We can all agree that social media has a profound impact on the music industry, empowering independent artists and content creators to run after and chase their dreams along with sharing their content with worldwide audiences.
Different platforms including Yoututbe, Instagram, and TikTok, help aspiring artists reach their audiences directly. Short video platforms, which are powered by algorithm-based systems, make it simpler for people to find new music while enabling new artists to swiftly reach massive audiences. It is for this reason that several notable artists including the likes of Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Post Malone have all used short form videos to help promote their music and reach wider audiences.
Based on a Hubspot survey, more than 47% of respondents agree to the fact that short-form videos have the greatest and widest chance of going viral.
Bandar Abdallah Abozadh’s story
A young and notable artist from the MENA region has been given the platform to showcase and display his voice and musical prowess on short form video platforms. “During my time in school, my teachers pushed and encouraged me to take part in school musical activities and take up any radio opportunities. I was also blessed to have my family’s support in pursuing my talent and passions,” Bandar said as he expressed his interest in singing where with the ultimate support of his family and friends has succeeded as an artist.
Back in 2018, he participated in a singing competition that was aired on Bedaya TV and this was a stepping stone to introduce him to the world as a singer reaching roughly 2 Billion views on YouTube. “Social media gave me a platform to show off my abilities to a large audience throughout the world and helped prove my worth as a singer to people. This helped me amass a large following of supporters who appreciate and engage with my talents and songs.” said Bandar. After that, he was motivated to capitalize on his renown on social media and began creating content as a singer.
With his words, we can tell that Bandar is highly active on social media and with that he is known to be building a strong fanbase. Using social media to his advantage, Bandar spreads an artistic message and showcases his skills in a soulful manner. He always makes sure to dedicate his success to his voice and his talent.
He also strives to honor his supporters because they give him the strength, support, and motivation to continue. As a result of his efforts, Bandar’s social media content now has more than a million views. Bandar has achieved fame offline in Saudi as well and has performed at several festivals across Riyadh & Jeddah.
By maintaining direct communication between the artists and their audience, musicians use the different platforms of social media to keep the interaction with their fans with building relationships and creating a loyal and stable fan base and this helps in creating a community between both parties.
Bandar’s most notable achievement through social media has been his participation in the MBC Academy which launched in Saudi Arabia in 2020. During his participation, Nasser Al Saleh, a renowned Saudi music composer praised Bander on his voice and performance and even gave him career advice. Social media also helped Bandar discover new musical talents and opportunities to collaborate with local composers and poets from KSA.
By working with different platforms, Bandar is trying his luck on leading short form video application, Likee. Powered by its large global audience, he believes that Likee can be a good leverage for him to sharpen his skills and advance his singing career to gain more recognition and followers. Bandar expressed appreciation for the features on the platform that brought together fan communities and expressed interest in participating more with aspects like these that would be beneficial to his career as a musician.
Bandar advises aspiring artists, musicians and content creators to keep working towards their goals and passions and to never stop working on themselves to progress. “It’s crucial to work on your developing talents with professionals rather than paying attention to discouraging comments from others. Whether you’re an artist, poet, singer or actor – always cherish what you have as your talent and be on the search for opportunities,” he said.
Bandar’s ambitions
Looking forward, Bandar is hopeful that the Arab music community in the MENA region can look at supporting young artists as they have a lot of potential and unique talents that can help them stand out and be memorable.
Embodying the spirit that a true artist continues to work on himself, Bandar is currently studying music education of Solfege and Vocalization in a private institute to improve his singing abilities. He’s also learning to play on oud, a regional classical musical instrument. He also plans to launch a new single this year and aspires to perform at more cultural festivals such as Riyadh Season during the coming year.
Although there may be cultural differences across the world, short-form video platforms help showcase that music has no boundaries and can always find a way to everyone’s heart. Likee continues to empower its users by promoting music of content creators from around the globe. The use of hashtags and challenges, user-curated “For You” pages enabling content discovery and the ability to interact with the artists in real-time, all contribute to the sense of community and belonging that users experience on these platforms. Short video platforms will continue to play an important role in shaping the music industry by inspiring artists and content creators to achieve their dreams and making more songs viral as time goes on.
