How did some musicians continue to earn money when big events weren’t happening this past year?
B2C Marketplace Supplier stories; Part 3; Encore Musician
I’m Lottie, co-founder of Reallm, we provide reports and recommendations for marketplace suppliers. In this series, we’re shining a light on people making a living or a little extra dosh from their skills or unused assets through marketplaces.
I am sure that most people have considered using one of these platforms, either to rent out their room on Airbnb when they go on holiday or their car when they are working from home. And then thought “Is it really worth the hassle”. Well, in this series we’re presenting the real experiences of those that have just got on and done it. We’ll include top tips, funny stories and unavoidably, how everything changed in 2020.
In Part 3 of the series, we speak to Sam, lead singer of Halfway to New York (H2NY). Sam has seen it all in the music industry. He was a child prodigy soprano singer, at the same age we were all in school, he was touring Europe and singing duets with the principal soprano of the English National Opera. H2NY have done multiple tours of America and now perform mostly weddings and corporate gigs, taking bookings through multiple platforms. Through the pandemic, when big events have not been possible, with the help of Encore, he continued to find ways to innovate. Sam turned to virtual music messages [1 to 2 minute personalised videos] and online corporate team building events — could it stick?
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Hi Sam, tell me about your music career and your band Halfway to New York.
My professional singing career started when I was eight. I performed opera all around Europe, working pretty much solidly until I was fifteen. I had a private tutor instead of traditional schooling which was pretty unusual.
Then post-uni, I did solo gigs for eight or nine years, doing the rounds of bars and restaurants, before starting Halfway to New York. We got picked up by some American management who thought we had quite an American sound. We went and did a few tours over there. We didn’t just do New York and LA, we went to Georgia and Iowa and Nebraska. It was pretty incredible. We saw some amazing things.
How did you originally find out about Encore?
I’d been using a few agencies already for wedding and corporate gigs and I kept seeing these adverts for gigs on social media. I was sceptical at first as companies had been posting fake events to get people to sign up, but I spoke to the guys at Encore and I had a really good feeling about them. I joined up the band and as a vocalist as well. It’s been great.
How many other agencies / platforms do you use to get work?
They are one of four or five that I use. I don’t use loads and loads of agencies but because of the nature of this business, if this is your sole income, you can’t afford to have just one. You have to fill the dates. The relationship with Encore has grown. I enjoy the band gigs the most and therefore this is my sole focus at the moment. I believe that we offer something that other bands don’t. For people getting married, who are around 30, and want a lot of nineties, noughties and indie rock tracks. We fall perfectly within that batting zone.
When you’re using multiple platforms like that, do you have to be really organised with your calendar?
Yes, even more so this year. This year has been like spinning plates. Everyone wants to postpone. It’s been so tricky to try and balance making everybody happy but at the same time getting across to them that we aren’t in a great place either. A lot of clients have been great with a “We’re all in this together” spirit. Some clients have been less accommodating…
You must really miss live gigs and touring at the moment?
Yep, what I’ve realised is how much of a release I get from performing. And that explosive energy has been missing. I’ve done loads and loads of zoom gigs and personal messaging videos but they’re not the same; you never let rip.
Let’s talk about Encore and your virtual messages. How did it all come about and how did it feel when it all took off?
In March 2020, I was in Operation Shock. I was watching gigs just disappear and me having no answers, no foresight, no nothing. Just staring into the abyss.
And then Joel called me from Encore. They had made up a song for someone at Encore’s birthday, and it had gone down a treat. He asked if I would be up for doing personalised music messages. If someone’s got a birthday or an occasion coming up, they give me a few details and I make and record a little song for them. Almost like a musical Moonpig!
There were some lovely stories. From a girl, whose parents were both in a home and she couldn’t visit them. To husbands or wives who haven’t seen each other. I’d actually performed at a wedding in December. And after the wedding, the husband had gone back to Texas. They had planned to come back together in April ’20. They hadn’t seen each other since pretty much after the wedding. It’s all these little connections, which it was really great to be a part of. It still is, people are still doing it.
You can gift a personalised music message performed by Sam [other musicians are available] here.
We also turned it for the corporate market, where I took companies, broke them into teams and their goal was to write their own version of a Christmas number one song, with supporting pitch and artwork. I perform all the songs. The exercises work really well. I think it’s definitely something that could take off into the future for team bonding days.
“We also turned it for the corporate market… The exercises work really well. I think it’s definitely something that could take off into the future”
How’s the future, post June 21st, looking?
I literally just had a wedding confirmation today for July but you just have to roll with the punches and see what happens don’t you.
And to finish, what would be your top tips for young musicians in the corporate and private world?
You need killer promo. You have to have promo that grabs people within five seconds, because people have very short attention spans. And if you don’t get them as a client there’s no point. So I would always say invest heavily in video media and get it absolutely explosive at the start. A lot of artists worry about how authentic their performance is. There’s two routes you can go down. Firstly, the live video which is what you actually sound like. Secondly, the music video, edited, mixed sound. I was always convinced of that road, you can prove yourself to the client later. Unless you’ve got the best recording equipment, it will not be forgiving of you in the first five seconds.
💡 “You need killer promo” 💡
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Reallm helps online marketplaces and their suppliers to earn more through recommendations such as price, profile and diary management.
