If you are a frequent social networker, chances are you already know your Klout score which is measured on a scale of 1-100. The average score is 20, says the ratings site. New York Post writer Garett Sloane opines, “Having a higher Klout score than a rival is the latest form of business one-upmanship.”
Now about 2 years old, Klout monitors your Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and other social networking accounts to see what kinds of reactions you get and how often people are engaged by what you are posting. “Adding more networks…can only increase your score,” claims the site’s online information which also explains, “Klout measures influence online using data from your social networks. Anywhere you have an online presence, you have the opportunity to influence people by creating or sharing content that inspires actions such as likes, retweets, comments and more. The more engagement your posts receive, the more influential you are. Klout uses this information to provide you a Klout Score that measures your overall influence.” Joe Fernandez, Klout CEO/Founder told the Post, “Ultimately, we look at things like how far does your message spread, what proportion of content you create gets acted upon and how influential are the people acting on your message.”
Recently Klout altered its methodology which resulted in the lowering of many individual scores and understandably upset many of those who were downgraded. Expected to soothe the ruffled feathers is a deeper, more transparent look from the company into exactly how the scores are created and tabulated slated to arrive in mid-January 2012.
TechCrunch contributor Semil Shah noted in a Klout editorial, “It’s worth remembering that Klout only claims to measure one’s online influence, and I tend to think that much of the backlash against the company is rooted in the misconception that one’s Klout score maps to the offline world. It’s easy to grandstand and take a publicly moral stance against what Klout is doing, but as it is with entrepreneurship and certainly the web, there are no rules. Companies and users are making the rules as they go, and that’s just the way it should be.”
Mashable’s Samantha Murphy playfully suggests that those with higher scores tend to be the ones most satisfied with the methodology. “It seems as though it’s those with lower Klout scores that detest the concept, while members with higher scores are reaping the benefits of the platform. Some have even gotten job offers, free products and gift certificates from companies that want to keep the Klout influencers on their radar,” she says. “Obtaining a high Klout score is becoming more of something to strive for, with some even highlighting their number on resumes.” Murphy has created a 7-point list of how to get more Klout. “Build a network and create meaningful content,” she advises. “If you keep focused on your network strategy and your content strategy, you’ll succeed.” (See her complete list here.)
Klout scores describe a very limited aspect of a person’s personality and/or lifestyle. However, it seems that marketers are beginning to realize that enlisting social networkers with high scores who broadcast their messages to a large audience can be extremely influential in promoting a brand or a product such as music.
Pandora Debuts Concert Series
/by Sarah SkatesThe first concert was held Dec. 13 in Portland, Ore. with emerging rockers Dawes (“Time Spent In Los Angeles”). As the official launch sponsor, Budweiser presented the inaugural concert free of charge to more than 230 fans, and is now bringing the experience online through a hub on Pandora.com.
All artists that participate in the live concert series will be showcased on the Pandora Presents hub. Behind-the-scenes video of Dawes includes interviews with the band and fans, and footage of the band hanging in Portland. The hub also features a curated “mixtape” of songs selected by Dawes and Pandora music analysts.
Pandora determines the artists and locations for the live concert series from spin and thumbs-up data. Listeners who have created stations and thumbed-up songs for a specific artist or similar artists are invited to attend the exclusive free shows.
Klout Creates New Class Of Brand Promoters
/by bossrossNow about 2 years old, Klout monitors your Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and other social networking accounts to see what kinds of reactions you get and how often people are engaged by what you are posting. “Adding more networks…can only increase your score,” claims the site’s online information which also explains, “Klout measures influence online using data from your social networks. Anywhere you have an online presence, you have the opportunity to influence people by creating or sharing content that inspires actions such as likes, retweets, comments and more. The more engagement your posts receive, the more influential you are. Klout uses this information to provide you a Klout Score that measures your overall influence.” Joe Fernandez, Klout CEO/Founder told the Post, “Ultimately, we look at things like how far does your message spread, what proportion of content you create gets acted upon and how influential are the people acting on your message.”
