Market Music like Pepsi, not an iPhone
Why an ‘Always On’ approach separates your music brand from the noise.
Traditionally, the most important day of the music marketing calendar was release day. If you take a stroll through music history — you’ll see that entire business models rested on this single day; where a record was dropped into the market, and expected to make a splash.
Marketing was all about creating anticipation for this moment. The endless teasers. A flirty ‘behind the scenes’ look, maybe a promotional single. The date itself would be burned into minds through sheer repetition and suspense. And when it finally came, release day had all the buzz of an iPhone release. From label staff, managers, to the artist themselves, everyone was at battle stations to sell, sell, sell. This was the day where the record received maximum lift, which would determine if and where it hit the charts — and often predict final sales performance.
In 2020, almost the opposite is true. Release day is when your marketing begins. Whilst most artists furiously promote themselves in the first week of a release, this tends to slow down and die from week two. From a marketing perspective, this is wasteful. If you don’t maintain pressure, you lose out on post-release sales, streams and attention. And ultimately, the bands are disappointed. After months of preparation, they’ve lit the fuse of the firework only to find it didn’t explode.
But what if you treat your music as an ongoing product? A commodity that, unlike an iPhone or Pepsi, doesn’t need to be physically transported to consumers. Your music can play anywhere on the globe with an internet connection. And think about it — aside from your hardcore fans, does anyone really care when your music was released? In fact, forget release day. Whilst you might have a spike of interest on Day 1, the ‘sale’ occurs when people pay their Spotify or Apple Music bill. What matters now is how you engage with your fans, and keep their interest.
The game is won or lost in the algorithms. And an ongoing campaign nourishes algorithms that keep your music discoverable. Streaming services in particular deeply ‘care’ about engagement. Dropping a single on an audience you left ice cold two years ago? Don’t expect magic. Instead of relying on periodic releases, an ‘Always On’ approach will keep fans on the hook — letting you exploit discovery and recommendation tools like Release Radar.
The beauty of streaming is that it’s about market share. Not sales. Physical albums are bought once. One sale = one unit. But if you measure units by streaming, one album or song can be played many times in a single day. This is a radically new way to visualise music consumption.
Big brands — and yes, it’s time for you to start thinking of yourself as a brand — don’t rely on ‘events’ like product releases. Whilst Pepsi will make seasonal pushes, they stay in the public eye by advertising all the time, everywhere. You worked hard on your release, and want to give it some spotlight. But how? Our job is leveraging your music to push you into the conversation, and finding new angles to cut into public awareness. The hardest part of marketing music brands is positioning music within a zeitgeist. But this doesn’t necessarily need a new release. We can make artists relevant and attractive with music that’s been out for years.
Whilst it’s comforting to believe that the cream always rises to the top, this simply isn’t true. Good music alone isn’t enough. You first need to be visible on the marketplace, and that’s only possible with a crafty marketing campaign. This is where ‘Always On’ can move you to the top of the pile, ripe for discovery by new fans and industry. Our approach lets artists slice through the industry. Let’s get you heard.
