Assignment: Creative Music Management Reflective Summary. Shannen Marie Simpson-Pike 2219913 BMTY7000_LON This report will summarise the release strategy orchestrated by the hypothetical “DF5” Records in releasing Berlin based, Oakland rapper and experimentalist Daemon’s single WAX, with a remix of the track selected through a fan competition. It will summarise in detail the approach to marketing and promotional assets, A&R, budget distribution and scheduling with a live event to launch the single, as well as my role in the group. Daemon is an underground rapper, hailing from California and heavily influenced by the Bay Area and Oakland’s DIY rap and Punk scenes. Drawing influence from ‘Hyphie’ (a localised Bay Area rap movement with heavy G funk baselines) and futurist Atlanta trap like Playboi Carti to different variations of U.S and European club music. His music must be carefully marketed to engage younger and creative audiences who have a desire to hear hybrid genres and new forward thinking approaches to rap music. Daemon’s lyrics explore themes ranging from party culture to technology and futurism, as well as socio-political issues like critical race theory and class. As a group we understood this would require a meticulous marketing strategy in order to have the music resonate with our target audiences, as, despite recent trends in the merging of rap and dance music from artists like Drake, Lil Uzi Vert and Beyonce, Daemon’s current artist profile is small and the music is niche. My role in the group can be categorised as label manager or creative director. I am currently working with Daemon as the first artist to be released on my own independent label so I shared the music with the group as well as the majority of the assets we used for promotional materials. It was imperative that each member of the group felt comfortable using WAX as a single, and group A&R meetings were held immediately to discuss the viability and positioning of the music. Due to my experience working at independent dance music label Hyperdub, I was able to offer the team insight on how a small music label would operate around a campaign, from how they would schedule a release, to the mastering process, to my writing of the press release for WAX, seen in the one pager / press kit in the portfolio. I was also aware that whilst the sound quality of a track is extremely important, a high quality master can be achieved for a reasonable fee, and as a group, we decided to use Air Studios who charge an £100 mastering fee for industry standard audio. Similarly, I used my experience in music curation to propose using Boiler Room’s Broadcast Lab initiative (due to my personal experience of curating a Broadcast Lab episode in 2019). We decided as a group to incorporate this into our portfolio for the WAX campaign, as not only did it allow for an effective launch party, it would simultaneously market Daemon to Boiler Room’s immense audience as the event would be shared across all their channels (1.5M on Instagram/ 1.5M on Tik Tok/ 3.2 million on Youtube). This was particularly incremental to the shaping of the campaign, as it allowed for an extra £2000 injection into the budget. We chose to use Peckham Audio for the release party, as I have used this venue before for a personal project. The size of the club was appropriate for the launch party of an artist of Daemon’s profile, with 220 capacity, a £300 venue hire fee and all security and bar staff included. The venue also has in house sound and lighting technicians included as part of the hire fee. Peckham Audio would keep the bar profits from the event with the likelihood that the event would appear successful due to the general walk up the venue gets regardless of the night. This would create the optics of a busy crowd on the live stream and creating a valuable asset for us to share with agents, nightlife promoters and brands to build Daemon’s artist profile. From analysing Daemon’s Spotify, Instagram and Soundcloud data that he kindly provided us, it was evident that our target market for the release aligned with Boiler Room’s predominant demographic, who we identified as Gen Z and young Millennials who primarily engage with rap and dance music. (Keeble, 2022). From personal experience, I am aware that Boiler Room offers an kind graphic design as part of Broadcast Lab to develop all the assets used to promote the event, which enabled us to save on budget. Boiler Room also promises a fully equipped filming and live streaming team with industry standard technology which would result in high quality, shareable piece of content. We felt the Boiler Room stream alongside the music video and the remix would give the track longevity beyond the first two weeks of release. From analysing current streaming climate, artists are consistently releasing new music to optimise the algorithm and increase the potential of being added to major playlists like Discover Weekly. However, this can oversaturate consumer's choices and lead to a deficit in attention. Sustaining the impact of a a release for independent, underground artist has become increasingly difficult. Independent artists need to be strategic in their marketing. We felt that creating interesting and high quality content, for example a stylised music video would help to sustain the attention of Daemon's fan base. Our research into Spotify trends influenced on our decision to release WAX on a Friday. Furthermore, through my professional experience, I understand that Friday is generally regarded as the optimum day to release new music. We had the aim of pitching WAX to the New Music Friday playlist through a playlist plugger, as over half of the tracks selected for this playlist are from independent labels or musicians. A 2016 study showed that Spotify official playlists reach around 75% of all followers of the top 1000 tracks on the platform (5PieceMusic, 2021). As a group