Five Musicians On How They Became Internet Sensations
Photo courtesy of Joey James1/5<a href="http://www.greyson-official.com/" target="_blank">Greyson Chance</a>
Why did you first decide to post videos on YouTube?
"I mainly did it to show my friends and have something of my own online. I wanted it to be a local thing, and after that, it exploded into this worldwide thing. Now, I’m lucky enough to get to make and write music. I think one of the reasons that ’Paparazzi’ went viral was because Gaga was such a new artist at the time, and it was a weird mash-up of a twelve-year-old kid singing a song by 23-year-old Gaga, who does crazy things on stage."
What are your tips for producing a homemade video?
"I was concerned about finding a place to record where my cat wouldn’t knock over the camera! I didn’t care how I sounded; I was just worried about my cat on my piano. But don’t spend too much time thinking about how you can make the video great; spend the time on making the song great."
How do you use social media to connect with fans?
"I’m always on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. As much as I can, I read tweets, re-tweet, and answer questions."
Do you have any advice for young people who are looking to launch their careers without a record deal?
"I was very lucky in that I posted a video, it went viral basically overnight, and it started my career. But there are so many bands that have to start small. I would say one of the biggest tips for all the kids out there is not let anybody, especially adults, classify you as a kid."
Photo courtesy of Nick Gordon2/5<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/113922681403146970349" target="_blank">Kina Grannis</a>
What do you post on your Google+ channel?
"I let people know about new videos and upcoming shows and how I’m doing as a person. I entertain people so it doesn’t feel like I’m just shoving information in their face; I’m sharing with them."
How have you used social media platforms to advance your career?
"Social media platforms are strongest when you use all of them together. One of the advantages that Google+ has is that YouTube integrates directly into the platform because they’re part of the same company. Google+ is more about having an ongoing conversation. Twitter has a bit of back-and-forth, but it can only be so long. On Google+, I can say as much as I want."
What are your top tips for using social media?
"A visual in a post is really important. If you include a picture or a video, you’ll get more comments and shares than if you just write something. Also, it’s good to do something that people can comment on and be a part of—throw in a question and involve others in your posts."
Photo courtesy of Idol Music3/5<a href="http://alexagoddard.com/" target="_blank">Alexa Goddard</a>
How has social media helped you launch your career?
"My manager suggested that I start a YouTube channel up to record some covers of popular songs that people were searching for—this way, they could hear my voice. It was an experiment! Luckily, I got a great response, and ’Turn My Swag On’ got half a million views in just under a month. It went viral partly because Cher Lloyd performed it on The X Factor."
What do you do to promote your videos?
"Each time we put out a video, I spend time pushing it on Facebook and Twitter, and ask my friends and family to do the same. I set up a fan page on Facebook and on Twitter; I’ll send messages to people saying, ’Hi my name’s Alexa, can you please check out my YouTube channel?’ Of the thousands of messages I sent out, quite a few people took notice! Soulja Boy favorited my YouTube video and commented on it, Olly Murs from The X Factor tweeted about me, and Justin Bieber followed me on Twitter. Very cool!"
How do you connect with your fans over social media?
"I spend a lot of my time replying to people’s tweets, and I think people really appreciate it. It makes my fans think, if she’s got time for us, then we’ll spend a lot more time promoting her."
What are your top tips for creating a successful YouTube video?
"Choose songs that are accessible and that you enjoy singing, but it’s also important to pick new songs that people are going to be searching for. I looked at the charts from the UK and chose one from the top five. When it comes to the production of a video, I wanted it to be very natural. I didn’t want to make any videos that looked like we’d spent a lot of time or money because we didn’t have a budget. The way it started was that my manager would film me with his iPhone in his home studio. I thought it was important that I didn’t dress up; I wanted to look approachable and just be myself."
Photo courtesy of Randee St Nicholas4/5<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MeganandLiz" target="_blank">Megan and Liz</a>
How did you use YouTube to launch your careers?
"Through using YouTube, we were able to reach an entirely new audience. We posted videos, and then started a relationship with the people that watched them. We eventually gained a fan base, and we have a career because of it."
What other social media platforms do you use?
"Our biggest following is on YouTube, but our favorite platform is Twitter. It makes it easy to connect with fans on a really personal level. We also love Tumblr; it is literally the best way to get to know someone, so it gives us our fans an opportunity to see what goes on in our crazy minds! Pinterest has helped us build personal relationships with our fans because it’s easy to see what they like, and we can connect and relate."
What are your tips for making YouTube videos go viral?
"What we have learned is you can’t create a video that will for sure go viral. We’re normal girls who love music; there was no magic formula of tweets per day or videos per year. You just have to make a quality video, work hard at it, and then it’s all up to timing and luck!"
Photo courtesy of R. H. Alexander5/5<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100974258168375166691" target="_blank">Daria Musk</a>
How has social media impacted your career?
"I went from having my mom be the only person who knew about my music to millions of people around the world. At the suggestion of my brother, I joined Google+. I saw that there was this feature called Hangout, which is a video chat where you can see and interact with up to ten people at once. I thought, maybe I can use this to play a gig without having to lug my equipment. I announced my first public Hangout concert on my profile. Right after I pressed start, people started to pop in from Buenos Aires, Sweden, Australia, everywhere! People were commenting and spreading the word, and hundreds of people rotated in and out of the nine seats in my Hangout."
"After that, I started streaming concerts to another website so that more people could watch—and that inspired Google to create Hangouts on Air, which is a broadcasted version of the Hangout. I’ve been playing packed venues and festivals, and I ended up meeting a famous music video director in a Hangout and just shot my first video with him."
Why did you choose to engage via Google+?
"What’s unique about Google+ is how effortlessly global it is, and how easy it is to meet people that you don’t already know through shared interests and experiences. There are networks out there that are good at connecting people that already know each other, and this is different. YouTube is connected to Google, and the Hangout is a version that is immediate, live, and interconnected. There’s something so amazing about being able to look fans in the eyes and sing to them."
What are your top tips for using Google+?
"Share whatever it is you’re passionate about because you’ll bump into all the other people that are excited about that too. Post as often as you want—maybe one to five times a day. To meet people, you can jump into Hangouts and say, ’hi,’ or open your own. Google keeps it safe and allows you to restrict your Hangout so it’s just for teens. By interacting and being yourself, you’re going to start creating a community built around you and the things that you care about."
