Hello, everyone! We are happy to have you join us this afternoon. Our friend Lueda shared with us a story this morning about her recent promotional efforts that was so inspiring we felt we had to share it with you as well. Whether you’re an artist looking for affordable promotion solutions, or a label hoping to get more exposure for your talent without going broke, the following post will have something for you.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-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 and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The past few days, I been working on a blog post for Arms and Sleepers‘ new single “Swim Team,” but with each passing moment, the stats on the Soundcloud player for the single keep changing drastically. And here I am now, thinking “Screw it!” because I just want to celebrate all that’s happened in one short week.
Last week, we announced the upcoming Arms and Sleepers record Swim Team, which is out on Fake Chapter Records on October 28th, and premiered the title track on Earmilk. Since then, many publications, blogs, radio stations and friends have been approached with the news (no press releases – just good ol’ personal emails), and the results speak for themselves: the band has received coverage all across North America and Europe, and the single reached over 21,000 plays in one short week, growing steadily at 3-4k plays each day. For comparison, AAS’ pervious single, “Hurry Slowly” (which is easily one of the highlights of the album) reached 12,000 plays in 5 months.
“20,000 Plays In One Week” is my very own “Power Level 9000!!!” because I am beyond ecstatic over what’s happened. I would say I’m surprised, but I have seen what a good marketing plan and publicity can do for an artist over the years I’ve been working in the music industry. There is no doubt that in my mind that hiring a publicist is one of the most important things a band or artist can do to take their careers to the next level.
The magic formula? A solid marketing plan and hard work. I couldn’t be prouder of what’s happened this past week, and I can’t wait to see what happens with this campaign in the next few months. Hit me up if you have any questions, via email or @alueda!
Lueda Alia is a music industry professional and freelance entertainment writer with years of experience working directly with artists on the rise. She maintains a great personal blog, as well as Made Of Chalk (which we featured on this blog earlier this year).
Hello again, everyone. Welcome to the latest edition of our ongoing Advice series. This column is dedicated to the world of Snapchat and how it’s quickly becoming a social media platform that every artist should have a presence on. We do not claim to be experts at using that particular service, but we do know enough to understand that power it gives those with a developed audience (if they know how to use it).
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-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 and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Earlier this month, a new report was released that brought out attention to an alarming trend: Smartphone using teens and young adults (18-34) are spending more time on Snapchat than Twitter. Facebook and Instagram are still the titans of social media, but Snapchat is quickly gaining on the latter and shows no signs of slowing in the near future. You may have been told Snapchat was a place for the taking and sending of nudes, but there is so much more to it than that, and if you’re willing to put in the effort there is a good chance the latest tech trend could help your following grow in ways you never imagined.
I am not going to sit here and proclaim that I am a master of Snapchat. In fact, prior to realizing the potential such a service could provide artists I never even made a real effort to understand everything the platform had to offer. Now that I do it’s clear there is plenty of room for brands and bands alike to not only engage, but also further develop their audience with a surprisingly small amount of effort. It’s work nonetheless, but if your audience is already on board with the app then half of the work is done for you.
BEFORE WE BEGIN: It is absolutely critical that you ask yourself, and even your fans if you desire, whether or not your audience uses Snapchat on a regular basis. If your music caters to adults, especially the over 35 crowd, there may be little to no benefit from adding another social network to your marketing efforts. On the flip side, if your audience spends their summer dreading the fall because it means school will begin again then you have every reason to add this little ghost icon to your phone/tablet:
Make an Exclusive Announcement
The people who will follow you on Snapchat are going to be diehard fans, bloggers looking for exclusives, and friends you’ve made along the way. With the possible exception of the digital press, these are the people who are willing and waiting to help you promote, so why not give them an opportunity to do just that? Through mass messaging, you can share an exclusive announcement with followers on Snapchat before your news to the rest of the world. You can even build awareness for your efforts on Snapchat by first teasing the announcement across all other channels, pointing people who want to be ‘in the know’ to connect on Snapchat.
Give Fans Behind The Scenes Access Using ‘Stories’
Snapchat makes it incredibly simple to share photos and short videos with followers, but late last year they took their efforts a step further by debuting new feature called Stories. Snapchat Stories add Snaps together to create a narrative. When you add a Snap to your Story it lives for 24 hours before it disappears, making room for the new. Your Story always plays forward, because it makes sense to share moments in the order you experience them.
