By Carolyn Heneghan

Photo filter phenom Instagram has revolutionized the mobile imaging world, evolving photography to fit the online social landscape. From dark rooms to Polaroids, from 35mm to digital cameras, photography has been on a wild ride for more than a century, and now mobile phones have disrupted the former notion of cutting-edge image capture yet again—with the helping hand of Instagram.

As the winner of our FlashFWD Award for Best in Mobile & Tablet, we are proud to recognize their efforts and successes this past a year as revolutionaries in mobile and tablet photography, communication, and social sharing.

Why Instagram?

Instagram may not be the only social image-sharing service out there, but it is the most well-known with over 100 million monthly active users. The company has turned so many heads in less than three years of operation that Facebook bought out the blazing photo service for one billion dollars just over a year ago.

Here are a few statistics to illustrate why Facebook might have made such an offer:

• 40 million photos uploaded per day
• 8500 likes per second
• 1000 comments per second

It’s clear that the potential is there and that users can reach each other in a unique and compelling way. While this may be perfectly suited for sharing photos with family and friends, musicians too have found ways to use the service to grow and maintain their online followings.

When the Music Fuels the Photos

Pop stars, indie darlings, famed producers and even the upstarts are finding innovative methods for using mobile montages to share various aspects of their more intimate lives. This might include fairly typical shots like from behind the DJ booth overlooking a crowd or backstage just after the performance, smiling and sweating from the rush of a killer show.

Many musicians have used Instagram as a way to showcase their practice spaces and routines. Others have used it to demonstrate and promote their recording efforts. Any way that they can bring their fans closer to their music and the musical process, they’ve done it. 

Or When Musicians Delve Deeper

Some musicians have taken these photo opportunities one step further and one step deeper into their lives off stage. One way is to take pictures of the tour bus, plane rides and other assorted antics that happen between concert and recording dates, including using geolocation photo mapping for additional context.

Ultimately, you can get an intriguing glimpse at the other side of your favorite musicians’ daily lives. This might include their families, what they ate for breakfast, silly drawings or altered photos, a collection of random items currently in their possession or even a sign they found amusing. You might see photos of non-venue destinations in each city visited, and you can take a peek into what these musicians are interested in when not on stage. Some musicians have shared mobile photos of themselves with other artists and luminaries in the music industry; these can sometimes give fans an idea of whom else in the scene or industry their favorites know personally, are friends with, or whose work they respect.

And It’s All To Increase Fan Engagement

The other potential for musicians and their fans to interact is when fans post their own photos of concerts and appearances on their own Instagram profiles and tag the artist to let them know. This is a prime opportunity for musicians to engage—and even thrill—their fans by liking and commenting on these photos.

What all this boils down to is a chance for musicians to let their fans get to know them on a deeper level. This promotes not only their music but their image and even what they stand for as an individual. The thing about Instagram is that it’s so much more intimate than many other social media profiles these musicians might have. Many artists have their social media channels handled primarily by their marketing team. But with Instagram, there’s a much better chance that you are seeing what is actually happening to the musicians you follow, as these photos will likely come directly from the mobile device they have in their possession—right then and there. This makes fans feel privileged to share this information and have this insight into musicians’ lives, and it makes them more likely to share social media posts and purchase albums and concert tickets. Win-win.

Instagram makes all of this possible with one user-friendly application. What started as an idea for making uploaded mobile photos look cooler and more professional has turned into an awe-inspiring success that professionals across all industries are recognizing, including musicians and the FlashFWD Awards. Only time will tell how Instagram will fluctuate with the changing times—particularly under Facebook’s wing—as photography, communication and social media continue to evolve and adapt. We are especially looking forward to seeing how our FlashFWD Award winner will progress in years to come.