360DigitalInfluence

Intro:

My social media music habits have evolved somewhat like this over the last three years….I began with MySpace where I would proactively search and navigate for new music. Went to Pandora where I could put my search on autopilot and listen passively for music that I liked. From Pandora I jumped to last.fm, where I began exploring music through other listeners. Now I’m stuck on lala.com, a place where I can discover music, identify with my favorite artists, and influence other lala listeners to discover new music through me. But the purpose of this blog is not to shamelessly promote my new love affair with lala.com—it’s clean ad free model, or its high quality streaming capabilities. Instead, let’s take a look at lala.com to understand the fundamentals behind the online journey of music discovery, involvement, identification and influence.

Maybe there’s something we can learn from the digital music movement – after all didn’t the procreation of digital music start us down the path to social media as we know it today?

Theory:  

Matthew Shank author of a well known sports marketing book has made some interesting observations in fan behavior. In it, he discusses the concepts of fan involvement and fan identification which I think are important theories in understanding word of mouth, specifically in the music industry. Here are a few helpful definitions from his book.

1. Involvement – the perceived interest in and personal importance of [music] to an individual attending [music] events or consuming [music] through some other medium
2. Fan Identification – the personal commitment and emotional involvement fans have with a [band or artist].
3. Influence – fan reference groups are individuals who influence the information, attitudes and behaviors of other group members.

Shank cites a model of fan identification in his book that showcases how band member characteristics, organizational characteristics, affiliation characteristics, and activity characteristics all affect the level of fan identification with the [band] and their music. A mix of the aforementioned characteristics combined with the character and history of the fan will produce a:

• social fan (low identification)
• focused fan (medium identification)
• vested fan (high identification)

By the way, the two major benefits produced from working a fan up the identification ladder (meaning from a social fan to a vested fan) are decreased price sensitivity and decreased performance sensitivity. In other words, the more involved your fan is the more loyal they’ll remain  through variations in price and decreases in popularity.  

I also want to emphasize that Shank claims that the more a fan’s reference group (friends and family) favor the event (concert, band, or song), the more the individual will identify with the [band]. Now, if that’s not a theoretical  nod  to word of mouth marketing, I don’t know what is.

The one thing that Shank doesn’t get into detail about is the effect of the discovery process. In my opinion the timing and environment of music discovery creates a fundamental bond that encourages involvement, identification and influence.

To repack all this unpackaged theoretical marketing jargon—There are four factors that I consider whenever working in the realm of social media, especially within music social media sites. These factors are:

• Discovery
• Involvement
• Identification
• Influence

Observations:  

I’m going to take a page or two from Rohit Bhargava’s latest book, *Personality not included, to help me sort this out.

1. Discovery: Dave Matthews Band, the College Campus and Bootleg Cassettes

Rohit discusses how he came to discover the Dave Matthews Band (DMB), like many other college students of the 90s, through the proliferation of bootleg tapes. The timing and method of discovery are important to note as they clearly played a role in establishing his initial involvement with the band, and would go on to define his identification with DMB to this day. In his book, Rohit says, “though they have now become mainstream I still associate them with those scratchy bootleg cassettes that I listened to in my college dorm room just over a decade ago” (meaning, in a good nostalgic sort of way). The point is, DMB established a unique time, place and method of discovery for its early fans by granting vested fans permission to record and share live sets with others.

2. Involvement: Sister Hazel – Surprise and Delight with Unexpected Moments

If you have a copy of *Personality not included, flip to page 168. In this chapter Rohit discusses the band Sister Hazel and how they have come to win the steadfast dedication of their fans through unexpected moments. On more then one occasion the band ordered pizzas and played music for fans waiting in line to get into their show. This seems like a small gesture, but by making themselves accessible in unique scenarios Sister Hazel created room for fan involvement to develop.

3. Identification: The Rock Boat, a Close Community at Sea

Sister Hazel is also known for being the fun and gracious host of The Rock Boat, the world’s largest floating music festival. The Rock Boat cruise is an amazing experience for vested music fans (and has the ability to transform social fans into focused fans before your eyes). In my observation, Rock Boaters are high identifiers because they demonstrate personal commitment and emotional involvement to the Rock Boat and the bands that perform on it (see www.sixthman.net ).

I was able to track down a Rock Boater on lala.com. Sign in and take a look at Tom D’s music profile. It appears to be a compilation of Rock Boat artists who Tom identifies with. One of those bands is Florez, an artist I worked with for several years.

4. Influence: Tom D. and Florez - A Bridge Between Influence and Discovery

If you go to the landing page for Florez on lala.com (on the day of this post) you’d see that Tom D. is the top listener of Florez. This lands Tom D. a high profile spot on FLOREZ’s lala.com page. Other users who browse Florez on lala.com will see Tom D’s avatar atop the “top listener” rank. Users who click on that will be redirected to Tom D’s profile where they will discover a catalogue of Rock Boat artists, and depending on the depth of their exploration may even discover the Rock Boat—voila! A new Rock Boater. As an influencer Tom D. completes the cycle and bridges the link between his influence and other user’s discovery.

Social Media: lala.com  

How lala.com fosters discovery, involvement, identification and influence:

1. Discovery

• Simple access to over 6 million songs
• Recommendations to like artists
• High visibility of other user’s music consumption habits
• Smart search element (type a letter or beginning of a word)
• Reviews, comments and member interaction

2. Involvement

• Preview the entire song, not just a 30 second clip
• High quality streaming
• Web-based music library allows users to take their music catalogue with them.
• Search and discover model creates bond of ownership

3. Identification

• Music consumption patterns define a users profile and therefore define the users
• Users select songs and artists who they feel represent themselves
• Encourages users to describe their music tastes in written profile blurbs

4. Influence

• “Top influencer” feature encourages the discovery of music through others
• Music feed allows users to follow their favorite influencers

If you’d like to learn more about lala.com click here to read their elevator pitch.

I’ll leave you with these questions:

1. If you’re working within social media have you offered a unique time, place or method of discovery for new fans/ readers/ friends/ professional contacts?

2. Are you creating talkable moments for new fans/ readers/ friends/ professional contacts to nurture a higher level of involvement and deeper degree of identification with you and your brand?

3. Have you given your most vested fans/readers/friends/professional contacts the tools and avenues they need to influence others?

Discover – Involve – Identify – Influence

Visit lala.com to explore new music and listen to artists mentioned in this post.

Dave Matthews Band , Sister Hazel , Florez

* My favorite feature on lala.com is the new release section—a great place to begin an online music journey.