ARTISTS TURN SOCIAL NETWORKING INTO ALBUM, TICKET SALES
Lindsey Stirling wasn’t always social-mediasavvy.
“When I first started, I used to think it was such a waste of time,” says the dancer/violinist, whose YouTube channel has amassed 8.3 million subscribers and nearly 1.5 billion views since 2007.
But after watching her songs shoot up the iTunes charts with each new video posted, Stirling realized the direct correlation between online fan engagement and sales. Since then, she has used Instagram and Twitter to tease new music and share behind-thescenes photos, even taking over Target’s Snapchat to promote the retailer’s special edition of her third album, Brave Enough, released Friday.
“Making people feel like they got exclusive moments is what keeps them engaged,” says Stirling, 29, whose last album, Shatter
Me, made its debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. For artists such as she with no Top 40 singles or major-label backing, social media have “kind of taken out the gatekeepers of the music industry, who used to be able to say what did and didn’t make it. Now, fans decide.”
Stirling is part of a group of young artists who are redefining what it means to be famous in the digital age. With more than 7 million fans across social platforms, alt-pop singer Halsey managed to sell out Madison Square Garden nine months in advance, less than three weeks after tickets went on sale last fall. In March, Australian singer Troye Sivan called upon his Twitter followers to help his single Youth crack the iTunes Top 10. The song’s title started trending, and Youth jumped seven spots to No. 4 that night.
English rockers The 1975 similarly trended when the group deactivated its Twitter account last summer, only to return with hints of a new album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, which bowed at No. 1 this spring. Chicago artist Chance the Rapper notched a Top 10 debut in May with his mixtape Coloring Book, which generated nearly 1.5 million tweets the week of its release. Though none of these artists is a household name at the levels of Justin Timberlake or Katy Perry, their Internet notice suggests otherwise.
“Households aren’t what they used to be, in terms of everyone grouping around the TV for a musical performance at the end of a talk show,” Twitter Music chief Sunil Singhvi says. “Instead, that household is filled with multiple devices that allow every member to be connected to what they’re interested in. I don’t think Halsey will ever be what we regard as a ‘household name,’ but in a vast number of households throughout America, Halsey’s influence rings out very loudly through her conversations with her fans.”
For Halsey’s label Astralwerks, her social following was a key component in the rollout for her debut, Badlands, which started at No. 2 last summer.
“Rather than go for the overthe-line immediate (promotion), whether that be TV or radio, our focus was on socials and touring,” says Glenn Mendlinger, Astralwerks’ senior vice president and general manager. The goal was to “really build a fan base that would be with her long term, rather than more disposable fans that got introduced based on one record on the radio.”
Last year, Halsey’s Twitter followers grew more than 2,000%. She interacts with them on a daily basis through an array of highly personal tweets, which in the past have addressed her bisexuality and bipolar disorder. Sivan is similarly open about being gay, while The 1975’s Matt Healy has discussed his battles with addiction and depression. That these artists are so forthcoming with their young, mostly female fans is a reason why they’ve attracted such devoted followings.
“People who feel misunderstood or bullied are identifying with their music,” Yahoo! Music’s managing editor Lyndsey Parker
says. “Perhaps that they’re not getting on the radio or their parents don’t know any of their songs almost increases that coolness factor for those outsider types. The fact that despite all their success, they’re viewed as a well-kept secret between you and your tribe of 1975 or Troye Sivan fans is part of the appeal.”