September 7th, 2009
Music Industry Death – DJ AM
Adam Goldstein, better known as DJ AM, was found dead in his apartment on Friday August 28th, 2009. He was a member of the rock band Crazy Town and also made appearances on albums by Papa Roach, Madonna, Will Smith and frequently collaborated with Blink-182‘s Travis Barker. Travis and Adam Goldstein survived a terrifying plane wreck last September that killed four others. The speculation around his death is that painkillers and drugs were involved. His memorial was held at the Hollywood Palladium on September 3rd and was well attended by hundreds of invited guests, including his ex-fiance Nicole Richie.
DJ AM‘s online activity saw a giant spike following the news of his tragic death.
While attending the memorial service is obviously the biggest tribute a fan can give it is interesting to see how fans express their affinity for an artist online surrounding their death. R.I.P. comments abound on his profile pages and other indicators of friendship skyrocketed.
In the months leading up to his death, DJ AM was averaging around 1,000 plays a day. The weekend after his death his play count spiked over 65,000% as his music was streamed over 1 million times in just two days. Fans, comments, and MySpace views also jumped exponentially. A week and a half after his passing his online activity remains elevated, though it’s nothing like the spike during the weekend after his death.
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A definite great read..Tony Brown