Social Media Monitoring ~ THE BLACK KEYS

Seeing as my blog concentrates on the use of social media in the music realm, for my monitoring assignment I thought it would be relevant to examine how particular bands can exploit social media to their benefit. This is especially worthwhile considering that much of the music industry is making an marked transition onto the web. The group I chose to track is a rock & roll band called The Black Keys. The Black Keys are an excellent social media monitoring case study because they have established a reputation across several Internet forums and have truly engaged with the groundswell. My project outlines how this band’s effective use of social media has undoubtedly contributed to their recent rise in popularity.

The Black Keys ~ Dan Auerbach (left) and Patrick Carney (right)

The Black Keys are blues-rock duo from Akron, Ohio made up of guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band edged their way into the pop music scene in early 2002 and in the last decade since, The Black Keys have released 6 studio albums as well as two EPs and one live album. Over this time they have gained a solid reputation in music circles as a hard-edged and authentic rock band.

Over the last two years The Black Keys have experienced a surge in popularity, thanks in large part to their presence across several social media forums. In late 2010 and through 2011 in particular the band has witnessed an impressive spike in popularity that is currently holding steady. Shortly after winning two Grammy Awards in February 2011 for “best alternative music album” and “best rock performance” The Black Keys witnessed their peak in interest/popularity to date. Since winning their Grammys, the band has garnered growing recognition and support. The chart below displays the The Black Keys' relatively sudden rise in popularity since 2009. The highest spike in this chart directly corresponds with the band's February 13 Grammy Award victories.


Of all the major social media networks, The Black Keys have accounts on Facebook, Youtube, Myspace and Twitter. The band utilizes these platforms as means of distributing and promoting their music and merchandise as well as for notifying fans of upcoming shows and band-related events. On all of these pages the band provides a considerable amount of content for fans to peruse. On Facebook, for example, there are over 1000 photos, as well as free music samples that anyone can listen to. Similarly, on Myspace there are free songs, as well as videos, photos and chat-boards. Furthermore, each webpage links fans to band merchandise (i.e. CDs, t-shirts, totebags) and lists of future tour dates.

To track The Black Keys, I used a variety of quantitate and qualitative data sources, including Google Insights for Search, Addictomatic, Icerocket and Socialmention. Google Insights was particularly useful in providing a chronological timeline revealing The Black Keys’ trends in popularity, or so-called “interest over time.” As the graph below shows, when narrowing search terms specifically to uncover The Black Keys' social media relevance, the data reveals that the band’s recent rise in popularity directly coincides with their growing social media presence. Until mid-2009, The Black Keys were virtually nowhere to be found in the social media realm. Once they formed a presence on these platforms, the band’s popularity has risen precipitously.


Search results for The Black Keys on Addictomatic reveals that the band is popular across a wide range of web channels. For instance, websites like Flickr and Truveo have an abundance of content all related to The Black Keys. Flickr search results, for example, yield over 50,000 images that are tagged with 'the black keys'. Furthermore, according to Icerocket, the term 'the black keys' is tweeted about roughly 20 times per hour, certainly a substantial ratio.

Across every social media platform I have examined, comments and discussions regarding The Black Keys is almost entirely positive. Fans and followers praise the band for their fresh, “alternative” sound that some fans seem to find lacking in today’s mainstream music. On Facebook, every hour several fans leave comments on The Black Keys’ page, offering encouraging messages and displaying their affection for the band.

Here are a few examples of some comments posted to the bands Facebook wall:

• “So inspiring-so amazing-so face-melting-rocking-my-socks-off goodness... i just love you guys!” 
•  “Your show in Paris was something ! Thanks guys ! You are one of those bands that remind me why I love music so much. Come back soon please !” 
• “Thank you!! thank you!! i've been searching for many years to find a band that rocks as awesome as you guys do! Keep it up!”
• “Seriously. The Black Keys are taking over the part of my brain that requires music. This is very strange for me.”

Nearly every comment on the band’s Facebook wall is equally supportive and admiring. Countless posters encourage the band to play a show in their city, while many others post simply to thank the band for their excellent music.

Similarly on Twitter, users are tweeting flattering comments about The Black Keys:

• mellifluous1; “Omg I didn't know anyone else loved the black keysas much as I did. Heeey Heze! (February 26).”
• katiemiranda; “can't stop listening to the black keys.... i need to get tickets (March 2).” 
• SaydiSunshine; “I've been listening to The Black Keys all day today. Yes (March 9).”
• _UhhhhhSucks4U; “My new favorite song. The Black Keys-She's Long Gone *includes link to song* (March 13).”

It is evident from these and countless other examples that The Black Keys have effectively branded themselves online and built a powerful following of very devoted listeners. To support this claim, on Socialmention The Black Keys overall have an 7:1 sentiment ratio, meaning the band receives over 85 percent positive feedback. Considering that this type of data is imprecise, I would not be surprised if in all actuality the band has an even higher ratio of positive feedback.

Out of all the social media forums exploited by The Black Keys, Facebook and Youtube appear to be their most effective resources. On Facebook the band has 858,517 followers as of March 13, 2011; comparatively on Myspace the band has 150,000 friends. On Facebook they use simple but effective teasers that help steer traffic to their band website, www.TheBlackKeys.com, where more merchandise and content is available. Under their Facebook page description it reads, “Register at TheBlackKeys.com to receive a free download of "Ohio." Be the first to hear about tour dates, tv appearances, new music and merch.” Simple promotional offers like this effectively excite the groundswell and help push more traffic towards the bands own website.

On Youtube The Black Keys have 20,000 subscribers and in total their music videos have over 15 million views. This implies that people are linking to The Black Keys channel and sharing their videos in forums, blogs and on other networks. The music video for their song “Tighten Up” alone has over 7 million views. For a group like The Black Keys, music videos are content-rich media that fans and followers can repeatedly enjoy and share with others. These videos become embedded in web pages all across the web and helps maintain buzz. It was a very shrewd business decision for them to create a Youtube account.  This way they can distribute their content on their own terms, while simultaneously linking fans to their other videos, webpages and merchandise.

In sum total, The Black Keys are effectively reaching and engaging with the groundswell. The band has quickly learned how to brand and themselves online.  Though they have yet to reach an audience that can truly be considered "mainstream," they have captured a large base of devoted followers.   In the following weeks I will be interested to see if the band’s popularity/interest remains steady, or whether the beneficial effects of their February Grammy awards will wear off. Considering the band's prevalence across several forums and their ability to engage with fans, I predict that The Black Keys will maintain their high levels of success and popularity for the foreseeable future.


I'd be interested to see if anyone might have some suggestions about other artists/bands that I could look at to compare my findings to in my final assessment... lemme know if you got any ideas, why dontcha!