If there’s one thing social media is good at, it’s garnering support for something quickly, and this recent episode of social media influence illustrates that perfectly. Ear X-Tacy, Louisville’s premier independent record store, held a much-anticipated press conference on Feb. 12 previewed in the Courier-Journal article “Owner of ear X-tacy voices concern for future of store”. Owner John Timmons voiced “concerns for survival” due to sales, high rent, and economic woes. The store, which opened in 1985, has been an iconic shop in Louisville for local music, national acts, and the community of artists in Louisville as a whole and often draws tourists.

But even before the press conference, when a press release hinting at trouble was released, local music supporter Becca Barhost started the Facebook Fan Page “SAVE EAR X-TACY!!” to gather support for the store. The plea: “The Louisville we all know and love would NEVER BE THE SAME without Ear X-Tacy.”

The result is immense: in a little over a week the page has more than 30,000 fans. In contrast, the store’s own Facebook has only a little over 3,100 fans. Sean Bailey, a manager and employee of Ear X-Tacy said in an e-mail that the campaign was done independently of anyone working at the store. He added that while Barhost’s sister campaign, “Ear X-Tacy Blitz Week,” is technically scheduled for March 1-5, sales have already risen dramatically in addition to an outpouring of support for the store.

“Blitz Week” is the real-life version of a viral social media event. The call for support: “This is not just a matter of loving the store anymore, it’s a matter of shopping locally and keeping our independent businesses and economy alive. Don’t let chains take over!” Its event page has over 2,800 confirmed “guests,” with supportive posts discussing what each person plans to buy to help out the store. To those who can’t attend? A clever link to buy product online from Ear X-Tacy is displayed on the page.

Reader comments in the Courier-Journal article “Owner of ear X-tacy voices concern for future of store” reflect the belief that Ear X-tacy should have started making marketing changes sooner in light of giants Amazon.com and iTunes crashing onto the music scene and doing their best to make brick and mortar retail music stores obsolete.

While Ear X-tacy is no stranger to the online world, its presence doesn’t seem to reach too far. Bailey said the store doesn’t have an official policy on social media but uses Facebook and MySpace to promote new releases, in-store concerts, and sales. The store’s MySpace page is detailed, offering its 19,000-plus friends a great way to interact with the store digitally through blog posts and dynamic content. The Facebook page is also up-to-date and busy.

While the future of Ear X-Tacy is still uncertain, a part of the Louisville community–and beyond–has voiced support, both digitally and monetarily, for the store. With causes spreading quickly through social networks, this record store could reap the benefit of the new social age in which we live if it continues to ride the wave and reinvent itself through social networking.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 23, 2010

Note: Post not sponsored.