Create Attention to Attract Attention - Viral Marketing of Digital Music in Social Networks

Digitalization has led to a plethora of digital media. Especially with regard to music, consumers have the choice among millions of songs and artists. For artists and music labels the arising question is how to find their audiences and how to get attention for their music. Since music is naturally part of communications and interactions, viral marketing is a chance for them to (re-)gain attention. But viral marketing needs to accommodate digital music and its unique characteristics. In this paper, (1) the characteristics of digital music are identified and (2) it is analyzed how they affect the viral marketing process. The result shows, what critical factors are to be considered when conducting viral marketing of digital music. This contribution is important for the emerging area of research on music marketing and for music marketers in practice.