Archive for Uncategorized

Big Fish, Little Fish

May 1, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

Between classes, projects, work and trying to keep some semblance of a social life without completely dropping off the face of the earth, I’ve been busy. Too busy in fact to regularly post on this blog. Sadly (though I’m not quite sure for who), this is going to be my last blog post. Maybe I’ll be back. Maybe not.

Lucky for me, I’ve been surrounded by new forms and outlets for music over the past few months. I’ve been creating a PR plan for the lovely historic Kent music venue, The Kent Stage, with my partner Emily over the past few months. Submerging myself in the venue, its history, its culture, audience and music has been a fascinating learning experience.

I’ve also just completed one of my all-time favorite classes ever, Record Promo, taught by the marvelous and iconic Gene Shelton, former VP of Media Relations for Warner Bros. Learning the ins and outs of the music industry fed directly into my passion for music. Where else can you take a class where for three weeks straight all you do is listen to music, critique it and essentially be the A&R people of the record label? Sweet.

Record labels have taken a serious dive over the past few years due to the increase in music downloading. Over the past few months not an issue has gone out from Rolling Stone magazine that hasn’t discussed the exposion of Live Nation and the decline of the standard label. I definitely feel for all of the people losing their jobs, but what can I say, I love my iPod.

The increase in online activity isn’t all bad. I’m a recent convert to MySpace and am absolutely drawn to the different channels and tools it has to check out new bands, artists, listen to unreleased material, catch bulletins on show additions or postponements, etc. Forget finding old friends- let me discover a new band!

The interactivity from Web 2.0 capacities doesn’t hurt the bands one bit when trying to publicize or promote themselves. E-newsletter blasts, MySpace and Facebook profiles, blogs, forums, e-fliers and Web sites. Aside from some of the majors losing some change from (possibly illegal) online sales, the garage band down the street is praising these new Web technologies!

In this Internet day and age, indie labels and promotion agencies like FTF Records and Kent State student-run GTB Entertainment can take advantage of the big-business bust and get its artists out in front of the world.

Using new 2.0 strategies, tools and tactics, these businesses and talented musicians have opportunities they may not have had even five years ago. Hell yeah.

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Your social capital’s weak, man

February 24, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

We’ve all heard it before: the Web is the new wave of the future. If it hasn’t already, it will take over and ruin run our lives. We know, we know.

Social media is steadily making its online footprint as well. Slowly but surely everyone and their mom (dad, grandma, aunt, brother- you get the picture) will be familiar with social media tools and tactics.

So who, besides avid social media gurus like Todd Defren, Brian Solis and Shel Holtz (among many others), are leading the pack for hours spent in front of a computer monitor?

teen-boys-crop.jpgAccording to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “some 93% of teens use the internet, and more of them than ever are treating it as a venue for social interaction.” The Project found 59% of all teens (not just online users) partake in content-related activities such as working on a web site or webpage, writing a blog, creating personal pages, and sharing artistic creations like photos, artwork and videos.

Teens aren’t just web-savvy, they seem to be all-around technologically-savvy youngsters. My younger sister’s magic fingers can send text messages faster than the speed of light. (I still don’t know how she does it). Don’t even get me started on the amount of annoying text-alerts she subjects us to when she’s home from school.

It seems that because teens grew up during the Internet and Web explosion of the ’90s, most probably aren’t aware of the stark usage contrast between themselves and say, their parents. cranberries1.jpg

Freud might even say teenagers’ Web usage stems from unconscious motivation, or “motivating impulses that influence behavior without conscious awareness.” Or a teens’ mindset may best fit, to quote a Cranberries album, “Everybody else is doing it so why can’t we?”

So why the long hours with eyes glazed in front of the computer screen? Who benefits from these limitless online social interactions (besides optometrists)? You do. So does your mom, dad, aunt, sister, boss, friend, etc. People locked in the depths of the online world, whether consciously or unconscously, ideally want to increase their social capital. They want to feel special. They like giving their egos a boost, intentionally or not.

In a 2007 research study titled, “The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites,” the researchers include this definition of social capital: “Social capital broadly refers to the resources accumulated through the relationships among people.”

The study found the correlation between an individuals’ use of Facebook is positively associated with the individuals’ perceived bonding and bridging aspects of social capital.

Give and you shall receive, especially if you’re a hormone-ridden teen.

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