By Virginie Berger, Founder and CEO of DBTH, a strategy, development and management firm, dedicated to artists and creative industries (France)

1. Marketing Music
on Twitter
By Virginie Berger, Founder and CEO of DBTH, a
strategy, development and management
firm, dedicated to artists and creative industries
(France)

2. Table of Contents
1. How to exchange on Twitter?
2. How to communicate on Twitter?
3. A few codes to keep in mind
4. Applications to use
5. The Key Learnings

3. September 2010, Twitter was announced the third social network in the world, ahead of MySpace. Indeed, it had reached 96
million unique visitors per month, while MySpace declared only 95 millions.
Yet, even though Twitter positions itself as a social network, it operates more in the way of an information network. While on
Facebook, statutes reply to the question “What‟s on your mind?”, on Twitter, they answer the question: “What‟s happening?”.
On Twitter, members are first looking at sharing the information.
Over 80% of the general public indicates they prefer following recommendations of their “friends” to go see a movie or buy an
album than trusting ads or magazine critics. That way, Twitter became, in the United States, the first trend forecaster for
cinema box office because it amplifies and broadcasts advices and opinions. And it is actually taking the same road for music.
Twitter allows the spread of information in real time from anywhere in the world. This information is also shared live: from
demonstrations in Egypt to football game results, including an IT problem on Google.
Besides, Twitter allows direct exchanges between two people interested in the same topic even though they‟re distant
geographically, socially or professionally.
Dialogue is key on this platform. On Twitter, one chooses to follow the updates of another person: you choose to listen to him.
That means that, on Twitter, what you say should be interesting, otherwise you won‟t be listened to, you will be eliminated.
To sum up, on Twitter, you need to give in order to build your community.

4. 1. How to exchange on Twitter?
Once you‟ve created your account, Twitter will suggest a list of people to follow. These people will be outlined in thematic groups:
music, current events, new technologies…
To get started on Twitter, you need to follow a few people among those suggested. Don‟t forget that Twitter is first and foremost a
monitoring and sharing tool: choose the ones that seem the most interesting to you.
To develop your network, you can study the list of people that follow the ones you follow and eventually start following them. A tip :
follow people who are susceptible to be interested in what you‟re doing.
This work of “following” as they call it on Twitter, is the most time consuming. But the quality of the information you will read and
share depends on the people you choose to follow. It takes sometimes a few weeks to find the best “following”, but this step is
essential.
In order to develop your network, you can also search for new people to follow in using key words on the page
http://search.twitter.com. On this page, you can search for keywords that correspond to the name of your band or your name, topics
you like, words that describe your music, its genre...
That way, you will find people who have the same interests as you, or who talk about you, that you can choose to follow.
Have a look at Amanda Palmer Twitter (@amandapalmer), the former Dresden Dolls singer, for exemplary use of Twitter by an
artist. She talks to her fans, sells her merchandising ($19 000 in a month) @amandapalmer

5. 2. How to communicate on Twitter ?
Before your first tweet, you should define your editorial angle. What would you like to communicate? You, your work, your
passions, your music?
A few topics :
•Don‟t talk solely about music and concerts. If you only post your concert dates, you won‟t be followed for long. Twitter is based on
information sharing, so share information that interests you.
•Share what you‟re doing : post links, take pictures, tell what‟s happening to you
•Ask question, request opinions
•Search who talk about you on the search function on Twitter, follow them, answer questions
•If you also use a private Twitter account, you can send special offers to your followers
•Update if you encounter problems (website down, concert problem, etc…)
•Launch contests
•To start a discussion, look into the on-going conversations.

6. Have a look as well at Charly from Charly et sa Drôle de Dame @charly_sddd), a rising and DIY artist. Little by little he is taming
Twitter and is creating his small community, sharing info that is not always about him.
So, what to do on Twitter:
• Share what you are doing: post links, take photos
• Tell us what's happening
• Share your info and other people info
• You can ask questions and seek advice
• Look for those who talk about you via the Twitter research function, follow them and answer their questions
• If you also use a private Twitter, you can send special offers to your followers
• Update in case of problems (site not working, gigs problems, etc.)
• Launch a contest
Also check out @noushskaugen (1.2 millionfollowers!!). She is an unsigned DIY artist. In her updates, she talks about Twitter,
social media and connecting with fans.
Not forgetting @trent_reznor or @lcdsoundsystem who twitpics studio recording photos, etc.

7. 3. A few codes to keep in mind
Twitter has its own ecosystem and its own language that you need to know before kicking off.
•Communicate through @
To answer, comment or simply to connect with someone, you just need to indicate @ followed by the name of the user. For
instance, if you want to talk to me: @virberg
•How to come in private contact with someone?
To send a private and direct message to someone, click on Direct Messages then choose the person you want to send the 140
character message. Beware: you can only send direct messages to the people who follow you.
•Other principles:
@nameoftheuser: the @ followed by the name of the user means you are directly addressing this person or mentioning someone.
RT = retweet = to forward a message. It is comparable to the „FW‟ by email. The RT means you are forwarding information that
seemed relevant to you.
# = hashtag. What follows the symbol # is a keyword (for instance #music). This hashtag is usually at the end of the tweet. It
allows to aggregate discussion around an event. It can also give a tone to the conversation. For instance, the #fail is quite often
used to describe failure, but mainly ironically.
#FF or Follow Friday. Every Friday, you can recommend your community to follow people you appreciate. But it‟s only interesting
if you explain why these people should be followed.

8. 4. Applications to use
Twitter has its own ecosystem and its own language that you need to know before kicking off.
Just like on Facebook, you can use a few tools and applications that will help you increase your comfort on Twitter.
URL shorteners : Twitter only allows to send short messages in 140 characters. Twitter now shortens URLs directly. But if you wish
to follow statistics on an article or content that you share, it‟s better to use a tool that will shorten your URL: it helps you maximizing
the use of the 140 character of your tweet and monitoring the clicks. You can use Bit.ly, Goo.gl, Tinyurl…
You just need to paste the initial URL in the dialog box dedicated on one of these websites and it will translate it into a shortened
URL.
You can also post pictures and videos. You can either use the application installed on your Smartphone to publish the picture or
video on your Twitter account, or use an application like Twitpic or Twitvid that will allow you to send content from your computer,
but also from your phone or by email.
Other applications can help you follow the traffic on your Twitter account. For instance, Tweetstats helps you see on a graphic form
the use of your account: the number of tweets per month, per hour. On Twitteranalyzer, you can see who mentions you the most,
who RT your tweets the most…

9. 5. The Key Learnings: Here is what you need to remember
• Twitter allows the spread of information in real time from anywhere in the world. On Twitter, you need
to give in order to build you community.
• To develop your network, you can study the list of people that follow the ones you follow and
eventually start following them. A tip : follow people who are susceptible to be interested in what
you‟re doing.
• Before your first tweet, you should define your editorial line. What would you like to communicate?
You, your work, your passions, your music?
• Twitter has its own ecosystem and its own language that you need to know before kicking off.

10. About the author
Virginie Berger, more than 13 years of experience in the media and music industry, is the
founder and the CEO of DBTH, a strategy, development and management firm, dedicated to
artists and creative industries. She also wrote the book “Music and digital strategies” (IRMA
publishing).
She is the former marketing and content director of MySpace France, and now also reader for
IMM, Nanterre university, Irma and author.
She is also the publisher of “Don‟t believe the Hype”(http://virginieberger.com), a website
dedicated to musicians, artists, bands and people from the music industry. It gives them the
tools, resources, expertise and guidance to help them take their music career to the next
level.
Twitter @virberg Email vberger@dbth.fr
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