All of my artists have varying global appeal due to their
different marketing and distribution methods.
Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” album has a massive global
appeal, predominantly because of the ways she interacts with her fans. Gaga has formed a
parasocial relationship with her fans by means of using social media sites via
the Internet. She has gained over 41.3million followers on Twitter and
65.3million likes on her official Facebook page. This means that she has direct
access to interact with her fans at (what seems to them) a personal level, with
her very public discussions of her support of gay rights and other causes,
further adding to her appeal. This has resulted in her gaining a cult and a
mainstream following of hardcore fans. It could be argued that Gaga has
cultivated her fans using this parasocial interaction, rather than just gaining
them from live shows and publicity.
The use of the worldwide internet causes digital sales of
music to be immediate, this creates further global appeal; Born This Way topped the charts in 23
countries and set a world record on iTunes for selling over 1million digital
copies in just 5 days. Overall, Gaga has sold 16.5million albums and
29.5million digital singles globally. Her digital fame is mainly the cause of selling far more digital copies of her music than physical copies.
