The Viral Culture in the Music Industry

Because each one of us is a part of this culture, in one way or another!

In the coming week we will be discussing about the Viral Marketing in the Social Media sphere focusing on a study by Kaplan and Haenlein "Two hearts in three-quarter time: How to waltz the social media/viral marketing dance" where they unveil many tricks about Viral Marketing campaigns and how to execute them.

In addition, we also browse through Kevin Alloca's TED talk explaining how your content can go viral years after you actually execute them, all coming down to the tastemakers, participations of communities and the unexpectedness of the content.

Let's discuss how, intentionally or unintentionally, the audience acts as a ‘free labour’ of the brands in this viral culture. Therefore, while launching a brand or re-branding we must be aware of the shift in this dynamics, as your audience is the decision-makers in the end.

The Harlem Shake

Everybody remembers The Harlem Shake, right? Some of us might have even been a part of it, or at least know someone who was. So how did it all start? How did Viral Marketing in the music industry create a trend? Or rather, how did the very consumers create a trend?

The Harlem Shake by Baauer came out on May 2012 and instantly became an online sensation because of its uniqueness, however it went viral eight months later by a YouTube video of Filthy Frank and his friends dancing to it. (63M view currently)

This enabled several groups to create their own unique versions of the unique song, gaining visibility on the various influential platforms like BuzzFeed, Reddit, etc. It slowly created a generative power all over the world.

Peer to Peer Communication

Looking at the viral Harlem Shake meme and keeping Kaplan, Haenlein and Alloca’s views in mind, we gather the power of the social media and the extent of effect viral marketing can have in the music industry.

Today, many artists in order to create their personal brand indulge into it through collaborating and creating unique content, however, as Kaplan mentioned you need luck as well. Once the advertising industry recognises the potential of your viral content, they won't miss an opportunity to push the next big thing, making it larger than predicted reproduction rate.

You will also see that most of the brands today create viral content through personalising it with the audience, which has an impact on the community participation. Basically, humanise your brand!

The viral content marketing even though is a pure luck-based cycle, which encompasses uniqueness as its essence, does involve a planned effort. Furthermore, to reach its potential, the ‘tastemakers’ as suggested by Alloca come in and with Social Media platform's assistance spread it around the world - to the consumers!

When your audience enter the scene, because of the very uniqueness and tastemakers, they become a part of this reproduction system and push ahead the trend that they just created. In current times, Tik Tok has literally dominated the viral culture in the music industry. To pass the 'Hit it or Miss it' phase, every artist and their songs go through Tik Tok, where your consumers are the decision-makers. In this scenario, the tastemakers can once again instigate the trend by using the platform and the song blurring the lines between Influencer Marketing and Viral Marketing.

However, any publicity is good, right? Going viral is any Artist's dream. It's very difficult to calculate how users will react to your content and if they will go ahead and share it. So, a planned viral marketing campaign will definitely act as an aid, meeting your consumer halfway.

Below are some amazing viral content over the years to brush up on your memories and rethink. Were you a part of these viral trends?

#MannequinChallenge

#ThisIsAmerica

A recent trend about the injustice and violence to protest against the police brutality in America became a TikTok anthem.

Updated on: 30/08/2020