Composing : Musicians, Composers, and Social Media by Brandi Thomas

i use it to connect with clients/peers on a personal level, it makes things much smother if you've already broken the ice.

Believe it or not, I have several friends/clients that rarely use email (usually since they are so bombarded everyday, they miss emails) So some prefer connecting via FB. I have done my best with FB to only use it to connect with friends and family (or at least people I have personally worked with/met) Other than that I prefer using Linked-in.

linked-in is not bad either

hi ! :) LinkedIn is the best :)

Really? I'm surprised to hear you guys say that. I've always found LinkedIn to be more corporate-y. What do you guys like about it as musicians/composers?.

I don't really use any of those sites for networking (although I probably should). I have a friend who networks almost entirely on Facebook for all his acting, but so far I've made more film connections through Stage 32 than through any other social media site. In fact, I recently finished a small music project for a friend I met at a screening event, hosted by a member of Stage 32. I'm also scoring a short film for a project started by that same member. As luck would have it, both people are also on Facebook.

I have a Facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn, and of course, Stage 32 account. All of my jobs and connections have come through Stage 32. Then those connections go out and Like/follow/add me on my other pages. I do pretty well keeping up with Stage 32 stuff, but as far as the other pages go, I think I may need to hop on the automation train...

@filmscorematt on twitter

You have definitely been a meaningful connection, Coreetta!

I think a connection between all of the sites available can be really helpful. It's amazing how one post can spread and find you so much work! It's hard to manage all of them, so my recommendation is to combine as many as possible (so when you post on twitter, it shows on facebook and vice versa) a major time savor and a GREAT networking tool!

I haven't used it as much as I know I should. But I intend on turning that around this year in 2015. I think I'm going to try to promote myself more as a film composer extensively with Twitter.

Twitter just feels more casual to me.

Linda - which platform have you found most effective for your music?

Do any of you use SoundCloud?

I do have a soundcloud, although I mostly use it for notating choral music for my choir to practice with. Eventually, once I become more familiar with my DAW and sound libraries, I will use it as a portfolio to demonstrate my scoring ability.

Really? Is there a reason you feel it's more professional?

That's very true, Shannon. There does seem to be a pretty hefty gray area in terms of what you can and can't upload to YouTube. I thought it was good to be on YouTube as a composer as a way to get my music out there even further, but if you go on my profile under Videos, I am guilty of stringing cheesy pictures together to make it a video, as you mentioned. SoundCloud is also just more convenient in that regard.

So are you saying Vimeo is a classier version of YouTube?

Shannon - you said, "it's necessary to have a presence on it for sure, but you need to understand what it is." Can you explain that a bit? Not quite sure I understand.

Oh no, I definitely agree. I always direct people to my SoundCloud.

I run social media for a large professional organization for screen composers. I would suggest that people tailor their content to who is using each platform. For example, I use facebook to connect with people that I've met at film festivals and other film related events. I use twitter to connect with those in the video game industry. No matter what platform I'm on there's one thing that drives me bananas - composers and musicians constantly posting their own music over and over. Social media is supposed to be "social" so focus on starting creative dialogue, sharing industry information, and have conversations - it tends to yield more meaningful connections!

Totally agree, Janal. I read somewhere that 80% of your posts should be about the industry, news, or asking your followers questions, and 20% should be about you. If all you do is post your music, it comes off desperate. No one likes desperate.

I use my Facebook business page to post about jobs I'm working on as well as my content. I've tried to post things I come across online about music/the film industry/etc. on my Facebook page before and it just didn't seem to catch anyone's attention.

Sadly, Facebook is trying to get you to pay to let people to see your posts if you use Facebook Pages. A couple suggestions: have your personal account like all your business posts, use hash tags whenever appropriate, and mention other pages in your posts. You can also link back to your Facebook page in your twitter posts, Google+ etc.

Wow, great analogy Linda. It's true. Social media moves so fast it is hard to get your message to stick, although I feel like Facebook moves a little slower than Twitter. I like Janal's idea of mentioning other pages in your posts. I feel like that gives the message that you're not just about yourself. This is great, you guys. Really appreciate the input! :)

LinkedIn is really good for networking and connecting with people as well as here, I do have a personal page and a business page on facebook too and I link them both so that all my news gets to everyone I'm connected with there, but I agree, it's really difficult to network on facebook and yes, you do have to pay to 'boost' your posts, which is ridiculous, so I just post wherever I can to promote and get the word out.

Yeah I love Twitter. Don't use Facebook or anything else for promotion really. Every week when I tweet new songs or wip's I get like 10-100 new followers. Just have to know how to use #hashtags like knowing which ones have active listeners and which have not enough or too many posters to avoid, and not spam people to death tweeting the same song 5000 times. I only tweet each new song once usually.

And don't use eight thousand hashtags. :D I usually tweet about a new piece/soundtrack once a day for a week on average, usually less, and then I go back to tweeting cat memes and industry news.

Me too! I think it's good to show at least some of your personality to your followers.