By Phyllis Pollack
Actor and 30 Seconds To Mars guitarist and vocalist Jared Leto walked into one of the first pre-Grammy event for The Recording Academy’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Social Media Rock Star Summit, not knowing that he would be sending a message to his fans via Tweeter from the Grammy Museum Sound Stage in Los Angeles. With Leto and his vertically coiffed hair offering a lot of spark to the event, when CNN’s Rick Sanchez said that most artists are “too busy” to deal with the internet, Leto insisted that his peers “are excited” about the current internet social networking platforms, and that his friends use them. Leto conceded that he uses Twitter, although he conceded that normally his assistant posts his tweets for him. Leto insisted his Tweets are “genuine.” To prove his point, Leto asked for his cell phone from his assistant, and he immediately posted a Twitter saying, “On CNN.com right now with a great smart group of forward thinkers. Anyone watching? @thegrammies.”
The response from Twitter indicated that Leto’s were definitely watching the event, which was streaming live on both CNN.com and Grammy.com. Photos from that Grammy kick-off affair, which was streamed live on CNN.com, can be seen on Grammy.com. Both those who attended The Recording Academy’s Social Media Rock Star Summit, as well as fans, can post comments under the photos there.
Leto, who is in the band 30 Seconds To Mars, said of social networking on the internet, “How I think of it, its’ community. It’s your online community. It’s your family, it’s your friends. It’s the way we collectively share an experience.”
The internet executive heavy event was moderated by CNN news anchor Rich Sanchez, who uses Twitter to promote his own CNN reporting. The groundbreaking event held by The Recording Academy was used as the platform to publicly announce and acknowledge the prominence of the internet in relation to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, as well as the importance of the internet to the music business, recording artists and fans. Discussing topics surrounding recording artists, music fans and social networking, the internet heavyweights and major power brokers participating in the Recording Academy’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Social Media Rock Star Summit Twitter were co-founder/CEO Evan Williams and co-founder/creative director Biz Stone, YouTube’s Nikhil Chandhok, Digg’s founder, Kevin Rose, MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, Tumblr founder David Karp, and Mashable’s Pete Cashmore. The Social Media Rock Star Summit that kicked off this year’s Grammy Awards was held to encourage fans to be interactively involved in the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy also used the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Social Media Rock Star Summit to further highlight the prominence the importance internet holds as a vital tool for promoting the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. To further show that The Recording Academy strongly acknowledges the “relationship” between artists and their fans via social networking websites, these executives were invited to walk the red carpet at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy sent a clear message that these movers and shakers present at The Recording Academy’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Social Media Rock Star Summit have become “rock stars,” themselves, in the music business.
As pat of this phenomena, The Recording Academy their first We're All Fans campaign for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Fans can go there to express their opinions on some of the Grammy nominees and winners.
The comments from the executives and from Sanchez highlighted the massive changes that have taken place in the music business. Numerous facets of record promotion on the internet were addressed. The general consensus was that Napster kicked the door open, showing fans on the internet had the power to change the way “gatekeepers” of the industry ran the music business.
There is striking evidence that fans on social networking websites have greatly affected the music business. The activity of fans on the internet has deeply affected how record labels conduct business. Although it was not addressed there, one example involves MySpace, one of the website that receives the most traffic on the internet. It is noteworthy that during the first several years MySpace was online, the social networking site was not selling music. It was solely a social networking site. However, a few years later, when it became blatantly apparent that so many people with MySpace pages were music fans, MySpace then expanded its brand. After being solely a social networking site for several years, MySpace later began to incorporate promoting and selling music. Selling and promoting music were not part of the original functions of MySpace, but rather, MySpace evolved into it by way of a natural course, because of the interests of its registered users. In essence, the changing or additional functions offered on MySpace were driven by the fans that use the site. The fans were able to affect how MySpace, a major player on the internet, evolved from being solely a social networking site to also becoming a retailer of music, and a significant promotion vehicle for the music industry.
Leto also stated, “People are intuitive these days. Especially younger people on the internet. They know when someone is trying to ‘get’ them solely just for branding purposes. So for me, as an artist, it is an opportunity to have a conversation directly with our fans, our audience. The boundaries and borders have changed.”
Digg’s Kevin Rose responded, “Social media has given artists an opportunity to have a real conversation with their fans. Artists do not have to use any one big media outlet to get that message out there. We did something on Digg dialogue which allows our 38 million people to come and submit questions to recording artists. We did one with Trent Reznor, and rather than having an interviewer come up with a list of questions, all those millions of people came up with a list.”
Leto added, “You had to rely on the media, and other third party people. It’s a brand new conversation, having the opportunity to do this. Making films and music, I see the difference from before.”
Cautioning that musicians who are registered to MySpace and other social networking sites have had their accounts “hacked,” The Recording Academy’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards also had participation from Marian Merritt of Symantec, who discussed internet safety advocacy, referencing hackers that embed spyware, and embed links on social networking sites, which lure unsuspecting victims into giving away their login info. Norton products, including 360 All-In-One PC Security Version 4.0, offer security, identity protection, backup and restore, and other advance protection.
At one point during the introductions, Sanchez commented that David Karp’s Tumblr, which launched in 2007, is used by recording artists including John Legend and Katy Perry. Launched in 2004, Digg founder Kevin Rose’s site allows users to vote on which user’s submissions they respectfully “dig” or “bury.” New media giant Pete Cashmore’s Mashable has over 7 million registered users. Panelist Leto has received over one hundred million views on YouTube.
The hour-long The Recording Academy’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Social Media Rock Star Summit resulted in countless observations and opinions about music, fans and the intenet. YouTube’s Chandhok said his platform it “is a way we can share some of our stories.” He noted that as far as media, “Everyone can have a channel. Everyone can put up videos on YouTube. We had an artist, Soulja Boy, who was discovered because he was a YouTube phenomena. In 2007, he posted his video of his dance.” His single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Chandhook added, “The Nine Inch Nails told their fans they wanted them to tell them what kind of album they wanted them to do. Weezer is another example.” He said the band decided to use responses from fans in YouTube to choose their tour dates, and they scheduled their tour around that.
Karp said, “Social media is allowing an individual to create an identity to be formed that spreads. I can create an identity online that anyone in the world can witness, can share with me, and can find me. And if they care about me, and are a like-minded person, they can become a friend of mine, or become a part of my audience.”
As far as the recording industry, the internet “allows individual talented people to communicate directly with their fans,” said Cashmore.
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Watch a television advertisement for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, highlighting the Recording Academy's "We're All Fans" campaign:
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