CASA - The Contemporary A Capella Society

"Social Media?  I'm lost already."

If you're reading this blog, chances are you already know what social media is.  In case you don't, check out the Wikipedia definition, which is pretty comprehensive.  Very basically, it's any way of broadcasting, sharing, or publishing information without the traditional (expensive and restricted) platforms of information dissemination.  Someone in the Sociology department here at Tufts is probably going to wring my neck for making such a broad generalization.   Some of the most popular social media sites out there right now are Facebook, Twitter, and blogs (using tools like WordPress or Blogger), but there are plenty of others. 

If you're looking for the best way to promote your group, using social media is one of the best ways to do it.  "Everyone uses Facebook" is no longer just a thing people say - according to their official statistics, there are over 400 million active users.  That's more than the entire population of the US!  Clearly there's a market to be tapped into here.

Where to start?  Facebook.

There are some things that every group, professional, collegiate, or otherwise, should have by now.  First and foremost is a Facebook Fan Page.  Because Facebook usage is so universal, especially among most of the average a cappella fan demographic, it is the easiest, most effective way to communicate with fans and the acacommunity on a very personal level, and have a conversation with them.  Facebook is an equalizer.  It means that rather than the artist just talking at the fanbase, the artist communicates with them.

Facebook also integrates smoothly with other media sharing platforms, like YouTube or Twitter, to help create a comprehensive landing space.  It can automatically post stories on Twitter using a URL-shortening service like bit.ly, and can even host its own movies and music files.  This way, your fans can come to one place and find just about all the information about your group that they need, or can get to where it is.

You're important, so tell the world.

Possibly the most universally-used information tool available is Wikipedia.  In the last two years, I don't think a single essay has been written on the Tufts campus without the at least referential assistance of Wikipedia and its massive catalog of articles on everything from religion to recipes to... well, Deke Sharon.  Wikipedia is a powerful tool because any information is held accountable by any member of the community. This means anyone can build and maintain a clean, flexible biographical space. Groups with changing members can easily switch between caretakers, since no software or fee is required.  If you don't have a traditional website, this becomes even more important.  With a wiki page, you can have all the important information about your group, including history, a featured photo, links, discography, and awards, right on one easily accessible page.

It's pretty simple to start a Wikipedia page, but getting used to the code isn't.  Even for a seasoned HTML, CSS, or JS coder, the double apostrophes ('') and double set brackets ({{) are daunting and confusing, and building a multi-level table is just about as irritating as untangling the Gordian Knot.  It's all worth it though, as many groups, including my own, the Amalgamates, have been ramping up their Wikipedia presence.  More websites with more interconnected links equals more hits on search engines, and that's more people looking at your site.

Let's go to the videotape!

Unless you've decided to waltz off the stage and never play a show again a la the Beatles (in which case, maybe this blog is not for you), you're going to want people to see your performances.  Fire codes, geography, and money often prevent many of your fans from coming to see you, but that shouldn't prevent them from watching your performances.  Providing the venue allows, and all their PRO (performers' rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) fees are paid, you should be able to take videos of your performances and post them on YouTube.  Digital cameras with high quality picture and audio are no longer cost-prohibitive, so any group with some spare cash should be able to afford one.

This should go without saying, but YouTube is the place to go for streaming video on the web.  Unless you want to post a single file of your entire show on the web, you'll have no problem with the 2 GB, 10-minute limit that YouTube imposes on your uploaded files.

Making videos isn't hard.  Sparing you the technical details, both Windows Movie Maker (PC) and iMovie HD (Mac) can easily import both SD and HD video via FireWire from most digital camcorders, and can import movie files you've ripped from DVDs from a venue (DVD-ripping software, legalities aside, is easily found on Google).  After you have all your footage imported, cut it into clips, export, and you're done!

A cautionary tale: don't export your videos as .mov (QuickTime Movie) files – always use .mp4 or .wmv.  Facebook and occasionally YouTube have a horrible habit of using different framerates or drop-frames than your video file, which causes the video and audio to be out of sync.  Not a fun situation!

Good ol' fashioned blogs

Having an official blog using WordPress, Blogger, or Blogspot (to name a few) is never a bad idea.  Usually a blog is incorporated into other parts of a group's web presence, like embedded within a website.  It's always fun to tell long stories with accompanying pictures, so don't overlook it.

But wait, we need our fans to know everything, RIGHT NOW!

Your group moves around a lot.  You take silly pictures and want your fans to see them and hear the stories about them as soon as they happen.  You want to have bands see covers of their songs that you did, and immediately repost the stories and get super-excited about them (this happened/is currently happening, true story).

You need to be on Twitter.

Twitter, for the uneducated, is a "microblogging" service; anything you post on it has to be 140 characters or less in length.  Twitter has this rule to facilitate tweeting (Twitter's term for posting) by SMS text message.  Many Twitter users have it forwarded to their mobile phone, or use a mobile application like Tweetdeck and do most of their tweeting from that same phone.

Most people who don't "get" Twitter ask, "What am I supposed to say that's less than 140-characters?"  Twitter posts tell your fans a number of things:  what you're doing right now (i.e. "First Acayelpers rehearsal of the year! We're excited, are you?"), posting pictures of backstage hangouts ("twitpic.com/checkthisout - backstage with Green Saturn!"), announcing events and concerts ("Remember to come to SingWrong and watch us flub our syllables on February 29th!"), or any number of other things.

