Flowd’s Social Music Network Features Electronica
Though Flowd bills itself as the "Music Lovers' Social Network", it seems to have become a dj driven music network with the top artists mostly identified as "trance". Judging by the numbers of followers of top accounts, Flowd does not appear particularly large, but it's a nice example of a niche social network designed with mobile users in mind. Unfortunately it lacks the vital component of music!
Flowd is a nice looking social network with a design that suggests a focus on mobile. Though the light colored type on dark background feels a bit dated, it otherwise seems like a decent social networking platform.
Armin van Buuren Promo Video for Flowd
At some point, Flowd became a trance and electronica network featuring DJs as star artists. This may have been a niche entry point, given the promo with Armin van Buuren in late 2010, but seems to have become their ongoing focus as well with most company news featuring announcements related to DJs.
Smaller networks interest me, in part, because I believe it's possible to mount successful fringe marketing campaigns that focus on smaller spaces on the web where it's possible to be heard. Flowd has potential in that regard but primarily for musicians involved with electronica that are identified with or in relationship to the main currents of music on the site.
My concern for Flowd is that they don't have any music and they seem to have a limited niche that's not clearly marked. If artists could embed content, such as YouTube videos or SoundCloud audio, then music could be introduced.
But they need to decide if they're going to remain a niche or reach out. Focusing on DJ-driven music would be a sizable niche that's much broader than their current range. Or staying more narrowly defined and clearly identifying as such would be another option. At the moment the branding and the actual community don't seem clearly matched.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. Flux Research is his business writing hub and All World Dance: World Dance News is his primary web project. To suggest websites and related topics for review, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
We at TAG Strategic are working with Flowd and believe it has real potential. They just launched last spring and electronic music is indeed simply an entry point. Armin van Buuren and A State of Trance have some great success stories from it. We and a company in the UK are actively demo’ing Flowd to artists in other genres and getting an enthusiastic response.
There is music on Flowd – each artist can post music on their profile, as well as photos and coupons redeemable for their merch stores. Adding SoundCloud is a good idea. I’ll float that by them. There are many features the dev team is working on.
Flowd’s value is in taking the best of Foursquare and Facebook/Twitter and putting the data in the hands of the artist. Fans and artists post status updates, which socialize out to FB and Twitter. Fans comment on artists’ updates and photos. You can follow other fans as well as artists.
The killer thing they do is location-based promotions. With Flowd, fans can check in at a concert and be sent a discount for the merch booth. Or, if X number of fans check in, they all get a download. Or, at a festival, fans who check in near a certain stage will get a pass to go to a secret acoustic set backstage. And for non-location-based, triggers can be set up for following an artist. It’s builds the music promotions that Foursquare could never get together, with a social/sticky element, and the data is owned by the artist, not the venue.
Hit me up for a deck. karen@tagstrategic.com
Thanks for the info. I didn’t see any music on the artists’ profiles I checked out so thanks for clarifying that.
I like the sound of the local possibilities and look forward to seeing what’s ahead.