It’s that time of year when everyone starts discussing the best releases of the year. 2016, not unlike the last two to three years before it, has been packed with fantastic releases too numerous to count. To think anyone could possibly have heard everything worthwhile release this year – or any year – is insane. There is simply too much content and nowhere near enough time to hear and experience everything in a meaningful way. We wish we had a solution, but we do not. We do, however, have the next best thing.
Allow us to introduce The Playlist Club. This site is our attempt at further engaging our audience through the timeless tradition of sharing music and the stories that give them meaning in our lives. Each week The Playlist Club will post playlists and stories from readers just like you. It’s like walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, only now you have a soundtrack to round out the experience.
This club is open to everyone. Please invite your friends.
You should know now that we rely on Spotify to collect and share these playlists. Nothing against people who use Apple Music, Tidal, or Amazon, but with more than 40 million users Spotify is by and large the biggest music streaming service on the planet. You can try it for free if you have yet to do so (and no — they did no pay me to say that.)
Music is a crazy thing. Like photographs, songs and albums often serve as time machines that allow us to return to places, ages, and experiences that have long since past. My hope is that this community will make it possible for people to get a glimpse of the world as heard and experienced by others living lives completely different than their own.
Music connects us all, yet so much of why we love it based on connections wholly unique to our individual experiences. By sharing playlists and the ideas or memories attached through them we are able to create a modern twist on the idea of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, and maybe — just maybe—it will have a positive impact on those who participate.
Here’s what we’re going to do:
This site will serve as a hub for all stories and playlists. New additions and any updates related to the community will be shared through this platform, as well as through the site’s official Twitter account.
The goal right now is to share 1–2 playlists a week, along with an essay from the person who created it explaining the motivation behind their curation. If there is a demand for more I am open to posting more. These entries can be as long or as brief as the curator desires, but creativity is encouraged. If you want to make a list of songs that got you through college and some insight into those experiences — cool. If you want to share a collection of songs you connect with a specific person, place, or time — cool as well. If you want to curate a list of songs you believe the Conehead family would listen to if they were to land on Earth in 2016 — Please for the love of all that is holy make that happen.
Create a playlist based on an idea, memory, place, person, etc. using Spotify.
Write a description/essay for your playlist and submit it — along with a link to your Spotify playlist — to this publication. If you need a guide for using Medium — Click here. If you have problems with your submission or need further assistance you can tweet us directly and we will make sure your submission is seen.
All submissions will be reviewed and scheduled for release in a timely manner. Curators will be notified whether or not their submission has been accepted within 72 hours of submission.
The following post is a guest editorial from Ian Baldwin of See & Hear Design. Ian is one of our absolutely favorite designers and an all-round good guy with deeply rooted ties to the music business. Heed his advice.
You Have To Check-In and Post Weekly
It is easy to be missed or ignored on social media news feeds. The question is: how can a band or solo artist in 2016 not get lost in a world of noise? In this article, you will find some suggestions that have worked for me and my bands in the past.
For the best results, I recommend you show up at all of these places constantly. Having a weekly output of content or interaction with fans is the best way to stay at the front of people’s minds. We all run on weekly schedules — weekly meetings, meet ups, classes, coffee dates, rehearsals, tv shows, sporting events, etc.
The same goes for our behavior online. We show up to see what is going on over on Facebook. We check Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Most of us check our email at least once a week. We check the news on our favorite websites. We listen to podcasts. There are many more that I could list, but let’s get to the good and profitable stuff.
One thing I did need to mention is you will connect with your fans the most during your live performances. This is where you and your fans are the most vulnerable and will connect on a more personal level. Use what resources you have online to maximum your reach and attract people to your shows. Entertain them and give them something to talk about the next day.
Here are 5 places that you can find and connect with other musicians and music fans on a deeper level. These are in no particular order — just the order I thought of them.
1. Chorus.fm
Chorus.fm is everything you loved about Absolute Punk but much, much better. You can check up on the latest news on the homepage of the website and leave your thoughts on the forums side of the site. Jason Tate has cultivated a growing community (15,359 members) of passionate music fans who not only love talking about music but many other things as well (sports, entertainment, politics, technology, and more).
You can post about your band in a thread that you start yourself as well as post anything new you have released in the Self-Promotion Thread. It’s a great place to interact and make new friends that could turn into some of your most loyal fans. In my use of this site, I noticed that a lot of musicians are a part of the site and stay pretty active.
