Is Facebook killing music? How important are Facebook likes?

[King Lemon]

i feel stupid even writing it but it seems to me that unless you're popular on facebook it is really hard to be taken seriously......come on!

[The Mighties]

The problem is that Facebook is the primary channel to advertise...speaking of my country, Italy, almost every bar or music venue is now making advertise only trough Fb, ignoring other ways even for example paper fliers or similar.

If you're not in Fb you can't even see the pages so for many people being out of Fb is like being without the possibility to know what's going on around the local music scene.

And you know that when you start to use Fb you'll come submerged by the "I like" way of life so is normal that all the things start to being judged by the "likes" that they have.

Anyway is good to have a personal website for every band so people can search you on Google but, sad but true, the fu...ng "likes" count.

[Bibliodiscoteque]

I'm confused by the entire 'Like' thing. Simply because a post, video, or whatever, has a number of 'Likes' has no real bearing on whether or not people have actually listened to it. Simply clicking the box has always seemed a dismissive activity. Certainly I am just as guilty, but giving up on something you enjoy doing because it doesn't get checks seems really defeatist. 

Like most other makers or shakers, the effort that goes into making a show, thinking about a show, getting the right tracks (or even when I was in a band), was massive. Everyone wants to get some respect for the work they do, but I'm not sure Facebook gains anyone that respect. Make a strong site, update it frequently, advertis your music by playing the best shows you can, and make friends in the scene. Facebook is neat and the future of friendships, but nothing is going to make a person listen like putting out the best work you can as often as you can. 

I think that - not to derail the conversation - Kaiser was also having other issues, though. I don't know too much about it or claim to even know the man or his rationale, but I seem to recall a few facebook messages before he went silent indicating other issues. 

kopper said:

Agreed, Mardy. The whole "like" thing is completely overblown/overrated has gone out of control. It was because Michael Kaiser's RadiOblivion podcast wasn't getting enough "likes" here on the Hideout that he decided to stop doing it and ditch the site entirely (I believe he also deleted his Facebook account, for what it's worth). He specifically told me that he stopped doing his show because not enough people here "liked" it. Amazing.

[Jersey City Mods]

As fans in search of new music, having a network of friends whose taste we trust often leads to FB recommendations that can be pretty on target.  When our FB friends "like" something, we'll give it a glance. It is useful in that sense.  But as Kooper suggests, a good website with music, photos, info, etc is what will eventually get us to shell out bucks for records and shows.

[Elle Diabla]

I'm a booking agent and I look at every bands FB. I don't decide to book them based on how many fans they have but the feature "how many people are talking about this band" does help me gauge general interest by others. If a band has 300+ people talking about them, then they're probably worth a decent guarantee.

If only 3 people are talking about a band, that's fine too. Lots of great bands are unknown. If they sound good, I'll still book them and give them a chance and pair them up with locals that have a decent fanbase. 

I prefer when a band sends me a band website and a soundcloud or bandcamp or reverbnation. The reason being, sometimes sites are difficult to navigate and the first thing I want to do is get that music playing and then read over their bio and all that stuff. 

[Jersey City Mods]

Sorry kopper, realized my typo too late to edit.

Jersey City Mods said:

  But as Kooper suggests, a good website with music, photos, info, etc is what will eventually get us to shell out bucks for records and shows.

[Ryan Katastrophe]

I never look at bands sites. I love bandcamp and soundcloud though. I find them to be the best for checking out stuff.

[Hot Rod Ron]

kopper said:

Agreed, Mardy. The whole "like" thing is completely overblown/overrated has gone out of control. It was because Michael Kaiser's RadiOblivion podcast wasn't getting enough "likes" here on the Hideout that he decided to stop doing it and ditch the site entirely (I believe he also deleted his Facebook account, for what it's worth). He specifically told me that he stopped doing his show because not enough people here "liked" it. Amazing.

That is to bad since you should always do something that you enjoy and not worry about what other people think.

[Elle Diabla]

Do you know what is really fucked up? Some FB pages MAKE you hit like to hear the music. That is such an awful scam. So it's totally not accurate whether that many people like the band or not. I don't respect it when a band sets that feature.

[Mardy]

That is the worst marketing ploy ever, a nasty corporate tactic to get into peoples timelines.

Elle Diabla said:

Do you know what is really fucked up? Some FB pages MAKE you hit like to hear the music. That is such an awful scam. So it's totally not accurate whether that many people like the band or not. I don't respect it when a band sets that feature.

[Wendy]

Hey!  "Like" my band fellow rock'n'rollers!  1/3 of my "likes" are from my family members!! 

Ramma Lamma!

[MzAmar]

I know exactly what you're talking about King Lemon.  I think when it comes to bands, bookers use Facebook likes as some kind of measure of your success.  They're looking to see how many people want to be kept abreast of your upcoming shows.  It's not particularly fair though as facebook is only one way to get the word out, and even if you had a billion FB fans it doesn't guarantee them coming out to see your band.  

[kopper]

If you don't like it, unlike it. I agree it's fucked up that they make you like it first, but you can just as easily unlike the page later.

Mardy Pune said:

That is the worst marketing ploy ever, a nasty corporate tactic to get into peoples timelines.

Elle Diabla said:

Do you know what is really fucked up? Some FB pages MAKE you hit like to hear the music. That is such an awful scam. So it's totally not accurate whether that many people like the band or not. I don't respect it when a band sets that feature.