While social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube have a sordid and lawsuit-filled history with artists, Snapchat has taken a different approach and cultivated a much more mutually beneficial relationship, one which will continue to grow and shape the industry into 2017.
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Guest post by Emma Miller
Copyright violation lawsuits drive relations between the most famous music performers and social networks. Facebook and YouTube are constantly battling record companies and trying to gain more rights. Snapchat have taken a different approach on this issue, and they are now enjoying the benefits of their initiative. Since its launch, Snapchat has had a friendly relationship with the most beloved pop stars. They have customized their outstanding content distribution features, and now they are the number one platform for releasing new hits.
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran’s new song release started with the Twitter teaser video. Then, the first 30 seconds of his new “Thinking Out Loud” song were released on Snapchat. The platform spiced up this release with an outstanding new feature. Sheeran’s fans could rock a pair of sunglasses and surround themselves with disco lights while listening to the song by using Snapchat’s augmented reality lenses. This release quickly caught the attention of both music lovers and major record companies.
Sage the Gemini
The popular rapper, Sage the Gemini had a similar promotion strategy for his “Now or Later” track release. This catchy dance beat has used Snapchat face filters to climb the Hip Hop chart. Specially designed multicolored sunglasses filter uses the song as its background tune. This type of promotion is not strange to Sage the Gemini’s marketing team. They’ve used Vine to promote his last two releases, “Gas Pedal” and “Red Nose.” These two tracks were launched to stardom as soundtracks for thousands of twerking videos on Vine.
The best thing about the “Now or Later” Snapchat promotion is that the track’s name hasn’t been listed on the Snapchat filter. Users have managed to find the song’s name by themselves, and since then the track has been featuring a record following.
Why is Snapchat different?
While Facebook and YouTube are trying to secure more rights, at a lower cost, Snapchat has been regularly paying its licensing fees. That’s why it has become a preferred social network of many musicians. The company is now also trying to incorporate news, politics and sports content.
One of the most popular Snapchat features is the integration of Shazam. Experts say that Snapchat might also connect with Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube and Vimeo in the next couple of years. In order to monetize their large following, they can also introduce video ads that will sell bands’ promotional items like branded shirts.
Many music artists are using Snapchat to communicate with their fans. Josh Legg, the electronic musician from Goldroom have said that Snapchat is his favorite platform because it allows him to communicate with his fans, without worrying about privacy or character limits.
Since Snapchat officials have classified their platform as a lifestyle brand, they want to be on good terms with their audience’s favorite artists. Snapchat’s management also consists of passionate music fans. The 2014 Sony hack have revealed that Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegel, was interested in buying a record company and partnering with Vevo, one of the most popular video-hosting platforms. Unfortunately, these plans were dropped, but the passionate music following, still drives Snapchat’s development.
The company’s support for the popular artist drastically improves their brand’s reputation. Unlike Facebook, they’ve decided to support the partners they believe in, instead of those who have the biggest marketing budget. They’ve even organized a special music partnership team, led by Glenne Christiaansen and Ben Schwerin.
The partnership between Snapchat and popular music stars will continue in 2017. Last year, they also featured debuting videos of Madonna, The Weekend and Goldroom and next year we can expect even more great music names. The company is also planning to cater more features for music stars and their audience. At the moment they also provide lots of promotional features to young artists, who want to promote their music.
Musicians, record companies, and marketing agencies are predicting bright future for Snapchat. The company is constantly adopting new technologies and implementing them into their platform. Many of these technologies, like QR codes and augmented reality, can be used for efficient promotion of new hits. If Snapchat continues to develop its user engagement and sustainable revenue offerings they will quickly become the number one music platform in the world.
Emma Miller is a Sydney based writer with a degree in marketing. Her interests are digital marketing, social media, start-ups, and the latest trends. She is also a contributor at Bizzmark blog.