You can find me mostly in the Graphic Design Thread that I started and theSelf-Promotion Thread. My profile on Chorus can be found here. I plan on being more active on Chorus once I transition into a part-time day job.
2. Facebook Groups
I’m sure that if you are on Facebook you are a part of a Facebook Group. The nice thing about Facebook Groups is that your groups can be open or closed. You could have a private group just for your band to help keep everyone on the same page. On the flip side, having an open group for your fans to talk to and interact with you helps you stay more connected and in the know about what your band is up to.
Notifications from a group go right to a person’snotifications so they won’t miss a single thing you post within the group.
This is one way to beat the Facebook algorithm we have all come to loathe so much. Ask your fans to like and share anything important you post on your band’s Facebook wall to help spread your message. Doing this will also let their friends and family know about your band.
One other bonus to having a Facebook Group for your band is that all of your fans can connect and talk to each other about you and why they love your band so much. How cool is that?! Get creative about how you involve your fans in what you are working on.
3. Contests
Alright, so contests aren’t really a place. But you could have a contest online that will help more potential fans discover you — and the prize for that contest could be two tickets to your upcoming concert with that well-known headliner you are playing with! Just an idea. I won’t charge you for that one. 😉
I’m sure many of you have ran contests before but I wanted to remind you that they still work. Here are some ideas.
You could have your current fans submit fan art and you vote on which you think is the best.
Give your fans the stems to a single you put out and have them create a remix.
Partner with your local venues, restaurants, coffee shops or brands and see if they can throw in anything as a prize. (What business doesn’t love some inexpensive marketing where they have to do little to no work?!)
Cross promotion works and you’ll be surprised by how many brands are willing to work with a band if your music fits in with their marketing or customers lives. You just need to ask — the worst they can say is no.
4. Email Newsletters
So you are probably thinking this right now, “Ian, email is ancient. Why would anyone read or subscribe to a newsletter from my band?” Well, I have news for you: Everyone still uses email and it is one of the best ways to stay connected with your fans. Sites like Bandcamp and NoiseTrade can help you start building your email list to stay in touch with your fans. The trade off is when that new fan gives you their email and zip code you give them something in return — normally a free song.
Having a person’s email and zip code does two things for you.
You can email that person the band has a new release or tour announcement.
You have their zip code so you know if you have a 50 or more fans within the same are that it might be worth taking a trip to their city and playing a gig. (You have proof that you can show the venue that X number of people liked your music enough to download it and give you their email.)
That isn’t guaranteed attendance to a concert but it is data worth having to make calculated risk on where to play out of town shows. Plus you could take a poll on your new Facebook Group to see how many people would be interested in coming out to a show if you came to their city.
Once you have all of your emails, you can import them into MailChimp and send your fans weekly newsletters just like I am doing with you. MailChimpis free for up to 2,000 subscribers. It is what I use to send my newsletter to you every week.
5. Podcasts
I talked about podcasts in a previous newsletter and blog post. They are so great because a podcast makes you feel like you are in the room with that person or group and are part of the conversation. You can refer to your fans as the audience and give them the inside scoop about what is going on with the band. Hawthorne Heights is currently doing this and it working out very well for them. They talk about current events, tour stories, upcoming shows, answer fan questions and much more. I personally love hearing about the behind the scenes of how my favorite bands operate and I’m sure many others do as well.
On top of having your own podcast you could ask to be a guest on an already established podcast and share your story or discuss a topic you find interesting. Here are some podcasts that I would recommend reaching out to be a guest. Don’t forget to do your research and listen to one or two episodes and make yourself familiar with the style of each podcast. The hosts will thank you for it!
Just tell them a bit about your band and what you would like to talk about. This would be good to do around the time of an upcoming release or tour so that their audience has time to check out what you are plugging.
Remember the worst anyone can say is no. If that happens, just move on and ask someone else.
Podcasting is huge now and you can definitely find someone to have you on their show. I recommend listening to The Podcast Dude to learn how to be a guest on a podcast or start your own — if that is something you decide to do. I personally use a Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone whenever I am on a podcast and it works great. I’m not a podcasting expert, thoughAaron Dowd is and if you reach to him on Twitter to ask a question about podcasting, tell him I sent you his way.
