The Weeknd

Who is the Weeknd?

The Weeknd is a recording artist and record producer born in Toronto, Canada

His real name is Abel Tesfaye born February 16th, 1990

Before gaining fame and recognition, he released 3 mix-tapes throughout 2011 and would upload songs to YouTube

By word of mouth and the songs posted on YouTube, Tesfaye gained recognition

Weeknd and XO

The name Weeknd came about because Tesfaye dropped out of high school at 17 and “left one weekend and never came home”

He changed it to the Weeknd to avoid copyright infringement from another Canadian band called The Weekend

XO is the name of his record company and has become his personal brand creating an image and merchandize platform

Career

One of the songs he posted to YouTube, The Morning was the catalyst to his success

Rapper and now friend Drake, posted the song to his blog, and then got the attention receiving coverage from outlets such as Pitchfork Media and The New York Times

He has played shows at Drakes OVO fest, and Coachella festival

He won the MTV O music award for best “web born artist” Before signing a record deal, the Weeknd showcased his

talents using mixtapes

Social Media Presence

The Weeknd has a website with strong visuals, unique presentation, and is intriguing for the audience

Aspects to the website include his new cd, mixtapes, videos, tour, merchandize, various fan interactive material and links to various social media outlets

Links on the website include:

Various Social media

Facebook Instagram Twitter Soundcloud

The Weeknd is heavily engaged with his fans

Link to website

http://www.theweeknd.com/

Facebook Engagement

Many of the posts on Facebook involve songs and links to videos

New merchandize and pictures are posted and these posts happen frequently

1,585,180 likes have occurred on the page

136,170 are currently talking about him

Twitter Engagement

The Weeknd had a unique twitter account

Instead of posting information regarding his music, he posts personal ideas and statements

This shows his emotions and what he is feeling at any given point

Fans get a sense of his personality and can be relatable to their lives in some way

At the beginning of February tweets have been majority about merchandize and other promotional items and this has come due to increased popularity

He has 1.28million followers

Instagram Engagement

Instagram photos and videos are used to showcase his shows and people he is interacting with

A lot of pictures showcase the XO brand and some catalogue type pictures to boost merchandizing

For the most his photos consists of art and unique photos done by a professional

He has 659,447 followers

SoundCloud

Has all of his songs for his fans to listen to

Most recent post was a new remix from 4 days ago,

He has 2,080,948

Online Communities

Fans post unofficial Instagram, twitter, and Facebook accounts, posting various pictures and information regarding the artist

when searching Instagram, I could not find the official except from the link provided on his website

Discussion develops around these accounts and many have a lot of followers creating for more interaction amongst fans

Weeknd’s Audience

His music is very spiritual, deep with emotion and filled with slow beats

Lyrics often express feelings of hurt and deal with subject matter such as sex, drugs, and partying.

His audience is young (keep in mind Weeknd is only 24.

Younger audiences are more inclined to this type of music as it relates to many of their lives with experiential experiences

Audience and Social Media

Twitter- prime example for connecting with his audience

Posting deep quotes and thoughts reflects his emotion filled music

Instagram- Frequent posts about partying also connects with his fan base and relates to his lyrics

Audience and Change

Various outlets change in popularity very quickly especially amongst youth

Weeknd has consistently adapted and continues to maintain old streams to keep everyone informed and associated with XO brand and his music

Creating apparel and merchandize outlets will help develop the brand as fans begin wearing it and spreading more awareness

Continuity

Weeknd must continue to play shows, tour, make new albums, and collaborate with other artists to grow and maintain a social media platform that engages his audience

Youth have many outlets and many other artists to focus on

He must develop the XO brand and continue to engage the audience through social media outlets, and continue to adapt to change