How have they changed your music consumption and/or marketing efforts?
I listen to online music all day from Pandora. That is where I find new artists to listen to and be inspired by. As for the marketing efforts, we are fully immersed in the social media world. Breaking news now comes from social media. If you want to be on the cutting-edge and stay “newsworthy,” you have to be actively participating – not just a bystander. We use Facebook ads, Twitter contests/campaigns to get folks interested in our facility and bands that are coming to it.

What’s the best thing to happen to the music industry in the last year or so?
Twitter, you feel like you know the artist intimately

What’s the worst?
Twitter, there is no mystery anymore

How has your musical consumption changed? And what’s Twitter got to do with it? What musicians do you follow?

A few of my favorites:

Oh, and Skol is just a toast. Cheers!

Azia Restaurant and Caterpillar Lounge

Barbette

Brit’s Pub

Bryant Lake Bowl

Burger Jones

Dakota Jazz Club

Firelake Restaurant

La Belle Vie

Manny’s Steakhouse

Pizza Luce

Vics Dining

Who else offers good deals through Twitter (or foursquare)?

Republican Mike Parry apologized Wednesday for comments he wrote on the social networking site Twitter. In May, he wrote that President Obama is a “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man.” In another posting, he linked Democrats to pedophilia.

Parry, who is running to replace Republican Dick Day, deleted 33 posts and offered an apology that has left may Democrats unsatisfied.

Has Twitter turned my brain to mush? No, I’m in narrative on more things in a given moment than I ever thought possible, and instead of spending a half-hour surfing in search of illumination, I get a sense of the day’s news and how people are reacting to it in the time that it takes to wait for coffee at Starbucks. Yes, I worry about my ability to think long thoughts — where was I, anyway? — but the tradeoff has been worth it.

December 25th, 2009 – Erica and Tracy came up with the hashtag, #tweetcrawl,  to accompany their tweets about not heading out to the bars and instead staying at home to enjoy a little holiday beverage. Turns out a lot of people in the Twin Cities were doing the same thing and joined in on the conversation. Before we knew it, about 20+ people were participating in #tweetcrawl. People were sharing what their drink of choice was, posting pictures of them and their beverage, and engaging in some very hilarious conversation. It was so geeky. And so great.

Of course, the following day many of the tweetcrawlers took it to the bar, continuing their adventures from The Herkimer. “The cool thing?” writes Katie, “Most of us didn’t know each other prior to Twitter. I walked away with some new friends and a greater appreciation for the awesome community that is developing here in the Twin Cities.”

Any other hashtag stories to share?

Last week, City Pages published an article on how Twitter may save Chris Strouth’s life. Apparently, Strouth received 19 replies to a Tweet (with a Facebook page link/explanation) asking for a kidney. Tomorrow, Scott Pakudaitis, will be lying beside Strouth at the University of Minnesota Medical Center to give him one good kidney.

On the darker side of the spectrum, Michelle Rae Wilson, charged with killing her ex-boyfriend in St. Paul, left a trail of hatred all over the web. According to the PiPress, Wilson “called her boyfriend an ‘insecure’ man who wanted to ’stop my glow.’ She bragged online about owning several guns. She blasted harsh e-mails to friends and acquaintances, one saying, ‘Stay the (expletive) away from me b4 u get run the (expletive) down!!!!’”

Meanwhile, kcmpls tweeted a friend’s Facebook status: “My ex-husband Alex killed himself yesterday in my apartment.” What a way to tell the world. An urgent cry for help? A shout into the void?

Too much death on social media?

Let’s look at the lighter side.

According to The Deets, IKEA has made Facebook less valuable by exploiting its photo tagging functionality to promote the opening of another store. How did they do it? Easy. They encouraged Facebook users to tag themselves within photos that they don’t actually appear in, in order to win IKEA merchandise. Tag yourself in a photo of an IKEA tablecloth, and win that tablecloth. Get it? The idea is that all your Facebook friends will click through the photo to see it. An ingenious tactic, or a Facebook nono?

And with that, I leave you with this great quote.

In two separate entries, Gardner wrote, “Emmer seems to belittle his female colleagues (rage, sarcasm) on the House floor more than the men? Great face to the GOP?” and, “Why is Buesgens wearing sunglasses? Black eye?”

DeRusha’s first Twitter success story was in late 2007. He was doing a story on December sniffles caused by allergies to Christmas trees. He used Twitter to find someone who was allergic to Christmas trees, who has to use heavy protective gloves to decorate theirs. He said he would never have found this source without Twitter.

Esme Murphy is a little less charitable: Of all the depressing developments in local journalism these days the Fox 9 version of their Twitter story ranks right up there.