Has Twitter Changed Music?

Many moons ago the way you found out about new artists was by someone recommending them or hearing them on the radio or in a club etc. To be approached by an artist directly was unheard of and was certainly not something that ever happened to me. But now, it's an entirely different story. In the age of social media, artists are using various sites to increase their fan base and also their selling power.

Where you used to listen to the latest music...

But is this a good thing? Does it have the same meaning behind it as in the past or is it just an easy way to gain fans without doing the hard work? Conundrum.

Well, for me, I was always an album buyer, not a singles fan. It was very rare that I bought a single and if I did, it was for a specific reason (cool b-side, limited edition, bonus tracks etc). Usually I would hear the single and decide that it was the entire album for me. My friend Roger is the same. He told me that he bought 'Frampton Comes Alive' because he loved 'Show Me The Way' so much. He was something of a pioneer in his day! But what has this got to do with social media? Okay, I'm getting to that...

Nowadays bands use sites like Facebook and especially Twitter to promote their music to the masses. And the way it's done is very clever. So clever in fact, that it inspired me to write this blog post about it. Come on then, how is it so I hear you ask. Well, here's the thing. Twitter is on its most basic level about how many people follow you and how popular you are. We all want to be popular now don't we? The more followers you have, obviously the most popular you look. So, as an up and coming band you want to have a lot of followers and look popular. What do you do? Start following as many people as possible that's what. In turn they will more than likely follow you back and your numbers will increase.

As an average joe on Twitter there is nothing more rewarding than being followed by a bonafide band, trust me. And what has this to do with singles and albums? Well, bands don't have to have completed an album to start promoting themselves in this day and age. A couple of singles or an EP will do and your on your way. No more waiting for a full album to be available before you can start selling your wares and this in itself means you can have a solid fan-base in advance. Not so good for me and Roger and our album 'issues', but hey-ho!

A little bird told me you like Fall Out Boy...

For me, there's a whole other side to this medium. One that has brought me a lot of enjoyment for a start. I'm talking about the discovery side of this little play. I have been lucky enough to be followed by many, many bands over the last few years. And I have a rule that I use with all of them which is that I do my homework. As a total music geek (my own words), I am nothing if not interested in new music so I will always, and I mean always, go off and listen to anyone that follows me. If I like what I hear I will follow back. It's as simple as that. If I like you a lot, I will recommend you to other people and retweet you. But what comes with this is something that frustrates me each time it happens. These 2 things: 

1) bands that don't wait long enough for me to make a constructive decision and unfollow before I've had a chance to listen to them

2) bands that unfollow you after literally no time at all as they want to find the next bunch of willing participants as you've served your purpose now. See ya...

Not good tactics people. I have unfollowed because of this as I don't take kindly to being messed around. You have been warned!

If it hadn't been for this method, I would not have discovered artists like Elliot Minor and so many more that make such good music. They are using Twitter as a platform to gain new fans and publicise their music which I think can only be good thing. If it opens people up to new things and you get introduced to an artist which changes your life, then it's served it's purpose. 

It also enables fans to get close to their idols in a way that was not possible before. In the good old days if you wanted to get in touch with your hero you had to write off to some obscure PO box address somewhere in the middle of nowhere and hope that the person you were writing to actually got your letter. Chances are they probably didn't, but what else could you do? Meet and greets were rare and the bands stayed very detached from their fans. You saw them live on stage and that was it. Now that has all changed. With so many people on Twitter you have a good chance of actually engaging with your heroes. I know I have. My all time hero is Neil Finn and not only does he follow me on Twitter (I know!), but he has actually replied to my tweets. There is no way that this would never have happened years ago. I do realise that he will still have absolutely no idea who I am, but for me, the fact that he replied and acknowledged my existence means the world to me. Such a small thing that probably took him 2 seconds to write made my day. It's an amazing thing and it is happening more and more. We should think ourselves incredibly lucky.

And then my heart broke

I guess it does depend on who the artist is though. The person I actually joined Twitter to follow does not appear to be someone who really engages with his fans. I'm not sure why, but I don't often see him responding to anyone other than his in-crowd of friends or talking about himself which can be somewhat disappointing. There is so much potential there to connect with people that I think it's a real shame if you decide not to take it. It's entirely up to you of course, and there does needs to be limits as they are (surprisingly) human beings at the end of the day.

I have an endless amount of love for FOB in particular as they do take the time to answer their fans as much as they can. I have only had replies from Patrick, but I treasure each one as he gets so inundated with people tweeting him that it must be like mission impossible to pick which ones to actually reply to. He is a true gent and is regularly online for hours doing Q&A sessions with fans as he appreciates how much it means to us. A small token which is gratefully appreciated. Just remember though, that they real people and they do not owe the fans anything if they do not want to engage. I'm just pointing out that there is a large potential there if they want to go down that route. 

