Niche songwriting: the Twitter song
Jonathan Coulton became an internet superstar by writing songs about computer games, programmers, Flickr, the internet and associated themes (mostly zombies). That’s what he cares about and that’s what his audience cares about. He’s being authentic and connecting with like minds. He doesn’t try to get the rest of the world to listen. There are always going to be enough geeks to pack out his shows.
I’ve been thinking about JoCo’s approach to online superstardom for ages, trying to figure out whether it would work for any web-savvy musician (ie. me ;o). For a while I thought it would: build a decent website where you can preview and buy songs easily, and where the audience can interact with the artist (JoCo’s fans create videos, remixes and other derivatives of his work, which he releases under a Creative Commons licence) and Bob’s your uncle.
But then I figured out the snag. Think of your target audience. If you’re like most songwriters they will be educated, tasteful young adults with cool friends who put on your music at parties and rave about you to everyone they meet. Now think of the kind of people who create fan videos. The kind of people who remix Creative Commons music and transcribe ukelele tab. The kind of people who comment on every blog post. The kind of people who even read blogs. That’s right.
h3. I’m talking about geeks.
Geeks aren’t tasteful young adults who party with their cool friends. Geeks have bizarre and obsessive tastes, bizarre and obsessive geeky friends, and they don’t have parties. If you want to be an internet superstar your audience is geeks. To some, that’s not ideal. ;o)
Lucky for me, I’m a card-carrying geek and I love writing quirky pop songs about geeky things. So I have a chance at internet superstardom. Now, if only I had a breakthrough hit song that was guaranteed to go hyperviral the second it hits the Twitterverse…
Holy cow! I just recorded a song about Twitter! I bet that would work!
h3. You’re No One If You’re Not On Twitter
It’s true. Like Twitter itself, this entire blog post has been a pathetically disguised press release for my new superviral, Twittertastic song: “You’re No One If You’re Not On Twitter”. Shame on me. It’s in the player at the top of the page – you can listen to it now, while you’re reading! Now go tweet, people. Tweet until your little beaks are sore. Then wait a few minutes and tweet again. Let’s fill the Twitterverse with glorious music. ;o)
You can tweet the link to the song page on the 50/90 Challenge website, or the link to this article. Better yet, just retweet the tweet!
Feel free to flame me or give me love in the comments.
![50/90 [I’m writing 50 songs in 90 days!]](http://www.ihatemornings.com/wp-content/themes/grid_focus_public2/images/button-5090.png)
22 Comments, Comment or Ping
Charlie Cheney
I re-tweeted you… because I’m a geek.
Oh for the days when I only had to check email once or twice a week.
Even better… oh for the days of paper based earth mail… when all my favorite friends sent me their days encapsulated in lyrics, hand written.
Oh sweet enchanted remorse, pining, and regret.
Aug 20th, 2008
NaturallyGeeky
I’m ~somebody~!! I’m on Twitter, so I must be, right? :)
Oh yeah, and I’m a geek. And a nerd. And a dork!! Yay me!
Aug 21st, 2008
Nikki Pilkington
Hi, great song, great idea - hope it works for you :) Aren’t we all geeks at heart?
Sep 8th, 2008
F. Andy Seidl
Ben: Great song! Thanks for publishing it! I’ll make sure my little community of “somebodies” gives it a listen. :-)
Sep 8th, 2008
André Loibl
I am so glad I exist!! ;-)
does anybody follow me?! http://www.twitter.com/changenow ?! :-)
And this a 100% retweet, link tweet, bookmark thing!! :-)
You get socialized now! ;-)
Greetings,
André
Sep 8th, 2008
Steven K. Mariner
The song is genius (yes, if you insist, a genius assembly of standard musical components and clever lyrics, but that’s just picking nits, and the nits are fine without pickage, uhm, what was I saying?) and the YouTube availability is a true blessing.
And I could just record a WAV off YouTube but I’d rather buy a quality, artist-supporting copy.
Admittedly, I’ve only given the most cursory glance around your web site and YouTube channel, but could you be a chap and highlight if and where one might actually BUY your music properly?
Many thanks for your work.
Many thanks for your time.
Many thanks for…well, being you.
- Steve M.
Sep 17th, 2008
Voyagerfan5761
Definitely going to bookmark/retweet this, and might blog it if I have time. (Unfortunately my time away from school and all that crap is severely limited these days.) And I’ll be on the lookout for more songs from ya’; this one’s catchy!
Sep 18th, 2008
Ben Walker
Thanks for all the kind words, people. It beats the “you blow goats”-style YouTube comment flurry. ;o)
Steven – I’m not selling my songs. It’s not worth it. I would rather have loads of people listen to them, copy them, blog them etc. So if you want an artist-approved copy, help yourself from the songs page. Just right click and “Save as…” any of the “MP3″ links.
Having said that, you might notice a PayPal Donate button at the top of the songs page. Feel free to buy me a drink. ;o)
Sep 18th, 2008
Rosie
i’m not on twitter…
*burns with shame*
i’ve put it on my blog instead.
Sep 18th, 2008
Diana
Hey there!
I just wanted to let you know how amazed I am by your music!
It`s absolutely fantastic!
You`re songs are funny, creative, clever…and put a smile on my face everytime I listen to them :o) .
Simply love everything you do!
Greets, Diana
xxx
PS. No gigs planned in Switzerland…?
Sep 18th, 2008
Shirley To
Brilliant.
My friend asked me about Twitter 2 days ago and I told him about your song.
-shirley
Sep 19th, 2008
Stephen Hart
Hi,
Loved the twitter song, found it whilst researching online social marketing, thought you might like to know that your link on youtube is incorrect it tries to load ” http://www.ihatemornings.com)/ ” the comma at the end prevents the site from loading.
You might want to fix that. Regards
Stephen
Sep 19th, 2008
Twit lover
I love this song so much ans being a song Writer and twit Lover, I thought I should write a song On twitter too Just like Ben and Here it is: http://futurebells.com/internet/social-media-internet/new-twitter-song-lyrics-if-you-follow-me/
Please Let me know what you think…… :)
Oct 7th, 2008
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