LAUNCH Music Conference 2017
This isn’t connecting with bands or fans online but it is something much better — a conference. I went to LAUNCH last year and had a blast! No pun intended. Meeting people face-to-face is the best way to connect and let people know what you are about. My mission at LAUNCH last year was to meet new people in the music industry, discover new bands, and just be a part of the community at the conference.
Of course, I printed business cards and promoted Hear&See, but that was just a bonus. I would ask the person I was talking to what they were doing at the conference first and what they were trying to get out of it. I made a lot of new friends and finally met some people I had been following on Twitter for a few years. You know who you are!
If you’re in a band you can register to play a LAUNCH right now. The conference is April 13th-16th, 2017. This is something that can enhance your career and expand your network. The more people that know about you and your band the better. Even if they aren’t buying your music, booking a show for you, or signing you to a label; them knowing you just adds to your reach and you being ubiquitous (seeming to be seen or talked about everywhere). I plan on going again in 2017 and I hope to see some of you there. 😃
This was originally sent to Hear&See newsletter subscribers. Read these articles before anyone else by subscribing.
If you enjoyed reading this and want to talk about music, growing your fanbase or want to hire Ian to work on a project you can email, or reach out to him on Twitter or Instagram.
YouTube exists for one purpose and it does that one thing very well. YouTube is where you go to upload and share videos with the world. It’s a simple idea that has brought together a global community of creative people in a way that wasn’t even possible two decades back, but the time has come for the world’s largest video community to think about the future and how they will empower their creators to keep the views counts rising for many years to come.
This week, YouTube announced the beta launch of a “Community” tab, which is intended to make it easier for content creators to engage with their audience. It’s not about video as much as it is building a better relationship with your viewers through a variety of updates. Creators can now use text, images and animated GIFs to engage fans between uploads.
Commenting about the launch in their official blog announcement, YouTube wrote:
“This is a first step and, with creator and fan feedback, we look forward to rolling out new features and functions as well as including more creators in the months ahead.
As creators, your ideas and feedback shape our platform, inspire new features, and help us decide what to prioritize. It’s you who ultimately build YouTube and as the new Community product shows, together, we make YouTube better for everyone.”
You can view a video detailing the launch and how it will impact at least one YouTube channel below:
Our friends at Entertainment One (eOne) have long been on the cutting edge of music, but they have truly outdone themselves with their latest announcement. ‘Floodlight,’ a new music platform created in partnership with Secret Location, aims to enhance and forever change the fan experience through state-of-the-art video technology and a wealth of unique engagement opportunities no other platform can match.
The idea is simple: Floodlight will bring audiences closer to their favorite eOne music artists with exclusive content and unique one-time experiences, delivered directly by the artists. We love music journalists as much as anyone can, but the key to strengthening support for your artist in 2016 is through allowing fans to feel as if they are able to connect directly with that artist from anywhere on the planet. Floodlight cuts out any middle man that may exist in that process, be it a music blog or a third party service like Facebook Live, and offers fans access to their favorite artists presented by the artists themselves. Engagement does not get any more direct than that until you can place a hologram in everyone’s home.
The first offering on the Floodlight platform will be an exclusive 3D virtual reality video for the song “Take it All” by Pop Evil. The Michigan based rock act has sold 1.3 million singles to date, and their current album Up debuted at #1 on the Billboard Independent Chart last fall, with 14 million streams to date.
The video for “Take It All” was shot at the 2015 Aftershock Festival, using two 360 / 3D camera rigs that captured every angle of the event in 3D. The footage was edited and stitched together to create an immersive virtual reality music video. When fans put on a headset they find themselves on the stage, above the crowed and inside the music. Pop Evil VR is designed to immerse fans in the energy of the band and provide the ultimate concert experience.
Here are two quick teasers for the video, including one that demonstrates the 360 experience:
360:
The pre-order site for Floodlight’s Pop Evil 3D kit is now live. The bundle will include a Pop Evil branded Google Cardboard 3D viewer, a Pop Evil 360 APP, an autographed CD and a Pop Evil t-shirt, previously unavailable for online purchase. The video can then be viewed on the APP with the viewer beginning on May 27, 2016. The VR app will also be available for independent download from the App Store and Google Play.
Additional Floodlight exclusives have yet to be revealed, but we expect more news on the platform to emerge in the coming weeks.