So, has Twitter actually changed music? I think the answer is yes. There is more connection with the artists now, you can discover so many new bands and find unbelievably good music that you would be a fool not to be part of it if you consider yourself to be a music fan. I have made loads of friends online and now have people I can discuss music with which is something I have struggled with in the past. Finding like minded people is such a bonus as they can also introduce you to other fans or artists that you might like. There are also loads of music magazines or record labels with profiles that you can be part of that side of it too. It's a total win-win for everyone. But is it an easy way to gain fans? It can be, but people are so fickle nowadays that you need to do something to gain their interest in the first place and it's not a given that you will be popular from the off. You need to put in the work and be engaging with your fans to make them stay so it's not an easy task.

Anyone reading this who is a music fan and is not on Twitter, I would recommend that you get on there now as you are seriously missing out. Any bands out there who want me to listen to their stuff, hit me up. I might not be a 'proper' journalist, but I am interested in all music and promise to give your tracks a listen. I am now a dedicated fan of Elliot Minor and this is all because they followed me on Twitter. You see, good things do happen so jump right in....

I will now sell five copies of "The Three EPs" by The Beta Band...

I read a great article the other day by Patrick Stump (yes him again) about the 10 records that changed his life. It's a very good piece and it got me thinking about my own musical journey and whether I could actually say there was an album or albums that changed my life in some way.  I made some notes, pondered on it and did nothing.

I was then watching one of my favourite films of all time, 'High Fidelity', and this brought the question back to me again. John Cusack's character, Rob, talks about his top 5 records for certain circumstances in this life and I wondered if I had a short list of something regarding music in me. It certainly seemed more plausible than 10 albums anyway so I had yet another think.

I don't think I can honestly say an album has necessarily changed my life. I have certainly listened to some that have made me change the way I feel about music or have been significant at a certain point of my life, but changed it. I'm not so sure. Bearing in mind I have always had a lot of music around whilst growing up, I don't really consider albums as being time sensitive so I can't catalogue it in this way. If you look at what I'm listening to at the moment, it's as much old as new. In fact as I'm writing this I have been listening to 'Frampton Comes Alive' which was released in 1976 and makes it as old as me. This doesn't influence me in any way and I go backwards as well as forwards with my musical taste.

If I had to choose an album that stands out as a defining moment of my life, I guess I would have to say 'Woodface' by Crowded House. It was the first album of theirs that I heard and bought and it started my ongoing love affair with them which has never waned. They are still my favourite band of all time and without this album I would never have been as dedicated as I am. This was the album that got a lot of people into their music due to songs like 'Weather With You' and I guess it came along at the right time for me when I was looking for something. It was 1991 and I was still at school. I wasn't one of the cool kids, but I wasn't one of the picked on kids either. I was somewhere on the outside, not really fitting in anywhere. I guess music was a way to escape for me and I kept it to myself.

It had a big influence on what I wanted to do with my life and I made the decision that I wanted to be a studio engineer. Ideally I would have liked to be a musician, but my talent was somewhat lacking so I looked at getting into it from another angle. My college courses were based on this, but sadly I dropped out due to the pressure and my dreams of working on some top albums died with it. Speaking to a friend recently who is a session musician, he tells me that studio engineering is very different now to how it was back then. I had to go off and learn about physics and mechanical mathematics as you needed this type of understanding for the job, but now it's all about computer programming. How times change.

This hand should belong to me...

So did Woodface have any bearing on this? Maybe, or maybe not. I can't say for sure. It opened me up to a new sound and type of music and it was definitely a defining point for me, so maybe the answer is yes. When I have thought about what to write in this post it has been more about the music that started something for me. Something that I heard that stood out to me and made me think about things in a different way. The next album I can honestly say that about is 'Little Earthquakes' by Tori Amos.

I was never really into female singer songwriters much, but when I heard this album it was like a wow moment and something resonated inside me. I had never heard anything like it before, the voice, the piano, the lyrics, it was amazing. I think it was probably 'Silent All These Years' that I heard first and it hooked me in. She is still my favourite female singer songwriter and I have most of her albums. Strangely though, I can only find 1 or 2 people that enjoy her work too which I think is a real shame. One other female singer that I very nearly included in this post was Bjork with her album 'Debut'. It's a similar story with this one, although I was introduced to it by a friend so it doesn't stand out to me in the same way. A great album though with some fab tracks on it.

