!

I'm glad that you enjoyed what I wrote about the Summit. As far as I'm concerned, it ended too soon. A lot of knowledge was being shared with the attendees. Plus, I felt that the questions from the audience were thought-provoking.

^DM