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Steve O'Hear
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Lookout MySpace: Facebook targets bands and filmmakers

By Steve O'Hear | February 28, 2008, 8:17am PST

Summary

Facebook has stepped up its efforts to persuade musicians and filmmakers that the so-called social utility can also be used as a tool to connect with fans.

Topics

Facebook, Lookout Software, MySpace, Corporate Communications, Marketing, Steve O\'Hear

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Steve O'Hear

Biography

Steve O'Hear

Steve O'Hear
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. He advises businesses and not-for-profit organisations on how to exploit the collaborative and publishing opportunities offered by the Web, and has written for numerous publications including The Guardian and Macworld. Steve is also the director of a new documentary on Silicon Valley, called In Search of the Valley, and in 2002 was made a fellow of the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Art.

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Lookout MySpace: Facebook targets bands and filmmakersFacebook has stepped up its efforts to persuade musicians and filmmakers that the so-called social utility can also be used as a tool to connect with fans.

This, of course, is MySpace territory.

Page templates are now offered by Facebook, specifically designed for music and film, that come bundled with a number of useful applications for media playback, e-commerce and marketing - both official and specially skinned third-party apps.

The music template Page offers the ability to:

  • Send updates about tours and concerts
  • Showcase new releases and post your discography
  • Add Facebook Music Player to stream your music and post buy links
  • Sell tickets and merchandise
  • Engage fans with rich media and streaming video
  • Import photos from concerts anywhere in the world

While the film template Page will:

  • Showcase behind-the-scenes videos and photos
  • Enable users to post reviews and comments
  • Let users purchase tickets and check showtimes

Facebook is also keen to promote the viral opportunities of a dedicated Page, since users who become “fans” of an artist’s page will see updates appear in their Facebook activity stream.

As Josh Catone writes (over at ReadWriteWeb), MySpace still offers a lot more visual customization than Facebook - a good and a bad thing - and artists who are keen to have more control over their brand and want to be more creative with their Web presence, will appreciate MySpace’s open canvass compared to the strict templates that Facebook offers.

Having said that, it’s the network effects that will be of most interest to artists overall, with regards to either site, and to that end, Facebook’s large userbase and virally efficient platform will appeal greatly.

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Disclosure

Steve O'Hear

http://blogs.zdnet.com/social/?page_id=220

Biography

Steve O'Hear

Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. He advises businesses and not-for-profit organisations on how to exploit the collaborative and publishing opportunities offered by the Web, and has written for numerous publications including The Guardian and Macworld. Steve is also the director of a new documentary on Silicon Valley, called In Search of the Valley, and in 2002 was made a fellow of the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Art.

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