Introduction

The beginning of social media websites has opened a new world to publishers especially in the music and news industry. This blog was created to explore some of the benefits and downsides that publishers are facing with social media, how current publishers are taking advantage of this platform, and defines what social media is. The writings and links in this blog reflect some of the upsides and downfalls that publishers currently face. Although the list of articles is in no way complete, I believe it's a good representation of the frustrations and triumphs that publishers are facing with social media.

Current music publishers using social media

New York Times recently wrote an article about how social media sites will save the music industry. The article discusses how the music industry has struggled to keep users (specifically teens and tweens) from downloading illegal music from the Internet. It has been a struggle for music publishers to find a business model appealing to increase "added value" or a "better form of free".

Two music publishers, imeem and bebo, have successfully created business models based on the idea that "music is a social phenomenon" and the Internet is the perfect medium to promote music. Imeem's website is similar to Twitter by asking users one simple question. "What's on your playlist?" While Beebo draws users by marketing its website stating that its a social media network.

imeem
Imeem helped spear-head the free, advertising-supported music publishing model for online music. This website allows users to legally upload, stream, and share music. In 2007, imeem successfully gained licenses from major U.S. music labels, allowing users to stream music and share music on the Internet. In exchange, imeem has negotiated payment to these record labels to license and play songs on their website. Imeem generates revenue through sales and advertising of MP3s, ringtones, concert tickets, and subscriptions. Currently imeem draws roughly 20 million visitors a month to their website. Steve Jang, imeem's chief marketing officer states that successful websites "are not the ones with the most money or the best of technology, but the ones with the best 'user experience'."

Bebo
Bebo, a social media and music publisher, based its business model on the idea that music is emotional and personal, and users need a website to express feelings. Bebo offers its users this opportunity to get personal with artists by gathering information on fan groups, artists, concert dates, and charts. Additionally, users can download "widgets" to add to personal websites and blogs. Users are also able to bring in music and media from other websites like YouTube. Artists are able to take advantage of Bebo by creating profiles to showcase their music and drive traffic to their personal pages. Bebo has roughly 40 million registered users, and its most loyal age group are teenagers who have the opportunity to socialize with users of similar interest. Bebo's users are very loyal and attached. New York Times states that the average time spend on Bebo is 40 minutes which is "an eternity by Internet social-networking standards."

iTunes' niche and social media

The long tail, a theory created by Chris Anderson, is a concept that several markets selling specific products will be more successful than smaller markets selling several products. Publishers in the online music business have been successful by adapting this business model to fit long tail. The increase in online social media, selling, and distributing music has made it possible for independent artists to be successful. iTunes, an online music publisher, is helping to further this effort by making local, independent music available to much larger audiences then local music stores ever have. The distribution of downloaded music takes the consumer's indulgence to extreme scales, much more than traditional methods of buying music. New doors have opened for viral marketing by adding features such as the genius function (which gives users the opportunity to buy music from artists of similar genre), a list of each artist's songs, and top downloaded music.

As Yaro Starak states in his article regarding iTunes, "The future of music presents an opportunity that is a win-win for artists and music fans. Artists gain the potential to make a living from their work and control exactly what happens to their career and image. Fans receive exposure to a much greater variety of music choices and will no longer be hand-fed mass-media commercialized music by iron-fisted profiteering corporate institutions."

How social media is impacting publishers in the media

Social media has completely revolutionized the publishing model, leaving publishers desperate to catch up to this progressive and innovative way of publishing content. Readers finally have an online "voice" and can discuss their opinions and give links, feedback, and create movies of content. This revolution has become extremely important to viewers, but have left publishers, especially traditional news publishers (one could argue their industry has been hit the hardest), with declining revenues and ways to reposition themselves in the business world. Social media isn't a trend that publishers can ignore, it is the future of the publishing world.

The video below is an interview with S. Murray Gaylord, VP Marketing at New York Times, discussing how social media has changed the publishing industry and how the New York Times is changing their newspaper to fit the changing industry.


As print and advertising (print) is slowly dying, the news industry have adapted to keep their businesses alive. Below are a few ways news publishers are using social media to their advantage.

Twitter feeds: The New York Times has roughly 280,000 followers on Twitter and have established sub-channels for topics such as books, arts, and entertainment. These sub-channels have created points of interest for advertisers.

Creating online events to attract readers: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper, created a website to promote the translation of "The Kindly Ones" to both Europe and American audiences. On the website, a video, downloadable mp3, and daily discussion forums were posted of related topics. As a result, a significant increase in traffic was generated to its website, promoting the newspaper's name.

Customized Delivery: A Denver-based media group sends customized news delivery service to its readers. This allows subscribers to choose different categories of news from different parts of the country. This service offers loyal readers the opportunity to view content from outside their region and choose which stories users will read.

What is social media?

Social media websites are everywhere on the Internet. They have created such a buzz, that new sites are constantly being created and developed. What is social media and why is it having such an impact on website owners and users? It can be complicated to narrow down a simple definition, but the easiest way to describe social media is online media that encourages conversation, interaction, user feedback, networking, and online bookmarking. These sites also allow users to add music, photos, and videos, giving users and viewers the most interactive experience possible.

Social media has enhanced traditional media because users create and develop content and collaborate with other users. Previously in media, collaboration with other users wasn't accessible, and users were limited to only previewing online content. Social media websites range from social sharing sites (YouTube www.youtube.com, Flickr www.flickr.com), social news sites (Digg digg.com, Yahoo Buzz buzz.yahoo.com), publication tools (Blogger blogger.com, wikis wikipedia.org), and social bookmarking (diigo diigo.com, del.icio.us delicious.com).

Below, is a breakdown of different types of social media, and websites that I have found useful for collaboration. (Please note that several websites overlap and can be considered in two categories. For example, digg.com is a social news site but can also be considered a social bookmarking site. It is interesting to see how social media sites can be used for several different functions, making these sites possible to use for several different functions.)

To understand more about how social media, and how it has influenced the Internet watch the movie below.