Do Social Networks really increase record sales?

[10:31]

I'm having a hard time following how artists have over 1 or 2 million followers and actively use social networking for promotion but don't end up with Gold or platinum albums.

Free promotion isn't equating to record sales?

Does it help increase revenue earned from shows?

It doesn't really add up

 

[mortuus est]

its just entertainment - Jay z

 

[10:31]

its just entertainment - Jay z

wait, huh?

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

No

 

[mortuus est]

wait, huh?

i dont think many people follow for musical updates, its more of "oh i cant wait for ____ to talk some shyt" i mean soulja boy had over a million followers and didnt sell half a milly records of his last album

 

[Lana Kane]

social media presence =/= sales

 

[CELL]

Didn't Frank Ocean come out on Twitter?

That definitely got him record sales. But tweeting pictures of yourself in a club gets you fukk all.

 

[L&HH]

 

[10:31]

whoa...

So the majority of his followers are fake?

 

[NotaPAWG]

If there was twitter in the early-mid 00's, yes.. but not now with albums leaking and how big illegally downloading music has become

 

[L&HH]

whoa...

So the majority of his followers are fake?

I suppose so. Most rappers, celebs and whatnot have these kind of numbers as well

 

[Hood Critic]

Promotion is promotion, doesn't matter the vehicle its delivered in. Just because you see or come across an advert doesn't mean you're going to buy.

But Social Media promo is a lot cheaper than any other promo.

 

[Piff Perkins]

People follow people who make interesting tweets, and due to being "fans" of a few of their songs. That doesn't mean they'll buy anything the artist throws out. Raekown has half a mil followers on twitter yet his last album barely sold 50k records.

Women buy most of the music in the US, so if you don't have a female audience you're fukked (sales wise). J Cole, Drake, Kendrick etc have a lot of twitter followers but the main reason they're popping is because women like them. Meanwhile KRIT struggles because women aren't checking for him.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I can't see that. It's all smoke and mirrors. These rappers have tons of followers on twitter but can't even go gold and or even break 100k.

But in 2013, why should any music fan have any incentive to buy someone's album when you can get it online for free?

It's fishy when these rappers have great first week sales and then an over 40-50% drop off in sales the next week. But then again, it shouldn't be seen as such cause it's obvious labels are buying copies of the album to generate hype (if X album had Y amount of sales...it must be hype!)

 

[FreshFromATL]

its just entertainment - Jay z

This. A lot of times, people don't follow them because they're fans, people follow them because of the entertainment factor (i.e. this nikka funny, or this dude stays in beef, or this dude say a lot of stupid shyt, or umma follow just to troll this nikka).