An example of a good application of Snapchat Stories would be any situation where you and/or your band play a festival. Throughout the day you can capture exclusive moments for followers on Snapchat, then when things wind down you can string them together and create a story for followers to enjoy in one sitting. This allows everyone to enjoy your efforts at their own chosen pace, and if there is one thing every consumer loves it is the ability to make their own decisions.
Share Snippets Of New/Unreleased Content
Snapchat made its name with photos, but the short video clips users are allowed to share can make a world of difference in your next single/video/album promotion. By sharing short clips with fans you are able to tease your latest release without ruining, or even downplaying the importance of the official premiere in any way.
Additionally, you can use the previewing of new material to engage with fans. Ask them to send back their reaction to your latest clip as a photo or video response and see what happens! It may even make for a good contest, which brings up the next point I wanted to make…
Run Contests, Including Scavenger Hunts
Having the ability to share media instantaneously with thousands of fans at once offers a unique opportunity for contests that other platforms cannot provide. This can be as simple as a request for the best reaction photo/video to a certain preview, or as complex as a city-wide scavenger hunt. Each idea comes with its own set of pros and cons, but we don’t really have time or space to run through all of that in this post. The best advice we can offer is to listen to your audience and figure out what method of giveaway is most effective. Whatever works for you is exactly what you should do. That may sound simple enough, but it bares repeating.
Everyone Loves A Good Sale
Remember how we discussed why sharing exclusives with Snapchat followers is a good idea? As a way to boost your follower count, as well as give back to those who promote your efforts, it’s a good idea to consider hosting a spontaneous merch sale promoted exclusively through the media-sharing platform. This provides further justification for people to seek you out on Snapchat, and also allows for a nice bit of personal engagement with those who have been following since day one.
ABOVE ALL ELSE:
Snapchat is a social network just like any other, and it has the power to do great things for your career as long as you know what you’re doing. Be personal, welcome fans into your world and make it known you appreciate them for welcoming you into theirs. Success is music is built atop a two-way street where fans support the artists they love and artists give back with creativity and anything else they can muster. Snapchat provides a number of unique engagement opportunities, and with proper preparation can provide a bounty of benefits, including a more dedicated (and sizable) following.
Hello again, everyone! We usually save our big company updates for the weekend, but given the size of this new feature we thought it best to give our latest expansion a post all its own. If you read our weekly recap last week you may already know what we’re about to discuss, but this explanation will be slightly more in-depth than before. 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 and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
One of the biggest concerns we have had in recent months when speaking with clients about their Haulix experience has been the fear of having their press contact information expire or otherwise become useless. You can only set aside so much time to update and reaffirm the information on your contact list, and as the the number of journalists you’re trying to reach grows it becomes increasingly difficult to manage.
We recognize the need for up to date information and easy database management, which is why we have created a new, state-of-the-art profile system that not only allows members of the press to see what labels have them listed as a contact, but also gives them the power to control what email addresses they are contacted at and who can contact them. When a member of the press changes their information that data is then updated on the contact page for every label that has that person listed as a contact.
To access the Profile screen, you must first access a Haulix promo. Once on that page, click the ‘Promos’ button at the top of the screen.
Next, enter your 4-digit code. If you do not have one, or if you think you may have forgotten yours, click the help button located below ‘Submit’ and you will be sent instructions on how to reset this part of your Haulix experience.
On the ‘Promos’ screen, click the ‘Profile’ button in the top left corner of the page. There may be red lettering that says ‘NEW’ next to the button.
Welcome to the ‘Profile’ page! Here you can reset your 4-digit passcode, verify alternate emails, and view a complete list of every label that has named you as a contact. All verifications require email confirmation, but those confirmation emails are sent immediately after each request is made. Unsubscribing, however, is immediate. [Emails omitted for privacy]
As I mentioned above, as soon as this information is verified your contact information will be updated in the database of every label and PR firm that has you listed as contact. It’s of the utmost importance that you double check the information on this screen before confirming it to be accurate. If anything is misspelled you may see an almost immediate change in the frequency of promos being sent your way.
We are always on the lookout for new ways to improve our platform and better your user experience. If you have questions about the profile system, or if you have suggestions on how further improve Haulix in the future, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts.