The best and newest thing about Twitter is its integration with smartphones like the iPhone, Android phones, Palm, and others.  With a simple app, someone in your group can be assigned the easy task of updating the Twitter page, and replying to all your fans when they @ reply you (now you know what all these @ signs are about!).  If they already have a Twitter account, there are many apps that can support multiple accounts on one phone (I personally prefer Seesmic for Android).

Twitter can also be integrated with your Facebook page, and can cross-post stories to and from your Facebook feed.

Be Heard! Twt.fm, SoundCloud, and other Streaming Music Services

My two choices for uploading streaming music online are Twt.fm and SoundCloud.  SoundCloud is particularly nice because it allows you to upload full WAV and AIFF files, much to the appreciation of the audiophiles out there to download and listen to offline.  I credit its discovery and popularity (particularly in the a cappella community) to Imogen Heap, who pre-released her entire album on SoundCloud for free streaming (but not downloading, which you can specify).

Twt.fm, on the other hand, is integreated directly with Twitter, so it can cross-post links to your songs right on your Twitter, and by extension, Facebook pages (are we seeing a theme here?).  It's simple, requires no additional signup, and can have you posting a link to your first track in just as long as it takes you to upload the audio file.

Don't overlook the traditionals

Having a clean and up-to-date website is still one of the most important things for a group to have as part of their online presence.  If a person or another group is looking for information on your group, chances are the first thing they're going to do is Google your name and see if a website pops up.  

Comic sans and a left-side frame just won't cut it anymore.  Get a professional to design a simple site for you (a tightly-budgeted group can usually get a professional and easy-to-manage site for around $500), or use a WordPress Theme.  Some of the best and best-looking sites on the Web are built on the WordPress framework, including Fundamentally Sound's new website, and the Mouth Off Podcast's site.  WordPress is easy to work with, easy to modify and update once it's set up, and customizable to whatever degree you want or know how to do.  You can use either the visual editor, with its rich-text integration, or the HTML editor, where you can write your own code. Pros can help you with WordPress if you want, but sometimes it's easier to just work at your own skill level, in case you have to fix something.

Why haven't you mentioned MySpace?

Because it sucks.  Next question.

That can't be right.

Well, no, I guess that isn't entirely true.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say right up front that I really don't like MySpace.  I haven't logged into mine in over two years, mostly because it reminds me of bad mirror-shot self-portraits of girls wearing too much eyeliner.

Expert opinion coming to me from deep within the field, however, tells me that MySpace is still (or, possibly, again)  the place where tons and tons of unsigned artists drop their music. The demographic may be shrinking a little, but MySpace is still the first place a lot of people look when they want to find a group they just heard about. Unfortunately for a lot of them, it's also the only social medium that they operate or update.  Do not fall into this trap.  

Remember, people are going to these sites to get information, so keep as little between the information and your fanbase as possible.  Don't get too flashy with your page design.  I've seen plenty of pages with transparency effects, flash animations, total re-skins, and other shiny jangly bits, and they load about as slow as Betty White on horse tranquilizers.  Make sure your page has a color scheme, has music on it, has an up-to-date event listing, and has links to other parts of your web presence.  That should be enough.

Even if MySpace isn't really your "thing," that doesn't mean you should ignore it outright because of a personal bias against it.  Which brings me to my next point...

Be proactive!

This doesn't just mean updating the social media outlets you already have.  You should always be looking for new ways to get information out there to your fans.  Sure, maybe Google Buzz isn't great now, but who knows - in the future, it might be the way of getting in touch with your fan base.  Being the first to jump onto a new social media platform isn't always exciting - the starting userbase is usually pretty small.  Be patient!  If the site catches on, it'll be worth sticking around, and if it dies a horrible death, you've wasted maybe 20 minutes setting up a profile.

Lastly, some people and groups you should know on Twitter:

• CASA: @acappellanow
• RARB: @rarborg
• Varsity Vocals: @varsityvocals
• VocalSource: @vocalsource
• A Cappella Records: @acrecords
• Diovoce: @diovoce
• Freddie Feldman: @vocomotion
• Alex Green: @atothegreen
• Amy Malkoff: @amalkoff
• James Cannon: @_jcannon
• Matt Emery: @memerylane
• Christopher Diaz: @leprincerebelle
• Dave Brown: @davecharlibrown
• Mouth Off: @mouthoffshow
• The Amalagamates: @amalgamates
• The Beelzebubs: @tuftsbubs
• The Jackson Jills: @jacksonjills
• The Chordials: @chordials
• All-Night Yahtzee: @anyahtzee
• BYU Noteworthy: @byunoteworthy
• FSU Acabelles: @acabelles

There's plenty more, so get yourselves caught up on the 21st century and start posting!

Alex Green is a soon-to-be-graduating senior at Tufts University.  He has sung with the Amalgamates for his entire college career, and served as Music Director for the 2009 calendar year.  He is currently serving as album producer along with Alex Rodman and John Clark, and runs Function-L Productions, an independent music recording and production company.  Please send him work.  Please.  He can be reached at atothegreen@gmail.com, or on Twitter at @atothegreen.