Going Viral

TASTEMAKER ENDORSEMENT

It's personal and people are paying attention.

It's how "Call Me Maybe" went from a ditty with little traction to a worldwide smash. Credit Justin Bieber.

Celebrity endorsements are the number one way to get your music heard. Musicians endorse little, and sometimes want a piece of the action in return, but it's worth it. (Don't confuse this with paid endorsements a la Kim Kardashian.)

Especially on Twitter, where retweets are cheap and easy, if someone famous, with millions of followers, says you're great, you're gonna get a look. Then it's up to you.

It's about numbers and a dedicated fan base. In other words, if it's pop, the star must have millions. If there's credibility and passion...you don't need as big a following, Patterson Hood broke Alabama Shakes.

But don't try to get someone to tweet about you outside your genre. Think about who their followers are.

And you don't get many bites at the apple. You've got to deliver the first time. And it's always about a single track. And if your track is...meh, the chances of recovering from this are low.

GAMING THE SYSTEM

That's how Batkid triumphed. You think it was spontaneous generation?

"It turns out that the foundation had a slew of pro-bono help behind the scenes, perhaps most significantly from Clever Girls Collective, a social media company that orchestrated the event's viral take-off. Clever Girls handled all the social media in the Twitter-focused campaign and deployed its 6,000-plus network of paid influencers to spread the word as the event snowballed. The coverage included a morning-of Twitter chat that called for donations to the foundation and further elevated the event's signature hashtag, #SFBatkid."

http://bit.ly/1brPzY3

That's right, you can pay to get your story spread.

But can you afford it?

And although there's always someone to take your money, the best don't want to tar their reputations, they only work with what they believe they can sell.

Especially if you've got a one time event, with sexy elements, hire the team and try to get everybody motivated before the word gets out.

Yes, money counts.

Didn't used to, but chances are unless you've already made it, or your video has train-wreck value, you've been hyped.

BLOG ENDORSEMENT

People want to read that you're good. A press release does you almost no good. If you can get Pitchfork or any blog with traction to say your music is great, you're gonna get a lot of tire-kickers.

But reaching these sites is damn near impossible. Because they're overloaded with wannabes. This is where relationships become important. Lay the pipe long before you want the result. Or know someone who knows someone.

BUZZMAKERS

This could be dangerous. Because they don't care about you, only advertising/clicks.

BuzzFeed and Gawker are the kings.

To be edified, read this story from the "Wall Street Journal":

"Why Everyone Will Totally Read This Column: A Gawker Editor Tells How He Picks 'Viral' Content Readers Can't Resist Sharing": http://on.wsj.com/IKpr4y

TASTEMAKERS

Howard Stern is the number one exponent. The mainstream is just catching on to this. This is the number one appearance to generate virality, because of his dedicated fan base. It's less how many people listen as opposed to how passionate those listeners are. Just like it's always been in music. Where the pop artist of the day sells fewer tickets than the album act. Then again, most of the album acts drawing today made it decades ago.

TELEVISION

Because you've got a lot of people all watching at the same time.

Any TV doesn't yield dividends, especially when so many channels get such abysmal ratings, nowhere near 1 million people watching at any given time.

But the truth is if you can get on network or a hot cable show and people can see you for the very first time, it counts.

This is radically different than another performance by the usual suspects. This is Phoenix being on SNL before their album comes out. The imprimatur of the channel making everyone interested.

And it doesn't mean much if it's not available on YouTube thereafter. Except for awards shows and sporting events, we're all watching after the fact.

NEWSPAPERS

Don't mean anything unless it's on the website and easily found.

It's all about placement baby. Otherwise, the paper is always last and furthermore the young people who create virality don't read it. In other words, if you see your name in the newspaper, tell your mother, she's the only one who cares.

CONCLUSION

Only the faces have changed.

Then again, with so few meaningful outlets and so much competition, you must have the goods. Those with credibility spreading the word can't afford to make a mistake. If they say something is good, it must be.

And the cycle is so fast, that you might only go viral for a day.

But if you truly catch fire, you can go viral for years, people are still finding out about the aforementioned Alabama Shakes.

We're all looking for greatness, we all want to share. But not everything, only special things.


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