By the time Imogen Heap’s new recording, Ellipse, was released today, fans and followers already had two years of previews, insights, sneak peeks, and personal reflections about what was to come. Because for two years, Heap — a socialite of on-line systems — had been sharing her journey:
- on YouTube (through 40 video blogs from her home studio, even as she was building it — here’s the first, here’s the last, and here’s a one-minute montage of them all),
- on Twitter (through tweets about the artwork, photography, and press tours in support of the recording),
- on 12seconds (with short video bursts of sound clips and odd asides), and
- on Flickr (sharing images, and hosting a user competition to create album art inspired by lyrics of the as-yet-unreleased songs).
Heap is certainly not the only active artist on social media sites. But this effort places her among the more connected. And it leads me to wonder if the extensive online narrative will lead to faster sales, or more discussion, or deeper experiences than a cold release with the standard media coverage.
It’s no epiphany to realize that the growing social systems on the web provide new and extraordinary access to artists and their process. It’s just fascinating to watch at least one artist take them for a serious spin.
I love what she’s been able to do. Virtually everyone knows her (no pun intended) and is recognizing the power of harnessing fans and followers wherever they may congregate.
It is indeed all about being there. My question is being there how? So much of social media for those who produce original content seems to turn into broadcasting rather than connecting. Or is that connecting now? I expected Facebook and Twitter to afford the opportunity to interact with people. It either ends up being a completely off-topic chat or a non-responsive session. I’m not talking about a hard-sell, I’m just talking about getting watchers involved. Or is it supposed to be one-sided in this arena?
Peace.