As the reach of individual posts on social media continues to fall, more platforms like Floodlight are no doubt possible. The key to their success will be offering something that is not found anywhere else online that has equal or greater value to consumers than what is already available. The ability maintain something like that, not to mention scale it, will require constant planning and dedication on the part of the artists, as well as the people around them.
If you know of another platform like Floodlight, or if you have an idea to improve fan engagement online, we’d love to hear it! Email james@haulix with your comments and we’ll reply within 24-hours.
In the 90s it was all about getting your music into big box stores like Best Buy, Tower Records, and Circuit City. Distribution wins! But those stores didn’t really care about your music or your label or your scene. Sure, you sold a bunch of CDs through them in the 90s, but where does that leave you today? Who bought those albums?
Then the iTunes store comes along in 2003. Quick! Get your music on there, just like every other band and label. Upload your music, adjust your meta-data, sit back, and sell to people in parts of the world that you’ll never visit.
Again, iTunes doesn’t really care about your music – they just need to sell iPhones and watches at enormous profit. You’re a reference number in a database that gets cut a check every month. And for all those digital sales, Apple has a record of everyone who bought your album. That’d be nice list to see, right? Too bad.
Now we have streaming. And Apple Music! None of them really care about your band, either. They’re all busy are bolstering algorithms to suggest new music selections, all in the hopes of converting people to $10/mo subscribers. They’ve got lots of data (emails, listening habits, favorite albums) but none for you!
I got an email not too long ago from Ken MODE. Their singer emailed everyone who bought their last album on BandCamp, saying they had a new album out, and linked to their new album pre-order.
Imagine that, huh? Someone bought your old album, and when you had a new one available you sent them an email. Not just a Tweet (which gets lost in the noise of cat photos and political turmoil), not just a Facebook update (which might not even reach your fans because Facebook wants your $$$), but an email delivered to someone’s inbox.
It’s like when you had a show in your small town – you gave a flyer to your friends who were at your last show. You put up fliers in places where your friends would see them, like at record shops, and cafes.
So, you know who your ardent fans are, right? Point them to your own digital sales store (you can set one up using Big Cartel or Limited Run, or just use BandCamp). Sell direct to to your fan, then you’ll have their email address. Then the next time you have a release you’ll know who to reach contact (and not just a few dozen music blogs who are all copying and pasting 20 press releases every hour).
Of course that doesn’t mean stop uploading to iTunes and everywhere else (yet). I get it. But start selling direct to your biggest fans. Get their mailing address, then reward those fans after the sale with a free-shirt in the mail, or a sticker pack or something. In order to delight the people who love what you do, you have to make sure you can discover who those people are in the first place – and Apple, Spotify, and BestBuy sure ain’t going to help you build your email list.
Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.
Marketing is everything in 2015, and earlier this week 30 Seconds To Mars (30STM) took their ever-innovative approach to spreading awareness by announcing plans to host their very own summer camp. The event, playfully dubbed ‘Camp Mars,’ will take place August 22-24, 2015 in Malibu, California. The tickets are limited to 550 overnight packages with limited day passes, ranging in price from $799-$1,999 at tiers such as “Tree Huggin’,” “Coyote” and “Red Hawk.”
You wouldn’t be considered crazy if you found yourself thinking $800 seems like a heft price for a gathering of any band’s fans in Southern California, but 30STM have already outline a number of plans that will serve to make ‘Camp Mars’ a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. Hiking, meditation, and yoga activities have all been revealed already, as well as band member lead experiences like coffee with drummer Shannon Leto or cooking with guitarist Tomo Miličević. There will be also two performances from the band, along with multiple DJ sets.
In a note on the website, the band states, “This is a rustic nature experience expect to share your living space and live in a wonderfully communal way. The facilities are clean and safe but they not four star hotel suites with dinner mints on your pillows make sure you understand exactly what you are getting.” This means plenty of bonding time for the 30STM fan base, which is just as big, if not bigger overseas than it is here in the states. ‘Camp Mars’ is a global event.
We have always looked to do things for our audience that are fun and unique,“ Leto told Rolling Stone about the Camp Mars weekend. "What better way to celebrate the summer than in beautiful Southern California with the Mars family in full.”
