Angels & Airwaves: Changing The Music Industry Through Social Media

Angels & Airwaves, the band, led by front man Tom DeLonge (of blink-182 fame) is on the forefront of revolutionizing the music industry.  According to DeLonge, he wants to change the way music is made, marketed and delivered.  And he is definitely on the right track.  On the release of their second album (I-Empire) back in November 2007, DeLonge launched his band’s new website which is called Modlife.  Modlife is a subscription based social network, but includes perks which you will not find in other social networks such as MySpace or Facebook such as the ability to interact with the band via chat rooms (modblast) and live video casts (modcams).  Additional content such as band podcasts, blogs, and exclusive video and photo content is also available.

Since the launch of Modlife, DeLonge has brought in a number of bands to the site and providing each new band with the same feature capabilities (chat rooms, live video casts, exclusive content).  Which leads us to the question – will Modlife turn into the one stop shop for bands who want to interact and communicate with their fans?  It very well could be and I would bet that is what Tom DeLonge has in mind.  Perhaps even going as far as Modlife sponsored tours is a possibility.

Now on the heels of their third album titled “Love” which will be accompanied by a feature length film of the same title (both to be released Valentines day – Feb. 14th, 2010), something is a little different.  The album will be released for free.  This is in thanks to corporate sponsors.  Free?  Yes, really.  At least that’s the plan.  This is definitely possible and potentially could be happening more and more in the future, especially thanks to distribution services such as the iTunes music store.  No longer do you need to purchase an actual CD (though I still like to).  Now with iTunes, Amazon MP3 and the like, you can easily download your music.

Album Trailer:

Movie Trailer:

What do you think of the new approach that Angels & Airwaves is taking to the music industry?  Leave a comment!