LONDON: Forget running after your favourite singer for an autograph since for music lovers, retweets from famous singers or bands on the micro-blogging site have become new highly-prized autographs, reveals new research. The study, conducted for Twitter by an insight and innovation business firm Crowd DNA, found that 74 per cent of music fans on Twitter say a retweet by their favourite artiste is as desirable as a traditional autograph. “Findings point to the value fans place in getting recognition from their favourite artists and in seeing their Tweet shared with other fans,” Gordon MacMillan, from Twitter UK wrote in a blog post recently. The findings underlines the role Twitter plays for fans who can not only connect with their favourite artistes and bands but discover new music and join the buzz around concerts and festivals. Twitter is the place where music fans come to follow artistes. Some 71 per cent of them follow artistes, compared to 41 per cent of fans using other social media platforms. “Twitter is not only about following acts, it brings fans closer to their passion. Our study found that 60 per cent of music fans say Twitter helps them get to know artistes as real people,” MacMillan noted. Some 64 per cent agree that Twitter helps them to discover exclusive info about artistes. Seeing music live can be a fantastic experience and Twitter has also become an increasingly key aspect. As many as 80 per cent of music fans on Twitter use it before, during or after a gig or a festival. “For music fans who cannot make it to live events, 59 per cent say that Twitter allows them to feel involved, wherever they are,” the post added. A wonderful example of this artiste/fan interaction on Twitter took place recently. “A fan of Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) missed her connecting flight to London and the chance to see her perform at BST Hyde Park (@bsthydepark). The star joined the conversation and offered the distraught fan a free ticket to her upcoming show in Dublin,” MacMillan informed.