Hello and welcome to the final Advice column of the week. We had been planning to run an in-depth look at overcoming technical difficulties in a live setting, but after learning of a ridiculous promotional blunder taking place online yesterday afternoon we switched gears in an attempt to be ever-so-slightly topical. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There is an old saying in the world of promotion that you have no doubt heard a hundred times or more: Sex sells. We could debate the benefits and drawbacks to leveraging sex to sell a product, as well as the rampant sexism that such efforts breed, but I don’t think anyone will argue with the idea that sex and sexually explicit imagery sells entertainment and products far better than average looking people dressed in average looking clothes. Demi Lovato may have a a better voice than Miley, but because Miley is willing to essentially bare all as long as you give her new single a few minutes of your time she is the one newspapers love.
You know what else sells? Violence. You may find trouble getting attention for a video or song featuring nonstop brutality/gore, but if you pepper in just enough nastiness amidst a wall of sound and couple it with lyrics about whatever messed up relationship you’re trying to forget there is a good chance people will tune in. Heartache is a bitch, and well all know misery loves company. Bands like Emmure and Capture The Crown have built careers on this type of approach, and it has bred a new generation of heavy bands that feel ‘keeping it brutal’ is the only way to sell their music. (It’s not, by the way).
In a world where everyone accepts that violence and sex sells, one might think bands looking to market their material would have more than enough conventional avenues of promotion to pursue when seeking to bring attention to a new release. Yesterday, however, that notion proven wrong when the Sumerian Records signed group known as Upon A Burning Body taught us all a lesson we should immediately commit to memory: Kidnapping does not sell.
It all started with a Facebook post. An update added to the official Facebook page for Upon A Burning Body yesterday afternoon sent ripples of fear and shock throughout the metal community. “Breaking News: Danny Leal (singer of Upon A Burning Body) has been reported missing,” the message read. “He was last seen in his home town of San Antonio TX on Monday, June 30th.”
Sites around the globe picked up the story in the hours that followed, including Alternative Press and Under The Gun Review, as well as countless fan communities and message boards. People, press and fans alike, began searching for more information and attempting to aide the band, but as the day wore on it became clear not everything was as it seemed. AP discovered no one with the last name of Leal is listed in the Texas Department Of Public Safety’s missing persons database. Additionally, there were 22 people listed as missing who were last seen in San Antonio, none of whom shared the same first or last name as the UABB singer. Even the band’s publicist was lost, telling press "I have no news as to Danny’s whereabouts and am completely in the dark here myself.”
Over two hours after the initial news broke, things took another strange turn when Ash Avildsen, CEO of Sumerian Records, wrote on his label’s official Facebook page to deny any involvement in or knowledge of Upon A Burning Body’s messaging about Danny. He wrote, "I woke up to a ton of missed calls and just saw all this stuff about Danny Leal of UABB posing as that he’s been abducted or kidnapped. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. As a child, we all learn the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and it sticks within our consciousness for a reason. I do not condone this type of publicity stunt. This was done behind my back and I am not OK with it. In my eyes, there’s never a time to use the possibility of real-life abduction, injury or murder of someone you care about to promote anything, especially an album. If you need to resort to that, then you have lost the plot. We as a society should have evolved past that way of thinking by now and especially within the rock/metal community, given all the tragedy that has happened in our world over the past few years. There are some people who owe us an apology. -Ash Avildsen, Creator & CEO of Sumerian Records.“
Three hours after the above post went live, a new song from Upon A Burning Body titled “Red Razor Wrists” debuted online. The band made no comments on the track, nor did they offer any explanation for why they thought it would be a good idea to scare the metal community into believing something terrible may have happened to their front man. They simply posted the song, shared a link, and went back to being silent. As of noon today, they have yet to comment on yesterday’s fiasco, but they did premiere a second song and announce plans to release a new album in about six weeks.
It does not take a rocket scientist to realize this unorthodox method of promotional was a total and complete failure. I am sure there are those in the world who were thrilled to hear new music from Upon A Burning Body, but those I spoke with who like the band were more pissed than excited because they had just spent half a day worried about the frontman of their favorite band. The song was a welcomed resolution, but it did not justify the marketing efforts made earlier in the day.
Originality will get you far in the world of music, but there are times when thinking outside the box will backfire. For Upon A Burning Body, this is one of those times. Thankfully, the rest of us now know what not to do when we’re promoting an upcoming release. Remember: Kidnapping does not sell.
