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!

[MzAmar]

Facebook is really lame, it's a platform every business has to buy into, but since it's free you have no say in how it makes you conduct business.  Clever, huh?  Dislike

[The Pulsebeats]

It's a piece of cake to do for nowt as well. Set up on Wordpress, buy your domain (we got thepulsebeats.com through their service for a few quid a year), set up on bandcamp for nowt and you're away.

King Lemon said:

thanks for the info - espiciallly the part about sending over just the bands own website - never thought of that before

kopper said:

I would also argue that it's because of this new social-networking craze that makes it even less important to be on a label. The DIY ethic is a helluva lot easier in 2012 than it was 20 years ago when you HAD to rely on labels, flyering, and getting reviews or interviews in printed 'zines. People are now in control of and have all the tools they need right at their fingertips to do all of their own marketing and promotion.

That said, any band in 2012 should still have their own website, first and foremost. Don't put all of your eggs in just one basket (i.e., Facebook or MySpace). Buy a domain name for your band and set up a blog there. Then connect it with your social networking sites... Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp, LastFm, Hideout page, etc. I didn't list MySpace because I don't even waste my time on that crappy site anymore. Then instead of linking to your Facebook page and being overly worried or concerned that you don't have enough "Likes" on it or whatever, just link to your band's personal website. The important thing is that you have all the goods there that booking agents will need in order to book your band, such as music (a no-brainer), videos, a bio, etc. I would personally NEVER send any label or promoter a link to my band's Facebook page. Let them find that on their own AFTER they visit your site.

[kopper]

Check this shit out...

I was just on our Facebook page posting about the new episode of Sounds Like Crime when I noticed a little drop-down menu at the bottom of the post that said "Promote." "What's this?" I asked myself. Come to find out it's some new money-making scheme by Facebook to charge people with pages for EACH wall post they make (which has apparently been in place now for a month but I didn't know it). The GaragePunk.com Facebook page has 11,924 likes, which means if I want to post an update there now that will be seen by all of our fans, it'll cost me $50. Yes, FIFTY BUCKS per post to ensure that it reaches all 11,924 folks who like the page. If you don't pay for this new "Page Post Promotion" each post will only be seen by 10-20% of your likers. So in effect, Facebook has just killed off 80-90% of our Facebook promotional reach. Facebook claims that nothing has changed about how posts are shared with the people who like your page, but I have noticed that since this change has taken effect, our post likes and comments are down considerably, so I'm a bit skeptical of that claim.

I don't think I need to remind ANYONE how rich this Mark Zuckerberg asshat is (and if you've seen The Social Network, you know he's an asshat), so it really surprises me that they'd pull something like this in an effort to make even more money. Unbelievable.

Ditch Farcebook. Use the Hideout.

/rant

[JJ & The Real Jerks]

I think we'll start seeing more of this type of stuff there, in a desperate attempt to 'increase revenue'.

[DEEZEN]

Don't think it's killing music at all. We somehow have fans in 20 Countries around the world through facebook. Kind of weird, but really cool!  Now... we don't get a lot out of promoting on facebook. We generally get more "likes" after we play a show than just people finding us randomly via facebook. I don't think the site is a good place to find bands unless you have already heard of them. Aside from that it's ok for networking with other bands and finding some gigs here and there, but even then that is with people and bands we already know.

My .02¢ - Rev. Dr. Doomtone

[Fanático De Garaje]

I don't Think Facebook makes a difference. I never use Facebook to find out more about a band or pay attention to there "likes". I think word of mouth is key. If you are good live people will here and want to see you play and Ya got get to music out to them. Maybe Facebook is good of that? I don't know. Maybe I'm just old school? Or just old? Haha

[Matt]

I've never once been on Facebook. I go to shows, play shows, parties, buy records....whatever. I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not being on Facebook. I don't have anything against it. Everybody I know is on it. I guess I just never got around to joining and probably never will. My band may be on it, but I'm quite sure it's not. I know our drummer is on it, so maybe he did something? ... anyway, I would say no, it's not killing music?

[Judith]

not in relation to facebook and getting booked, which appears to be the original moan of this thread ...  FB has helped me a lot getting into the local music scene through snowball method, it's the virtual word of mouth, and in return has helped the bands I go to see.

I moved down just over 3 years ago for a job and without a clue what was going on. A new friend suggested I go and see one specific band, I liked them on FB, hence get invited to their next gig where I found out about two other bands. Go home find their FB page and if I enjoyed the gig like them on FB, get invited to gigs etc. A lot of bands over here put on gigs mostly for fun, playing their songs and hanging out together, not for fame or money. As some of them would not exist for longer than a couple of years building a professional website would be waste of effort. They stay together, split up, reform and, as mentioned above FB helps with the whole DIY thing together with soundcloud or bandcamp where many of them promote/sell their EPs.

Alternatively, just have a personal page on FB (ie band is represented by one person rather than a band page) link this up to your proper band page and befriend all your fans/groupies on FB. They have the benefit of getting invited to gigs, receiving updates from a friend but you can still use your proper page for promotion.

I agree that FB is going down the drain but it still is a tool that you need to decide how you use it. If it's not for you, don't use it and stop moaning. Music was made before the internet took over.

PS, sorry, I may suffer from a bit from sleep deprivation at the moment but I just don't like moaners ;)

[Allerleirauh]

Facebook is killing everything.

[Audio Gasoline]

kopper said:

If you don't pay for this new "Page Post Promotion" each post will only be seen by 10-20% of your likers. So in effect, Facebook has just killed off 80-90% of our Facebook promotional reach.

/rant

This new program is about as fucked up as it gets - not only does it apply to business pages, but fan pages as well, which are usually a labor of love for the admin (not a money maker).

I guess this means it's back to email marketing lists for many, which is lame... Between the nickel & dime nitpicking at ebay, the up-coming pay-to-be-listed on Google Shopping, and now this pay-to-post garbage on facebook, it's getting increasingly difficult to be an independent business on the internet. The big boys who can pay to play are taking over (or have taken already) the largest selling, searching & marketing venues available.

To me, it means these venues are hurting - consolidating their revenue sources increasingly inward. It shows investors they can still make money, but glosses-over the faltering organic growth that provides long-term stability.

So I don't rant too far off topic, I'll say this: all of these jackasses are hurting DIY musicians - any venue that excessively charges you to promote, market, sell, share or give away is hurtful to the very narrow margins that allow these people to pay their bills and continue to produce. It further sets up those with means to be gate-keepers of what is or isn't publicly shared.

"Now it's 1984
Knock-knockin at your front door...."

Big Brother is not the government, it's business.

[kissoffboardy]

I think the use of the word "like" in the context of Facebook is in most cases as ludicrous as Myspace's use of "friends".

When my band used Myspace, we'd get endless requests from idiots with 5 gazillion "friends", who had no interest in us or our type of music and just wanted to boost their number of "friends".  The only "relationship" we'd ever have with our new found "friend" would be clicking the accept button (or in our case the "up yours, clown!" reject button) in answer to their request. Once that was done, they'd be off to find another new "friend", never to darken our page with their shallow and desperately needy personality again.

We did meet some great bands and people, but they were very much in the minority amongst a tidal wave of losers who seem to view the whole social media thing as a game of top trumps, which if they win somehow proves someone out there actually likes them.

[caryn lavender]

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