Max Blau is Paste Magazine's multimedia editor, where he oversees all audio, video and photo content on the website. He is also a freelance writer, photographer and videographer. Follow him at @MaxBlau or check out his blog.
When fans communicate with their favorite musicians on Twitter or Facebook, they rarely ask, "Who owns the social relationship?" But for artists and labels, this conversation happens daily — and it may drastically change in the near future.
Take the legal dispute between Noah Kravitz and Phonedog, a phone review site and Kravitz's former employer. Kravitz had been tweeting from Twitter handle @Phonedog_Noah during eight months of his employment. After leaving Phonedog, the company sued Kravitz — $2.50 for each of the 17,000 Twitter followers he'd gained while employed at the company. In other words, $340,000.
The legal battle between Noah Kravitz and Phone Dog remains unresolved, but the outcome will likely set the tone for future social media ownership disputes, particularly for artists and musicians.
Practices for ownership of Twitter followers, Facebook fans and other social media connections have yet to be widely established in many industries. And when it comes to the music industry, social media ownership policies have only recently begun to take shape between artists and labels.
How Indie Labels Respond
After speaking with several independent labels' social media representatives, I've determined most labels' roles are twofold: consulting and later supporting.
Jason Fisher, director of new media for Anti- and Epitaph Records, coaches artists on best social media practices. He help his artists maximize their social media presences, in hopes of converting interactions into additional revenue streams.
"Whenever we first sign an artist, we typically do an in-depth analysis of their current social media presence, looking at analytics and results from previous campaigns," wrote Fisher in an email. "From there, we meet with the artists, where we discuss this data, their concerns, restrictions, ideas and needs, which we use to build a social media strategy tailored to their specific needs."
In developing a tailored strategy, independent labels remain involved, so long as the artists are comfortable. Vagrant Records' head of new media, Jeremy Maciak, says this approach has been adopted in many cases for both established and emerging acts. "It's parallel on both sides," says Maciak. "When a team is established, we work with their management to find out just what's comfortable with our [social] involvement, being an admin at all. If…they are comfortable, then we become a passive participant and help design certain contest tabs, certain band Pages."
For instance, indie band The Hold Steady had already gained a following before joining Vagrant. Since signing to the label in 2006, the band has released two records that have benefitted from the label's social media support, which includes designing tabs, BandPages and occasionally posting content. Vagrant's participation, however, remains at the band's sole discretion.
"We know that the most personal voice a band can have is via Facebook or Twitter. We respect that," says Maciak. "Nothing is ever done without management or band approval. Our active involvement is always subject to approval."
Balancing Act
For Karlie Justice, social media manager at Yep Roc Music Group, the ideal relationship is striking a balance among artist, management and label involvement. In her experience, the label should build the sites and share access with all parties involved. Then, allow artists to post "personality-driven updates," such as, songs they enjoy or their opinions on current events. Publicists and managers can then handle informational posts regarding tour dates and sales information.
It completely varies by artist, says Justice. "I'd say a lot of the younger artists who have grown up with social media are a little more protective over their feeds. In this case, we'll usually send 'post requests' to them to work in when they're able. We're always fine with this setup, because these are normally the artists who engage really well via social media."
No matter who does what on a band's Twitter or Facebook page, the foremost priority is that followers feel as if they have a direct connection to the artist. Similar to websites and email newsletters, the more actively an artist can engage fans, the more likely fans will positively respond.
It's why Bloodshot Records' Jenny "JP" Pfafflin prefers her artists to truly own their social media accounts. In her experience as the Chicago-based label's new media publicist, it simply lends to a more authentic social experience. "It maintains the artist's own 'voice,'" she says. "If Justin Townes Earle wants to bitch on Twitter about how electronic cigarettes are banned on planes, so be it — it's a lot more truthful than some company line."
Each of these four label employees unequivocally stated that social media is about the artists — it's an extension of their voices, thus, they should own it. By helping a band understand and execute best practices, the labels will likely see improved sales down the road. But if an artist chooses to leave a label, it's important to let him keep control of those assets.
"For us, the artists own their own social media accounts, though we're heavily involved in all of them," says Fisher. "When an artist leaves our labels, they are welcome to take their social media accounts and any other contact lists with them."
"We don't meddle in that," adds Maciak. "The band retains ownership of that, and if they ask us to leave, we completely oblige."
Why This Approach Isn't Commonplace
Many musicians sign record contracts with independent labels that offer favorable terms across the board, which often address social media. Looking at major labels, however, it's not always clear whether artists can retain access to these social relationships, should they choose to walk away from a major label.
Music industry veteran George Howard, who has served as Rykodisc's president as well as Carly Simon's manager, sees striking similarities in the way musicians' websites were handled more than a decade ago.
"The precedent here is the management of artist websites, where labels did manage sites," he says. "[The label] will acquire all of your information and use it for [their] purposes."
Despite the changes in the way artists communicate with their fans, he notes that information still reigns. While the music industry is often concerned with ownership of master recording, possession of these social relationships is increasingly becoming a valuable commodity that major labels seek to control.
"I have been aware of contracts that do dictate that there's some ownership retained," Maciak recalls of some major label contracts. "I have been made aware of some contracts out there that are pretty binding."
A representative at Universal Music Group declined to comment for this article, while Sony Music did not respond to our interview request.
Without a legal precedent for social media ownership in the music industry, it's unlikely that labels already operating in this manner will change their practices.
Many indie label representatives stress that artists must understand the importance of their social connections. Both artist and label should be on the same page: Establish who owns the connections on specific social media sites, and understand best practices from the get go.
After all, says Howard, "Currency is connection."
Images courtesy of iStockphoto, Vesnaandjic, Soyhan
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