While it’s obvious not every artist has the kind of money or notoriety needed to host a multi-day gathering in Malibu, there are some ideas at work in 30STM’s plan for ‘Camp Mars’ that others can make their own. The key to this entire event is creating a unique environment for fans to gather and celebrate the music they love. It’s not about selling a new record as much as it is giving back to the people who have made it possible for the band to continue doing exactly what they want. This goes beyond a website or community page on Facebook dedicated to supporting those who engage with your band (though those should absolutely exist if they don’t already) and brings the online connections every artist has made into the real world.
No matter what level you are at, use the announcement of ‘Camp Mars’ as a sign it’s time to find a new way to better engage with your core audience. Maybe this means a regularly scheduled gathering on Periscope (at the least), or maybe you announce a pizza place or coffee shop in each city on tour where fans can join you for a snack/meal before or after a show. Maybe you just tweet where you’re killing time before the show each night and invite fans to join you as you explore an unfamiliar city. Your event doesn’t have to be anything big or costly. It doesn’t even have to really be an event. Fans aren’t looking to have you shower them in free stuff or activities. Fans are looking to connect with you, the person whose music gets them in a way no one and no thing can. Make it possible for them to do that and you will find your core audience growing in leaps and bounds before you know it.
Hello, readers! We are thrilled to have you join us today. This post is intended for current Haulix clients, but it may also benefit those of you trying to better your digital marketing efforts. If you would like to learn more about Haulix and the way we help industry professionals worldwide safely distribute unreleased music, please visit our official website.
This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
It’s no great secret that the number of artists vying for attention from the music industry is almost always on the rise, which means the chances of being quote/unquote ‘discovered’ based on a single post or article is forever almost always shrinking. We can discuss the merits of creating a quality product before focusing on other aspects of the music industry all day long, but having the greatest material in the world matters very little if you’re unable to make people talk about your art. Success in music today requires the creation of a dialogue with consumers, and the best way to make that happen after all this time is still through working with the press and other pop culture influencers to make the world aware of your existence. Haulix helps labels and independent artists kickstart these efforts through our journalist-approved digital distribution platform, but we’ve found it’s often true that simply sending a promo to someone is not enough to make them engage with it. You need to be proactive in your efforts, and one way to do that is through sending follow-up messages, including warnings regarding the deletion of certain materials.
There is a weird belief amongst many young professionals that PR efforts should be limited to one, or at max two email/messaging blasts for each big update. While I can appreciate their desire to not overwhelm certain writers with a flood of messages that would only pile on top of the countless other pitches they are receiving, it’s incredibly important that aspiring public relations professionals realize that constant communication and follow-ups are key to being great in music PR today. Some people may claim you’re being annoying or aggressive, but in fact you’re just doing your job, and if you do it well people won’t have anything negative to say about your efforts. There is a difference between pitching someone the same story multiple ways and shoving the same copy/pasted information into someone’s inbox until they work up the gull to unsubscribe from your email blasts. Figuring out what works best for you will take trial and error, but it’s not figuring out what works for you is a lot easier than, say, rocket science.
If you notice you Haulix Promos are not receiving the amount of attention from the press you had hope, our first suggestion is always to reach out to members of the media individually and tell them about your talent. This is a time consuming effort, but there is no marketing more effective than person-to-person communication. If you can make a writer feel like their opinions and traffic not only matter, but that they are also important to you as people, they will be a lot more likely to take a chance on whatever new release you deliver to their inbox. On the flipside, writers receiving promos from artists they don’t know sent by publicists they have no relationship with have next to no reason as to why they should make time for those promos. Writers often have very little time for new music discovery, and they are not likely to spend those brief moments taking chances on truly unknown talent. Just like anyone, writers take the suggestions of people they know before those they don’t. As a publicist of band trying to get recognition for your promo, forging that relationship falls on you, and I can tell you right now it’s going to take more than a single email to make that happen.
Writing follow-ups and still not getting a response? Trust us, we’ve been there. You may have to eventually face the fact not that many people are into your talent, but until that time arrives you can still make one last effort to gain engagement by sending out messages that notify press of promos that are set to expire in the near future. Many members of the press put off tasks and other things they think time will allow for in the future, but unless a deadline slaps them in the face they may never actually return to whatever it is they chose to set aside in the first place. Informing press of an approaching expiration date may spark enough interest to earn a click from someone who never engaged before, if only to know whether or not they were missing out. They might not cover the talent, but at least you’ve got a bit of engagement from them. Next time you email promos, those people who clicked last minute will be more likely to see what’s new.