TechCrunch contributor Semil Shah noted in a Klout editorial, “It’s worth remembering that Klout only claims to measure one’s online influence, and I tend to think that much of the backlash against the company is rooted in the misconception that one’s Klout score maps to the offline world. It’s easy to grandstand and take a publicly moral stance against what Klout is doing, but as it is with entrepreneurship and certainly the web, there are no rules. Companies and users are making the rules as they go, and that’s just the way it should be.”
Mashable’s Samantha Murphy playfully suggests that those with higher scores tend to be the ones most satisfied with the methodology. “It seems as though it’s those with lower Klout scores that detest the concept, while members with higher scores are reaping the benefits of the platform. Some have even gotten job offers, free products and gift certificates from companies that want to keep the Klout influencers on their radar,” she says. “Obtaining a high Klout score is becoming more of something to strive for, with some even highlighting their number on resumes.” Murphy has created a 7-point list of how to get more Klout. “Build a network and create meaningful content,” she advises. “If you keep focused on your network strategy and your content strategy, you’ll succeed.” (See her complete list here.)
Klout scores describe a very limited aspect of a person’s personality and/or lifestyle. However, it seems that marketers are beginning to realize that enlisting social networkers with high scores who broadcast their messages to a large audience can be extremely influential in promoting a brand or a product such as music.
Artists Tweet Holiday Happenings
/by Sarah SkatesArtists are hooked on Twitter. Here’s some of the biggest news and most re-Tweeted posts they shared with Followers over the recent holidays.
Don’t forget to keep track of who has the most Twitter Followers and Facebook Likes via MusicRow’s Twitter/Facebook Chart.
Singled Out (1/2/2012)
/by FreemanMiranda says, “I’ve never cried writing a song, and I don’t know that I ever will again. After we wrote it, Blake said he couldn’t record this song for himself or sing it on stage every night but he would be honored for me to. ‘Over You’ is one of the most special songs I’ll ever be a part of.” Starting January 12, Lambert will kick off her headlining On Fire tour in Rockford, IL with Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann.
• • • • •
Across the hall at Arista Records, Ronnie Dunn’s “Let The Cowboy Rock” will go for adds January 16. The third single from Dunn’s self-titled debut solo album, it follows up the reactive “Cost Of Livin'” which was the theme of episodes of Dr. Phil and The Doctors in December.
• • • • •
• • • • •
Following the group’s first big No. 1 song “Crazy Girl,” Eli Young Band will be sending “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” to country radio. Written by Will Hoge, the song is the second single from EYB’s first Republic Nashville album Life At Best.
• • • • •
Swift, Civil Wars Combine Forces On New Song
/by FreemanTaylor revealed the news exclusively to her fans via Twitter. Thirty minutes prior to the song’s release, she posted that she was very excited about something that was “going to be happening VERY soon,” then posted a link to the iTunes download. Listen to the track here.
Burnett is producing the soundtrack, which will be released by Universal Republic and feature all newly written songs. Also appearing on the collection will be The Decemberists and Grammy winners The Arcade Fire. The Hunger Games soundtrack will debut in advance of the film’s theatrical release on March 23.
Curb Shares Details of New McGraw Project
/by Sarah SkatesMcGraw’s longtime producer Bryon Gallimore helmed the project which has already resulted in the No. 1 “Felt Good On My Lips.”
R&B star Ne-Yo guests on the song “Only Human,” which was produced by Darran Smith. According to the label, other stand-out tracks include “Touchdown Jesus” (Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip), and “I Will Not Fall Down” (McGraw, Martina McBride, The Warren Brothers).
“…Lips” has already been certified Gold for paid digital downloads, and now two more album tracks are available on iTunes—“Right Back Atcha Babe,” and current single “Better Than I Used To Be,” which is at No. 35 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout chart.
With a track record that includes 32 No. 1 singles and 44 million albums sold, McGraw previously announced plans to release music separately from his previous label Curb Records. The superstar and record company split in late 2011.
