Record Label Discovers Talent on Social Media

Belgian record label SonicAngel scans sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter for artists, then asks fans to buy shares in the bands it selects. The shares pay out once the recording artist starts making money. Musicians also upload tracks in a separate system and fans vote on them. SonicAngel collects the votes and tracks the results via social media.

Soliciting fan feedback early on and giving them a direct stake in a band's success contrasts with predominant industry models that see fans as merely consumers. SonicAngel's arrangement may help labels and recording companies become more responsive to music fans' tastes, and giving fans a share of the bands' success may be an alternative to explore as the industry continues to struggle to find its footing in a digitally-dominated landscape.

The label is working with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Ghent to develop a platform that will scan the entire Web for talent, not just particular social media sites, a plan that could put them in the forefront of sweeping change in the music industry.

SonicAngel co-founder, Maurice Engelen, found his own way to make use of the buzz generated by social sites. Engelen is a musician who worked for the Flemish version of "X-Factor," where he noticed that the most talented performers are not necessarily the ones who get recording contracts. This spurred him to find a new way to promote and support bands.

"We said there are... problems with the current record industry and let's try to solve them," co-founder Bart Becks said in a Reuters article.

In the year and a half since it was founded, the label has scored three number one hits in Belgium and currently funds 20 artists, showing that their innovative business model is off to a promising start.

Social media is expanding and transforming other industries as well. Television broadcasters are looking for ways to use online interactivity to drive viewership. In an effort to capitalize on the social media trend, TV executives are honing in on young viewers who post online as they watch shows and searching for ways they can use that behavior to boost ratings and advertising.