Thursday, October 19, 2006
Ben Folds = 'Cory'? WFT?!?
So yesterday in anticipation of the Ben Folds CD release, I sent an instant message to 'Ben Folds' in Second Life. I got a reply back from some guy (I assume it was a guy, anyway) named 'Cory', who is apparently running Ben's avatar until today.
Also, today I tracked down one of the people who is putting on the event as to why I hadn't received a confirmation of my place at the event, and apparently they had originally advertised the wrong email address to RSVP, so I'm not on the list for the event even though I responded right after the announcement was sent! Grrrr...
In my interview with Bob Goyetche on Canadian Podcast Buffet last week, one of the things I said about using things like Second Life, podcasts, myspace, etc. as promotional tools was that if you're not going to do a good job of something or it's going to put you in a bad light, you're better off putting your resources somewhere else.
While I do like the idea of big label artists using these tools, I also think they have to be more emerged in the 'world' in question. Second Life is a particularly social place -- if you are going to get someone to come in and act as Ben Folds, they should probably be acting as Ben Folds from the start. Ideally, it should BE Ben Folds running the avatar from the start.
If big media companies are going to use these avenues, they can't continue to act with their traditional top-down, we-built-it-and-you-love-it attitude. And if you're indie and you're going to use something like Second Life as a promotional avenue, don't just "fly-in". Find the real music fans in the space, connect with them. Go to other peoples shows, support each other. It's social media, be social!
Also, if you've sent out an email to a mailing list of thousands of people (which I'm guessing the Ben Folds mailing list would be) and there's an error in the information, send out a correction. Everyone makes mistakes, but allowing them to screw your fans is not cool.
I still love Ben Folds, but I'm a little pissed with his 'people' right now. Yup, I'm looking at you 'Cory'...
Also, today I tracked down one of the people who is putting on the event as to why I hadn't received a confirmation of my place at the event, and apparently they had originally advertised the wrong email address to RSVP, so I'm not on the list for the event even though I responded right after the announcement was sent! Grrrr...
In my interview with Bob Goyetche on Canadian Podcast Buffet last week, one of the things I said about using things like Second Life, podcasts, myspace, etc. as promotional tools was that if you're not going to do a good job of something or it's going to put you in a bad light, you're better off putting your resources somewhere else.
While I do like the idea of big label artists using these tools, I also think they have to be more emerged in the 'world' in question. Second Life is a particularly social place -- if you are going to get someone to come in and act as Ben Folds, they should probably be acting as Ben Folds from the start. Ideally, it should BE Ben Folds running the avatar from the start.
If big media companies are going to use these avenues, they can't continue to act with their traditional top-down, we-built-it-and-you-love-it attitude. And if you're indie and you're going to use something like Second Life as a promotional avenue, don't just "fly-in". Find the real music fans in the space, connect with them. Go to other peoples shows, support each other. It's social media, be social!
Also, if you've sent out an email to a mailing list of thousands of people (which I'm guessing the Ben Folds mailing list would be) and there's an error in the information, send out a correction. Everyone makes mistakes, but allowing them to screw your fans is not cool.
I still love Ben Folds, but I'm a little pissed with his 'people' right now. Yup, I'm looking at you 'Cory'...
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