A danger associated with this tactic is that an influencer may not adequately portray the artist’s image or the message included in the artist’s music. Influencer material has the potential to become popular and get press attention. Despite the expense of hiring them, using influencers does not ensure publicity. Due to the fact that there are many more prominent creators on TikTok and because the platform is congested, artists, producers, and labels will still spend high bucks to have creators advertise their songs (Murphy). However, guaranteeing results is difficult because not everything will work out. Thus, the paper aims to discuss the issues in the music industry involving public relations perspective.
The coronavirus epidemic drastically changed all spheres of society, and music was no exception. Artists used online contact to their advantage throughout the epidemic. Even for artists with a smaller fan following, it is unclear if uploading in the hopes of becoming viral to get recognition will continue once live events resume. Due to the way Instagram and TikTok reels are set up, algorithms on both platforms prefer the material above the people who create it (Murphy). TikTok is at the top of the funnel, and the issue with content-based marketing is that it diverts attention from the artists and interaction with their profiles. Music consumers have found new methods to listen to music without big-label advertising companies or media-curated filters. Nowadays, finding amazing musicians on YouTube or Spotify is the norm (Karibian). Therefore, substantial promotion from agencies or large companies is no longer necessary to ensure a musician’s success. For artists to succeed, they must start their businesses and get to the top independently.
The previous two decades have seen a significant upheaval in the music business. The rise of the Internet has changed how we produce and consume music. Creating new power structures and hierarchies has transferred control formerly held by large record companies to the customer (Clark). The music industry is competitive and requires unique skills and personality attributes. Musicians sometimes have to do a lot of business-related tasks in addition to juggling numerous other obligations. Independent musicians are fully responsible for it, but signed artists may face additional difficulties due to being associated with a company (Clark). Not only the music business has changed, it now permeates every industry where a buyer and a seller conduct a business transaction.
As a result of the new medium, there are new problems, such as the difficulty in establishing a steady and devoted following. If everyone had gone viral, it would have lost all meaning. After becoming popular online, artists can overlook the value of maintaining a loyal following. The greatest approach to turning listeners into true admirers remains going on tour (Murphy). It is still possible that using social media to develop relationships is a successful strategy. Using social media platforms provided advantages since it allowed artists to have more targeted possibilities without traveling, even without regular media coverage and in-person events. Whether virtual chances produce a more interesting audience engagement than live events still has to be answered.
Moreover, publicists have less attractive channels to pitch the profiles of artists to because of the epidemic. In order to maintain deep connections with their followers, they largely depended on virtual chances. Due to the pandemic, several outlets were forced to lay off employees or reduce personnel (Murphy). However, at the same time, they were getting more proposals than ever as publicity groups across genres tried to take advantage of the presented chances. Nevertheless, adopting various artist pitching techniques and methods is not always necessary when there are few options.
The artist’s brand matters more than the platform PR experts pitch to for its success. Since fewer journals cover music, there has been an increase in coverage on social media. Although technology has advanced, publicists’ methods have not necessarily changed. Today, getting conventional media attention requires knowing the target, developing a proposal with a compelling viewpoint, having all necessary information readily available, and providing enjoyable music (Murphy). The best approach to get media attention for an artist is still to use these simple strategies. Although online music services like Spotify are wonderful for finding new artists and creating playlists, social media is where most people follow musicians. For a while, Facebook served as the main location of a base of listeners, but Instagram has quickly replaced Facebook as the preferred medium (Clark). Instagram is a platform that prioritizes visual content by design. Its design philosophy is around providing rapid gratification, necessitating showy or compelling material (Clark). This implies that music must be accompanied by immediately captivating visual material for music to be heard.
Even a well-made, lengthy music video with a building plot that can be found on YouTube will not work. For instance, if a public relations manager wants their client’s graphics to obtain a like and avoid being swept away to obscurity. In that case, they must quickly find the ideal high point, ideally accompanied by a memorable hook line or chorus. This portends that artists, whose specialty is customizing an audio experience, would suddenly have to rush to ensure that their equipment, lighting, and profile aesthetic look beautiful.
It is debatable if Spotify is a cause or consequence of this trend. There is no denying that current technology and the Internet have made it exceedingly simple for even a bedroom artist to disseminate their music to a global audience, but this has the unfortunate side effect of oversaturating the listener with music options. As a result, the typical listener will not take the time to listen to a complete album or even a six-minute song before choosing an artist (Clark). With their 15–30 second time constraints, platforms like Reels, Instagram Stories, and TikTok have further pushed the necessity to squeeze as much attention-grabbing stuff as possible into the opening minute of a song (Clark). Musicians are becoming content producers who must consistently provide catchy content to stay relevant.
Another problem for public relations is that the more expensive live concerts and the more affordable livestream events currently compete in the touring and streaming sectors. While social media has created exposure more quickly and efficiently than in the past, traveling remains the most effective technique to grow a fan base and is a billion-dollar industry (Murphy). Some smaller-scale musicians are performing wherever they can find concerts now that venues are starting to open up rather than being able to map out a tour that makes sense. A six-month to two-week advance time has replaced the traditional window of a year-long planning phase for private exhibition events in order to create an event that unquestionably requires more time than that.
Overall, nowadays, public relations face numerous problems connected with the music industry. Even if social media has helped musicians create long-lasting connections with their fans and business partners throughout the epidemic, conventional media marketing is still crucial. Since TikTok and other platforms have many well-known creators and are so crowded, labels, producers, and artists continue to spend a lot of money to have creators promote their songs. The main objective will always be the best approach to maintaining an artist’s relationship with their followers and adjusting the strategies to the new realities.
Works Cited
Clark, Brian. 7 of the Biggest Problems with the Music Industry?Musician Wave, Web.
Karibian, Ani. “Challenges the Music Industry is Facing in the 21st Century”. Mubert, Web.
Murphy, Megan. “Has the Pandemic Changed Music Industry PR Forever?” Platform Magazine, Web.