October 1, 2013
The Google-owned platform, YouTube has announced plans to host its first ever music show, merging the online with the offline.
Widely recognised mainstream artists, such as Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire, will perform alongside relatively unknown but internet famous artists, with creative direction from the talented Spike Jonzes, who is hoping the show will play out like a YouTube video.
In a statement made by YouTube’s Vice President of Marketing, Danielle Tiedt added:
“From catalysing careers and pop culture phenomena to propelling a song’s rise to number 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100, our Global community’s influence is felt across the music industry.”
Unlike other music award shows, where the nominees and winners are selected by a panel of industry insiders (I can’t help but imagine suited, greying men huddled in a boardroom – not really a true representation of public perception!) it is the YouTube user who has the ultimate responsibility in deciding their winner, based on the number of shares an artist/band receives.
The fact that the user is given control over their winner, clearly mirrors the changing nature of social media in placing the audience in the driver’s seat. As much as it is empowering for customers, the same goes for businesses alike and in this case, social proves to be a useful tool for the music industry from engaging with fans and building brand loyalty, to understanding brand perceptions and product preferences.
With this information the music industry has learnt to embrace the power of social media in understanding that people have changed the way that they listen to, share and discover music. It has been powerful enough to produce global phenomena like Justin Bieber and Psy (unfortunately for some) and the YouTube Award Show is the ultimate recognition of this.
Will you be watching the YouTube Music Awards when it broadcasts live on 3rd November?
C Sean MacEntee “YouTube”. Photo. Attribution 2.0 Generic