Go and listen to this album

I have been introduced to a lot of music over the years, but I think it was during my late teens that this happened the most. I was working at my first job (which I hated), but I had a friend there who was older and liked a lot of the same things as I did. He taught me a lot about music and made me a tape (yes a tape!) of amazing tracks which included bands like Sugar, Stereolab, The Blue Aeroplanes and many more that I had never heard of. I think it's only now that I realise the meaning behind giving someone a compilation tape, but unfortunately that ship sailed a long time ago and in fact said ship married someone else. Anyway... One of the other bands I was introduced to was The Divine Comedy. It was at the time their album 'Casanova' was out and on a whim I bought it, mainly to impress him. I had no idea that I would in fact grow to love it so much and they became one of my favourite bands. I've seen them live and still have their songs on my iPod today. Defining moment? Maybe.

So far all these albums have been in the past, but what about recently music? I considered if there was anything that I bought not long ago which I could say changed my outlook on music. The one that stands out to me the most is 'Solaris' by Elliot Minor. I'm late to the party with this band, and in fact I'm so late that they have just played some final, goodbye concerts. Fuck it. I can tell you exactly why I listened to them and it was all because of Twitter. They followed me on there and, as I always do, I went off to find out what they were like. I had no idea what they were about, they looked like some boy band with guitars and I didn't hold out much hope, but I am nothing if not interested and willing to give anyone a chance. I found them on YouTube and the first song I listened to was 'The Dancer'. As soon as it started I knew this was different. They were strings involved for fucks sake. A rock band with string arrangements, WTF was I listening to. I was blown away and have been ever since. Albums were purchased and I have also got my friend Paul into them too. He said the exact same thing as me when I played their music to him "Why have I not heard of this band before?". It's a great shame that we are so late with this one, but am I glad I have them in my record collection? Hell yeah! Did this album change my life? Well, no, but it certainly cemented the fact that there is new music out there to be discovered and that in this time of social media and online marketing, Twitter is a great way to find cool music. So much so, that this is going to be the basis of my next post.

But back to life changing records. I guess hearing 'Brothers In Arms' by Dire Straits was another moment I can remember. Maybe they are not such a cool band, but it was the guitar solos that got me. My brother came back from camping and told me that he had heard it there and liked it so much that he'd brought the tape. I listened to it with him and could see why it appealed to him. I haven't listened to it in a long time, but I can remember hearing it back then and thinking it was important. It could well have been this that got me into the guitar as a leading instrument, I don't know. Say what you like about Dire Straits, but man, Mark Knofler can play the guitar.

Speaking of guitars, I asked my friend Paul whether an album had changed his life in any way.  This is what he told me:

"It’s 1986, I’m 13 years old and just discovering music. I remember it clearly, I was at home and on the radio I heard ‘Friends Will Be Friends’ by Queen.

Although the song was catchy, and the vocals were impeccable, it was the guitar that caught my attention. I was already learning to play classical guitar, but this was different, the tones, the warmth it exuded and the melodic playing, it was if that guitar was actually talking to me, and then it changed, another tone, and then another with a different feel and it made me think (and that was unusual for me). How can one instrument do all that in the space of 3 minutes??  I knew from that day on that I needed an electric guitar.

On purchasing the album ‘A Kind Of Magic’, that the song was taken from (gatefold vinyl) I heard a plethora of tones, sounds, squeals, harmonies and chunky rhythms all from Brian’s Red Special and my love affair with Queen, and perhaps more importantly the guitar had begun.

Now it was 3 years later that I finally persuaded my parents that classical guitar wasn’t the instrument for me and they agreed to buy me an electric one, a Marlin Slammer cheap beginner’s package with amp, lead, strap and plectrum!

It didn’t stay in tune, the tone was awful and I couldn’t play anything that wasn’t offensive to the ears. But I loved every minute of it.

Many years later, I have bought, sold, given away, broken and acquired many guitars, amps and effects pedals. I have played in numerous bands, played full venues that seated thousands of people and recorded albums. I have met some great people and some not so great people in the eclectic world of music.

Would I have done all this if I had not discovered ‘Queen’? I honestly don’t think I would.

I believe I can honestly say that ‘A Kind Of Magic’ changed my life". @PaulCooper01

I guess I could go through my record collection and pick out my favourite albums, but that isn't what this is about. It's about whether I can say certain albums have changed my life. I'm still not sure if I can, but I can look at my musical journey and say that some things stand out more than others. They may not be cool or popular choices, but they mean something to me. 'August and Everything After' by Counting Crows was the first album I wrote a review about. 'Sheer Heart Attack' is my all time favourite Queen album and the first one I bought on vinyl. 'Greatest Hits' by the Eagles was one that I stole off of my dad and copied. 'Rubber Soul' is the only Beatles album I own. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.

When Rob in High Fidelity rearranged his record collection, it wasn't by chronological or alphabetical order. It was autobiographical and I can totally get that. In fact, it might just be the way to go...

Not my vinyl I'm afraid