we were aware our distribution strategy was extremely important, specifically in terms of working with a company that has direct relationships to DSPs. We chose to use Autonomy for specific label services, as they also offer a Tileyard discount, which relieved pressure on the budget. Both rap and dance music fans were found to be heavy digital consumers and eager streamers, with device listening (smartphones, computers etc) being the preferred listening method compared with other fan segments in a recent U.S study by Audience Net. (2022) For this reason we chose to keep the assets for the release and the release strictly digital to optimise our resources and remain in budget. We felt it would be more effective to incorporate physical formats once Daemon develops a larger audience, and measure the demand for a vinyl or physical run. Similarly, in the same study it was found that rap and EDM fans are more prone to buying music related products, with 52% of rap fans and 53% of EDM fans purchasing music related products over a 6 month period. We used this information to inform our decision to produce an NFT series for the WAX campaign. We hoped optimise this data to exploit to generate interest around Daemon's artist brand, as he is heavily influenced by futurism and new technologies. In creating the NFTs we hoped we would garner atention from audiences who we may have failed to capture through more traditional marketing and create a new revenue stream for WAX. Creating bespoke products to compliment a solely digital release grants provides consumers the same level of product satisfaction they may get from physical formats due to the exclusivity that comes with collectable items. As the music is niche, I also wanted to build a dedicated audience for Daemon by setting up a Discord for the campaign. Originally launching as a platform for gaming fans and rising in popularity during the pandemic due to the desire for more personal connection, music Discord servers have grown, allowing fans to exist in the extended universe of an artist. (Zhang, 2022) Music is one one of Discord’s fastest rising channels on the platfrom, and has been a public sphere for artist fandoms to organise, communicate directly with the artist and share common interests, while building community around a shared interest potentially reinforcing their support for the artist and increasing their likelihood of purchasing his music, merchandise and tickets to his performances. For artists, Discord can accommodate listening parties, video channels, broadcasts, exclusive drops and even virtual reality experiences, and we would encourage Daemon to incorporate these activities into his social media strategy. Discord has become a strategic platform for generating and hosting cult fandoms in niche genres, with Pitchfork reporting that many young producers within Hyperpop and Digicore, alongside experimental artists like Arca and PC music’s AG Cook are thriving on the platform (Zhang, 2022). Incorporating this into the audience growth strategy for the WAX campaign could accelerate a direct artist to fan camaraderie by cutting through the critical mass of consumers who that are unlikely to meaningfully engage with new genres. In order to truly optimise on social media platforms, specifically Discord, Daemon would need to be highly active, preferably on a daily basis. This level of attention to audience is extremely difficult to maintain for the majority of creatives, due to factors like touring schedules and studio sessions. For this reason, if we had a lager budget I would consider hiring a social media manager to alleviate the required labour while keeping Daemon's profiles consistent and active. . As Tik Tok is currently the primary marketing tool for new releases, developing a meticulous strategy around the campiagn was imperative. Developing an organic, authentic presence on the app generates stronger support from consumers, who are more likely to push content with shares and likes if the content is not overly marketed or corporate, which increases the possibility of trending on the app or going viral. Tik tok has 30,8 million daily active users with a projected 15 million daily users in the U.K by 2025. (Shepherd, 2022) Tik Tok's audience reach is huge and its diversifying user pool made the app the premiere platform for breaking new, niche sounds that sit outside the mainstream. (Herstand, 2022). Genres like Philadelphia Club, Jersey Club and other faster BPM tracks regularly trend or go viral and this can be attributed to the popularisation of the “sped up music” hashtag (Berry, 2022) that users have been incorporating into an wide array of content. For this reason we developed a hashtag challenge for Daemon with tips for content creation and examples of the strategies used by similar artists who have had success on the app, which can be seen in my portfolio. We analysed the social media strategy of Pink Pantheress who achieved recognition through uploading demos and content multiple times a day, eventually cultivating a strong and dedicated audience who pushed her music to go viral. We also nalysed the recent campaign of Lil Ui Vert, whose Just Wanna Rock track was seeded through Tik Tok via a dance challenge and influencer marketing for around a month before its release. This grew organic hype around the track before it was rolled out by his label. It’s important to note that Lil Uzi Vert is in partnership with major labes and distributors granting him a much larger platform, however, I Just Wanna Rock was an anomaly against the rest of Uzi Vert’s catalogue, and additionally against the current trends in U.S Rap and Hip-Hop music due to its merging of Philadelphia Club styles and rap vocals reaching 150 beats per minute. After some initial backlash from some of the mainstream audiences, I Just Wanna Rock sold 1 million units. This can be attributed to the intelligent marketing