There’s constant discussion about online engagement being all about conversation, which provides a challenge that many labels face. Some artists just aren’t very interesting, why would you want them to talk to their fans every day? Even Radiohead, who are perceived to be ‘digitally communicative’, only blog every few weeks. Most of the discussion around the band happens between fans, and this is something the music industry needs to harness.

Simon Quance, Head of Planning at Hyperlaunch DMG, used the Wall Of Ice case study (which featured on the site yesterday), as an example of this. “From what I saw, blogs were the real carriers of the Wall Of Ice message once it was ‘out there’. This is proof that the band are deeply engaged with contemporary communication channels, yet they have a very traditional relationship with their fans that underpins all of their communications. For me it is the clarity of understanding between the band and their punters that is key to their buzz phenomena.”

Dom Hodge, Head of Planning at music marketing agency FRUKT said that this understanding comes from a willingness to relinquish control – which is tough for any marketer to do.

“Ian Brown, for instance, appreciates the digital space and values his fans. Like Radiohead, most of the support and chatter is initiated by his forum. The music industry relies on forums, as that’s where the loyal fans congregate. Pixie Lott and The Saturdays have also been allowed to maintain direct communication, as is Tinchy Stryder. After every gig, he’s on Twitter thanking everyone, but he’s also not afraid to say ‘buy my new single or t-shirt’. “

However, it’s obvious that young artists understand the digital space, they’ve grown up with it. There will always be artists that this kind of activity isn’t right for, but for many mainstream acts you need to open door and bring fans into their world.

Does this mean that this hardcore group of loyal fans could be treated as ‘influencers’ by the music industry – as the tech space does with bloggers for instance? Hodge explained that a lot of this happens naturally. “There’s a growing desire for more and more content online, and one of the most positive things the industry does very well is recognise the power of this. Labels provide a video, behind the scenes footage, remixes galore. People will naturally talk about music as it’s so emotive, which gives it an advantage over Fairy Liquid or even a BMW.”

Radiohead in particular, talk mainly to their loyal fans, lighting up a vibrant advocates network in the process. “There is a restless hunger for information on the band and once news is out there, it’s is a scramble to acquire Radiohead ‘knowledge’ points by being the first to know. It creates perfect Radiohead WOM.- full of passion and conjecture,” continued Quance.

One final thing to consider though is that targeting existing fans alone works well for a group with such a large following, but can be limiting for new artists. As has been suggested by almost all of the contributors to this piece, it would be interesting to see how traditional Radiohead’s promotion would become if they were to write a mainstream album again – despite Thom Yorke claiming that it would ‘kill them’.