Music: An Industry Disrupted

Fandom and Audience Engagement:

The Tragically Hip

Who Are They?

Also known as “The Hip” Canadian rock band from Kingston Ontario Created in 1983 and discovered by MCA 12 studio albums, 2 live albums, 1 EP, and

54 singles; 9 of their albums have reached number 1 in Canada

Lead Singer

Gordon Downie

Success

They did not achieve significant international success with their first 2 albums

The first single from one of their newer albums was premiered during Hockey Night in Canada

They have currently received numerous awards, including 14 Juno's

Social Media Sensitivity...

Downie became recognized for ranting and telling fictional stories during songs (New Orleans is Sinking – one of my favourites!)

In October of 2005, several radio station temporarily stopped playing New Orleans is Sinking; due to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in September of that year

In January of 2010, they performed Fiddler’s Green at the “Canada for Haiti” telethon to aid earthquake victims in that country – this was broadcast nationally on Canada’s main networks; CBC, Global and CTV

Online/Social Media Presence

Main Site: www.thehip.comFacebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Share This, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, MySpace

I’m sure there are plenty more!

Online Communities

The band embraces their inner-social media guru, with plenty of opportunities to get discovered

The band is part of various online communities as well as social networking sites in order to maintain a connection with their fans

Their main website (www.thehip.com) is a central location for the band which includes pictures and video, as well as

information about albums, concerts/shows, contests, e-mail sign-ups, links, merchandise, etc. This site also allows the band to connect with music bloggers, potential venues and

booking agents.

Find Your Audience The band has definitely

found their audience

Whether it is about the “massive numbers”, or having an audience that is passionate about their music, The Tragically Hip definitely fulfills both of these

The band has found the smaller group of individuals that have chosen to proactively engage with their music and expanded into a nation-wide fan base

Meaningful & Sharable Content

The band does not use social media as simply a means to promote themselves and their music/shows, rather, the band has utilized various sites in order to develop an online community in which they interact with fans in many different ways

The band often posts meaningful content, while also sharing their music and important information for their audience

Meaningful Content Via Twitter

Fan Engagement The band utilizes online communities, such as Twitter for

example, in order to gain the attention of their audience, with various incentives

The bands engagement in social media has allowed them to spread meaningful content related to their music, as well as supported causes, events, etc.

The band provides their audience with many tools they can use to spread their content, while developing and increasing the bands social media following simultaneously

Merchandise

http://www.thehip.com/gift-shop/

Continue the Social Push IRL

The band converges online and physical spaces quite effectively

Whether it is sharing during a show, or immediately after a show, this allows the band to actively engage and connect with their fans

Post Consistently

The band does well in keeping up with meaningful, current and varying information while holding a very positive image, keeping the audience informed about what is currently going on

Conclusion

The Tragically Hip uses social media and various online communities successfully to

promote their music and causes in which they support. The band has definitely “found their audience” and engages/connects with them

quite frequently.