Can your client’s social media use hurt them?

There’s an old saying in show business, “all publicity is good publicity.” With the emergence of social media use in everyone’s lives, celebrities and entertainers are no different in their desire to participate in the ever-evolving world of social media. When it comes to developing an artist, I feel like it’s extremely important to include some sort of social media training if this artist is going to “man” their own social media outlets. There are situations where an artist can kill their career before it even gets started because of something posted on Twitter that offended their current and/or potential fan base. This begs the question; can your client’s social media use hurt them? We’ll look at an example of an artist that damaged her career right as it was building steam by her use of social media.

Azealia Banks was once a rising star in the hip-hop industry. She was slowly building a name for herself on the underground and was beginning to gain some critical acclaim. Between 2011 and 2012, as Banks was recording her first album, she began making headlines and blogs by her antics on Twitter.  Check out a synopsis of her various Twitter beefs listed here in Complex magazine.  One of the most troubling things about these twitter exchanges is that she seemed to have no filter. If I were on her artist development team, I would be mortified that she would be having these exchanges with people like T.I. Jim Jones, Lil Kim and Iggy Azalea, all who could be future allies to her in the music industry. Also, since female hip hop artists are so few and far between, she runs the risk of turning potential fans off from her because she's behaving this way towards other, more established artists they're fans of. It would also worry me that there are more articles and press about Banks' twitter wars than her actually music. 

Hip hop culture and rap music has always been about being yourself and not caring what others think and feel about you. It is also built on the "rap battle" as well. There are several different ways to maximize and monetize these situations to Banks' benefit. She could have put out a few songs or as the industry calls them "diss records." This worked for Nicki Minaj when she had issues with Lil Kim. It worked best with Kanye West and 50 Cent. Kanye West and 50 Cent used a feud between themselves to create a marketing plan that worked well for both! Azealia Banks' irresponsible Twitter beefs have hurt her career. She was once signed to Lady Gaga's management team. That relationship has since fizzled out. She also recorded a song with Pharrell Williams and it was set to release earlier this year. However, Pharrell pulled himself from the project because he didn't want to be associated with her. These situations are all a direct reflection of her social media use. 

Whether she was right or wrong in the situations, as a new artist, you have to be more careful with what you put out social media wise. Until you have a record deal or a high level distribution deal, social media is one of the only ways artists connect with their fans and share their work. Is it possible for Banks to make a comeback after so much poor publicity? Absolutely. She's featured on Childish Gambino's critically acclaimed album Because the Internet and she's currently touring Europe. She also deleted the Twitter account that was associated with the beefs she was in and created a new one. I think these are all great starts for revitalizing her career and rebuilding her reputation. She's a great lesson in what not to do when advising artiste development clients on how to interact on social media.