iTunes
In this day and age, social networking is one of the primary ways in which an a cappella group can interact with and expand upon its fan base. In this recurring feature, we explore how a group can best use different available technologies to promote itself.
Lots of folks like physical CDs. They like having something tangible for money, they having cover art, they like popping that music into their Discman and going for a run—
OK, so no one actually uses a Discman anymore.
And while there are, truthfully, still folks who dig physical media, it’s worth noting that nowadays far more people are buying their music online, and in the current marketplace, iTunes is king.
In a social networking age, iTunes is more accessible from a participatory standpoint than any Coconut Records ever was. You may work through services like CDBaby or TuneCore, which will get your foot in the door and do most of the legwork for you for a fee, or you may apply to be a content provider directly with iTunes, but note the qualifications are pretty steep.
However you approach iTunes, the core value remains the same that getting your music sold there means opening your music up to just about the largest body of music consumers possible. Fans of your music are much more likely to double click to buy their favorite song from your group than they are to navigate your website to actually a buy CD—much less actually go out and hand you physical cash for the physical media.
In using iTunes you’re making your group more accessible to the masses, which is ultimately what social networking should be all about for an a cappella group.