around the release. Furthermore, the popularisation of these genres are due to light hearted and dance centric nature’ of the content that incorporates it. (Complex, 2022). This reinfroces Tik Tok’s influence in breaking new styles outside of the app, predominantly by Gen Z audiences who want to be associated with new trends. This demographics willingness to promote new sounds is highly beneficial to artists like Daemon who may struggle to resonate with older more traditional audiences. It is important for label or artist executing a marketing campaign to keep aware that Tik Tok virality can be short lived and rare to achieve. Even when artists break on Tik Tok and receive record deals, sustained attention from consumers is not guaranteed. Attention to a plethora of social media platforms will generate better results. In the context of the group work, analysing other niche geres that had achieved success through the app positively encouraged the group to aim beyond the glass ceiling that overlays experimental music styles, in evidencing how building out a meticulous marketing strategy can lead to unexpected audience capture. Similarly, with Instagram, we would encourage Daemon to increase his activity and cross post on our available channels, for example, the DF5 Records social media platforms, as well as developing a brand partnership strategy with joint posts between Daemon and potential partners for cross audience capture and an increase in followers. To strengthen the campaign it was necessary to develop Daemon's artist image. One artist whose aesthetic identity we felt was relevant to analyse was London’s rap futurist Lancey Foux, who has remained independent through an excellent social media strategy and effective brand associations and collaborations. Foux has built a enviable dedicated fan base through organic marketing leading to sold out shows, features with career elevating artists like Skepta and Unknown T, and modelling campaigns with top tier fashion houses like A Cold Wall. As an extension of this analysis we would pitch for Daemon to orchestrate an Instagram takeover or partnership with an accessible clothing company that appeals to to young, fashionable rap and club fans, like Daily Paper, who have recently cross posting with underground urban artists. As a group we understood it was incremental to hold spend for effective artwork. I was able to offer a selection of photos of Daemon to the group, and we chose the WAX cover artwork democratically. In our budget allocation meeting we decided to hold back £700, with the hypothesis that DF5 Records would be using images from a previous photo shoot, upon agreement with the photographer who (in actuality) is a long standing friend of the artist. This would then be polished and commercialised by a graphic designer for all promotional assets. Using this method allowed us to be discretionary with budget and still achieve a strong and effective visual identity. We selected an image that was a close up shot of Daemon with a stylised look that didn’t have brand affiliations, leaving him open to future partnerships by not aligning himself too soon with a particular brand, enabling him to have scalability with future partnerships or fashion campiagns. For the remix cover we used another photo from the same shoot, with Daemon posing playfully to differentiate from the original WAX artwork, which also conserved budget. As a collective we chose to create the remix via a fan competition with the final official remix to be selected by public vote. Again, this preserved budget as employing a professional producer we would require fees for their work. The fan competition allowed for the remix to be created without extra spend beyond mixing and mastering whilst simultaneously marketing the original track by participants promoting their own versions their social media to encourage their followers to vote for them. User generated content is an effective and free way of circulating music beyond an artist's typical fan base. Daemon would also circulate the remix competition via his own channels to continue resonating with his own audiences. Each member of the group was committed to their individual roles and cooperated well together. It is accurate to conclude that we worked very collectively on each aspect of the portfolio. My only reservations were around the lay out of the budget, and whether this would be comprehensible to potential partners if they were presented with it. As summarised above, I belive in the inital stages of braking an artist, social media marketing is the most effective tool in cultivating an audience for the music, and with this in mind, I would re-allocate some send to engage a social media manager to work across the campaign, primarily for Discord and Instagram. Furthermore, upon reflection I would develop a more robust strategy around securing playlists. Although the relevance of traditional media outlets and music publications have been erroded by social media, I would also put more attention into gaining coverage with outlets like Resident Advisor, Fact magazine and Complex, where Daemon has a presence. These platforms have retained some audience, specifically music fans who want to remain updated with underground artists, who are also the most likely to monetise their support through buying tickets to shows and merch. Additionally, the NFT roll out could be better placed in Daemon’s next release cycle once he has generated a wider audience. Overall, I found this team to be positive, open minded and considerate of everyones ideas. We were proactive when it came to organising and attending meetings, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. . Bibliography Audience Net (no date) Consumption By Genre: How Different Fans Consume Music, zikroarg.com. Audience Net. Available at: zikroarg.com. Editor and ???? 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