"what is the difference between Musicosity and Facebook?". It's the most frequently asked question. This blog will hopefully answer it...
Before Facebook and Myspace existed, artists used to know who REAL FANS were. They were the people who bought tickets for gigs, merch at shows, albums in shops, and sent in their name and address on a postcard to to join the fan club... even then, some fans for more interested than others. Bands spent a lot of time and money looking after them. Technology meant they could contact them more easily and cheaply. This was brilliant for bands that already had an audience... it saved them time and money. Of course at the very same time technology killed their album sales thanks to downloads. You can't have everything!
However, those bands had already done the hard work. They had built up loyal fans.
But what if you don't have loyal fans? or know who they are? What if you're just starting out?
Well, Facebook and MySpace seemed to be the answer. You could get hundreds maybe thousands of people in one place and send them messages, lots and lots of messages. It looked as though Artists could cut out all the hard work of gigging, touring and the relentless promotion, not spend money and go straight to having a huge fan base! Wow. So then, how's that working out for you?
Facebook and MySpace (which make all their money out of selling advertising to 'your fans'... more the merrier for them) have made it easier for bands to send more and more messages... to publish more and more information and images. As technology killed album sales for those selling albums... technology has killed the the spirit of being in a band. It has made us lazy. Complacent. It's boring.
It gets worse for new bands. Other technology companies started developing 'services' to help them "Get Fans, Get Gigs, Track Stats, Earn Money". Who could say no? And it only costs a little bit. Another company says you can distribute your music globally, for only a little bit of money. Other services say how you can Acquire fans and sell more stuff, and it only costs you a little bit of money. Guess what, you've just spent a lot of money.... and been forced to become a marketing guru overnight. How's it going so far?
Technology helps us be more efficient and productive. But to get leverage and benefit, you still have to do all the things that artists used to do. Artists that choose to spend more time on Facebook than you do in the real world will never know who their real audience is and they will miss opportunities.
Why did you start a band in the first place? Musicosity is taking you back... back to the future.