Collective Soul's potent social marketing

May 27, 2:43 AMMusic ExaminerSean Arenas

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Collective Soul had one of the most addictive albums of 1994, called Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid.  It ranked multi-platinum, as did their 1995 eponymous release, Collective Soul.  The band continued to score multiple platinum and gold records on Disciplined Breakdown, Dosage, and Blender.

You’ll find yourself nodding your head to songs like Shine or Breathe, and grooving slowly to December.  Five years later the band’s Why, Pt. 2 and No More, No Less get radio airplay and keep the band viable.  More current songs like Better Now and Hollywood may be more familiar to the younger crowd.

Many will say the voice of the singer, Ed Roland, gives the band a distinctive sound. He has an edgy quality to his voice that stands out from other bands.

You can find many bands and artists on Twitter, and if you Follow them, you can see what they’re up to.  Collective Soul plays the Twitter hand a little differently; they interact.  You may think that’s what Twitter is for, and many people use it for that.  Most famous people, however, use it to talk, and don’t even pretend at interaction; not so with Collective Soul.

Try it for yourself. Follow @collective_soul at http://twitter.com/collective_soul and send them a message or two. If they are not asleep, performing, or writing new music, they may respond; whether or not they reply from the shower is unknown so far.

Twitter is a micro-blog, but Collective Soul also uses a regular Blog; find it at http://www.collectivesoul.com/blog/

As you might expect from a band who seems to have the social media part down so well, Collective Soul’s MySpace page is extraordinary! The site has clearly labeled and easy-to-read buttons and a classy black-and-white scheme. Pictures and sections are easy to find. The nice MySpace page and the fact that the band has 60,843 friends (and 13,482 Followers on Twitter) as of this writing shows you that they know how to express themselves well on the Web.

Collective Soul is touring in 2009. Keep an eye on their tour page http://www.collectivesoul.com/live/ to find out when they are playing near you. The page has links to buy tickets.

Sean Arenas is the Los Angeles Concerts Examiner
Twitter: @concertreviewer http://twitter.com/concertreviewer

Traveling to New York? Get some great advice on bargain entertainment from NYC Bargain Entertainment Examiner Tammy Todd - on Twitter: http://twitter.com/2tammytodd