A study on social media usage stratigies of musicians in the Turkish music industry

The digital evolution of the music industry, together with the power of social media tools, has led to significant changes in its marketing around the world. The production of social media tools, the increase in music production and consumption, and the changing musicians have made it possible to reach wider audiences. In this context, the study focuses on how musicians create virtual identities with social media tools and the digital marketing system behind this. Social Identity Theory (SKT) was used to create this theoretical framework. According to this theory, individuals form their social identities by identifying with certain groups and develop various strategies to maintain this identity. Within the scope of the research, interviews were conducted with 20 professional from the Turkish music industry who actively use social media and were evaluated using the thematic analysis method. The findings are presented under sub-themes such as professional and personal identity, musical identity, social identity, promotional blocks, mass communication, digital marketing systems, income sources, digitalization and technological innovations. These themes and digital marketing activities have offered new perspectives to the Turkish music industry and literature.