Ben Kweller Offers Twitter Advice to Young Bands

Posted on Aug 19th 2009 2:30PM by Scott Tomford
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At the spry age of 28, Ben Kweller's already had what amounts to a lifetime of music industry for most artists. Having signed his first record contract at 15 years old, he's had the chance to emerge as musician in the middle of what's undeniably a paradigm shift for the way tunes are consumed. It's no surprise then that he's got a few tips for up-and-coming artists looking to use the Internet to their advantage.

Kweller himself used snail mail and zines in his early days to expand his fan base, and now he tells OurStage that bands should be doing something similar with Twitter, granted they know how to use it properly. An avid user of Twitter himself, Kweller is one of many musicians and celebrities successfully using the service to both connect with fans and keep them updated on his latest projects, not one or the other. "If you use [Twitter] to say 'See our band next week,' and that's it ... that's pretty lame." You heard the man: tweet like you mean it, or don't tweet at all! Watch OurStage's full video interview here.