Goulding Goes Google+

The music industry has consistently unveiled refreshing and innovative ways of digital marketing. I recall Radiohead’s adoption of the “pay what you want” pricing model for their album, In Rainbows; Arcade Fire’s interactive music video; and more recently, The xx’s audio streaming visualization map. Ellie Goulding is the next big name to harness the power of social media to reach fans.

To promote her new album, Halcyon, the British songstress reached out to listeners through Instagram and Google+. For her first single off the new album, a lyric music video was compiled using Instagram photos submitted by fans. It’s an admirable way to stimulate engagement and personally connect with many fans at once. And I imagine it must feel pretty good to have your photo chosen and immortalized in one of your favourite artist’s music video. Following this, Goulding announced the world’s “first digital album signing”, hosted on a Google+ Hangout – essentially a group video chat – with select fans. These fan-appreciation efforts showcase the powerful match between social media and the power of participation in order to promote to the masses, all the while retaining some degree of a personal touch. Ellie Goulding demonstrates this flawlessly, and has set quite the bar for the rest of the music industry.