FRUKT on Music

Giles Fitzgerald

Those who have dismissed Twitter, the 140 character micro-blogging platform, as a waste of time and effort may need to re-evaluate their perception of the service as a valuable platform for music marketing. A new report suggests that it could offer up a potentially very powerful new tool for brand marketeers in accessing two huge consumer passions - Music and Socialising.

A new study from NPD Group reveals a strong correlation between Twitter devotees and music, with active Twitter users buying 77% more digital music downloads on average than non-users. The study also highlighted that one-third of Twitter users listen to music via social networks, 41% listen via online radio and 39% watched music videos online. "Twitter has the potential to help foster the discovery of new music, and improve targeted marketing of music to groups of highly-involved and technologically savvy consumers," said NPD entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick.

With the amount of time spent on the micro-social network having increased by a sizeable 175% since last year (from 6 minutes to 17 minutes), and another report highlighting the services dedicated niche audience (10% of Twitter users are generating around 90% of all Tweets), the platform has opened up a valuable marketing tool for music. How to leverage this new tool however, is another question entirely and one which will require expertise, insight and creativity in order to fully exploit its potential. With 67% of top Fortune 500 technology companies not yet involved with Twitter - according to one study-  it is clear that there is still an air of uncertainty surrounding the platform. However, the service is now a ubiquitous part of Internet culture with musicians among the key players here – Britney Spears has netted over 2M followers in 9 months, John Mayer 1.5M and P Diddy, Miley Cyrus and Coldplay are not far behind. Now more than ever, brands need to be seen to be engaging with new social media such as Twitter in a sustainable, long term, relevant and credible way - and music would appear to be a crucial touch point for reaching and nurturing this new audience.