Track listing for Emotional Traffic:
1. Halo
2. Right Back Actha Babe
3. One Part, Two Part
4. I Will Not Fall Down
5. The One
6. Better Than I Used To Be
7. Touchdown Jesus
8. The One That Got Away
9. Felt Good On My Lips
10. Hey Now
11. Only Human
12. Die By My Own Hand
One Sales Week To Go
/by bossrossThe song we’re a’ singing has changed from “Jingle Bells” to “Auld Lang Syne” which means there is only one week left in the Nielsen SoundScan year. Yes, soon we’ll be talking about 2011 in past tense. But WAIT! We’re not there yet! First, let’s see what happened last week during country music’s biggest single sales week of 2011.
Country shifted 2.186 million albums this past holiday week for a YTD total of 42.843 million. (Same week sales in 2010 were 2.319 million.) Top country albums stacked up pretty much as they have for the past few weeks with Lady Antebellum on top (110k+) followed by Scotty McCreery (85k+) and Jason Aldean (75k+).
I think it was Kanye West who once said to Taylor Swift, “These numbers are good, but Michael Buble’s Christmas album is really great!” Well, it’s possible that Mr. West didn’t say that exactly, but it’s not possible to dispute the power of holiday sales when properly harnessed. Buble’s offering sold a joyous 467k+ this week placing it in first place for all albums, giving it a 9-week total sales of close to 2.5 million units and placing smiles on the faces of Warner Music execs everywhere. The year’s other prime mover has been Adele. Her 21 owned the No. 2 position as the holiday week closed with sales of close to 400k for the week and almost 5.68 million in 44 weeks.
We’ve been talking a lot about the importance of tracks on this page and this week’s tally adds fuel to the fire. Toby Keith’s incredible “Red Solo Cup,” a song that could only have been written by two pairs of brothers—the Beavers and the Warrens—was downloaded over 176k times this week followed by Taylor Swift’s “Safe & Sound” which features the Civil Wars and is included in the soundtrack of The Hunger Games which shifted over 135k copies. Luke Bryan also enjoyed a spin in the over 100k circle as his “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” sold 109k+ copies.
Fans last week downloaded 4.655 million country music tracks; YTD the tally equals 142 million. Comparing track vs. album revenue this past week shows albums contributing about $21.86 gross revenue (2.186 X $10) and tracks adding $6.005 million (4.655 X $1.29). On a revenue basis tracks accounted for an additional 28%. (Of course all the albums are not all $10 items and some of the tracks are priced below $1.29.)
Overall numbers are shown on our chart. Country is down 2.1% and overall music sales are up 1.3%. Stay tuned as we shut down the 2011 tally next week and begin slicing and dicing results to find the hidden stories, trends and look toward 2012.
A Special Message From MusicRow
/by Sherod RobertsonDear Reader,
Thank you for your support over the past 30 years. Your patronage is something we will never take for granted as we document the changing shape of the music industry in Nashville and elsewhere. We appreciate YOU and look forward to continuing our journey together as we ring in the New Year.
Our offices will be closed next week as we take time off to be with our family and friends. Have a safe and happy holiday.
Best wishes from all of us at MusicRow.
Pandora Tussles Traditional Radio Over Ad Revenue
/by bossrossSo it should be no surprise that a competitive tug of war is brewing between terrestrial and Internet radio as the two business models spar for success, and more specifically—ad dollars.
According to a Wall Street Journal article (12/22) there is “an intensifying dispute between traditional radio broadcasters and online radio service Pandora Media Inc. over how their audiences are measured.” Answers to this question will of course have a direct effect on ad revenues.
Arbitron Inc. is responsible for measuring and providing audience estimates for terrestrial radio, but doesn’t currently measure online audiences for Pandora or other services.
Realizing what was at stake, traditional radio fired back by demanding Arbitron issue a report discounting the new metrics as not being directly comparable to Arbitron audience data.
If it all sounds confusing, it is actually very simple. Traditional radio has the largest piece of the ad revenue pie, and is determined to keep it. WSJ noted, “Pandora founder Tim Westergren said in an interview that Arbitron’s statements were part of a ‘concerted effort’ to keep his company out of the radio industry even as online radio becomes a credible competitor. ‘The broadcast industry does not want the world to know about us, basically, he added.”
Earlier in the week Clear Channel subsidiary Katz 360 cut ties with Pandora and said it would cease to sell digital ad time on online services like Pandora.
Artist Updates (12/23/11)
/by Freeman• • • •
• • • •
• • • •