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Production project made within a group of four to adapt the poem Granny by Spike Milligan. I was assigned to make the background of the videos. The top background is the one I enjoyed the most to do but as project goes we then decided to do the background in monotones so the characters could stand out more.
MonoTonic (Production Project EP)
Evaluation of Audience & Market Research
For our EP, us being essentially fresh new artists basically unknown in the sea of music that is the whole music industry, it is of the utmost priority to first identify the scenes and genres in which we can be categorised, searched by and fall into. For this EP specifically, we feel that it falls under a few types of genres. These are Future Bass, Deep House, and 2-step, all of which fall under the wider umbrella of Electronic Dance Music (or EDM for short).
Because we don’t as of yet have an established a fan base, there are two ways we can go about solving this. The first is to trudge along making songs and posting them on Soundcloud and trying to build a fan base in the slow and traditional way, as well as going down the route of Labels.
The second is to try a more aggressive tactic by obtaining a fan base through a well-timed and careful plan. This experimental method is the option we will try and follow through with because if this fails, we can still use the first method.
This is how we intend to do it:
To gain traction in the support of bringing our EP into the limelight and have it reach as many as possible in the scene we identify with, we need to take a few steps towards establishing some things first. First impressions are important in anything people do, and so a first EP is no different. Meaning the EP needs to sound ‘Tip Top’. This can be achieved by sending the EP to be mixed and mastered professionally.
It also needs to hit the ground running and reach as many people as possible and as quickly as possible for it to perpetually promote its self until saturation of the marketplace can happen. To accomplish this we will need to plan everything vigilantly so that when we are ready, we can set everything into motion in one go and let the dominoes cascade, and we also need to utilise all of the research we have done, not just a specific few, so that we can maximise our potential outcomes.
A Soundcloud account needs to be made by us for our artist duo and the EP needs to be uploaded there privately so that only the people we send links to can gain access to it as well as a new email address not only to link it to but also as the email specific to us as an artist duo (not essential to make a separate email but handy for organisation purposes and separation of work and home life because if this method succeeds this could become a problem and fast). A Twitter account will also be helpful in not only establishing a first communication with contacts we have found but also to help further self-promote when things take off.
Then, with all the research we have conducted, compile a list containing points of contact over all the different platforms for those we have identified as the gatekeepers and tastemakers for our scene. These will be Soundcloud profiles of the re-posters (and the odd record label like “Text”), Twitter profiles, emails, youtube channels and Blog sites/web magazines contact section (you can send private messages in Soundcloud and Youtube).
When this has been done we will want to build a rapport with as many as will engage as possible, sending polite emails/messages about how we really are enjoying the work they do and also hint at how we are in the making of a new EP (the key is to not tell them it is ready yet as this can invite more conversation to help further build relations).
Being as engaging as possible and we feel that as many of our contacts as possible are showing signs of intrigue, and when the time is right, we will tell them we have finished the EP and are just waiting for the mixing and mastering engineers to send back the final product (this is so that we can send them all a link to the already made private Soundcloud upload of the EP at the same time). The point in this is to ensure that all of these contacts have the chance to have an exclusive to our EP ensuring that none of those who were interested in it from the relations stage then feel that it is not exclusive anymore and so choose to not pursue further.
When this stage is complete, we need to keep up contact with them, not to be pushy or nag them, but to maintain the rapport we set out to establish in the first place. Asking their thoughts, tips, hints towards other potential contacts they may have and if they could link us with them if it’s not quite their area dealing with this type of soundscape (which it should be if we have done our research correctly).
If however they are interested, to then talk business, find out what, when and where they would like to provide our EP or write about it/us as artists, find out as much as possible from them about the next steps that they will take with our EP and keep it noted down beside each individual contact. Find out if there is potential for further collaboration in the future and if so maybe we can trade a more personal form of communication like a personal email ready for the next EP/single/album…
Since we have taken notes from all contacts about when, how and where they intend to move things forward, we then know when would be a good time to sign up to distribution channels like CDBaby and Bandcamp. This will then allow the wider public to not only access our music but also ‘BUY’ it.
Once all contacts have moved forward with the promotion of us and our EP, then the fanbase will inevitably grow and follow, and much faster than the traditional method.
Break down of steps needed to take:
Send pre-mixed EP to professional mix and mastering engineers
Make an Artist specific email, Soundcloud and Twitter (private Soundcloud upload)
List points of contact for every one of the gatekeepers and tastemakers
Take time to talk with them and slowly plant our EP into the conversation
Wait for the right moment and tell them the EP is being mixed and mastered
When as many of the contact show interest as possible, send the private link
Talk business
Time CDBaby and Bandcamp Right
Production Project: EP
https://soundcloud.com/user-720779635/tracks
Audience and Market Research
Labels and distribution:
Some of the labels don’t have a specific website such as “Text” so substituted for SoundCloud page or Bandcamp page instead. These labels either publish/ed similar sounding artists or strictly publish the kind of sound captured on the EP.
Black Acre: http://theblackacre.co.uk/
Domino: http://www.dominorecordco.com/
Warp: https://warp.net/
Apollo: https://apollorecords.bandcamp.com/
Ninja Tune: https://ninjatune.net/home
Rush Hour Holland: http://www.rushhour.nl/
hyperdub: https://hyperdub.net/
Text: https://soundcloud.com/textrecords
Loci Records: http://locirecords.com/
Dark Clover Records: http://store.darkclover.ro/
For the distribution channels, the most appropriate would be:
CD Baby: https://www.cdbaby.com/
Bandcamp: https://bandcamp.com/artists
Spotify:
After researching how to get music on to Spotify, if the artist is not signed to a label or distributor the music has to be delivered by aggregators like CD Baby this is to make sure everything on Spotify is appropriately licensed. The aggregators will collect royalties for the artist.
Soundcloud re-posters:
The following list is of SoundCloud re-posters that would potentially be interested in the EP. There are many here and all with a substantial following base each, this means that they would be a good way of getting the EP heard and also potentially further reposted by followers of theirs.
EDM Massive, Promotion Service, Capetown, South Africa: https://soundcloud.com/edmmassivepromo (53.5K followers)
Like and Play Music, Record Label, Switzerland: https://soundcloud.com/likeandplaymusic (5,180 followers)
Summer, Promotion: https://soundcloud.com/summerpromotion (53.1K followers)
David Hilbert, Antarctic Records: https://soundcloud.com/david_hilbert (10.5K followers)
Future Dance Music: https://soundcloud.com/futuredancemusiccom (1,617 followers)
Chillnation: https://soundcloud.com/allchillnation (250k followers)
chinchilla: https://soundcloud.com/chill (185k followers)
Chill planet, Netherlands: https://soundcloud.com/chillplanetmusic (101k followers)
Bare Chill, London: https://soundcloud.com/bare-chill (102k followers)
Chill Children, New Zealand: https://soundcloud.com/chillchildren (43.9k followers)
Insanely ChillMonthly, Venice, LA, United States: https://soundcloud.com/insanelychillpodcast (12.4k followers)
59Degrees: https://soundcloud.com/59degrees (202k followers)
Just Chill Out: https://soundcloud.com/just-chill-out/reposts (19.4K followers)
interchill: https://soundcloud.com/interchill (16.7k followers)
Chill and Vibe, Canada: https://soundcloud.com/chillandvibe/reposts (15.4k followers)
Nation of Chill: https://soundcloud.com/nationofchillpromo (8.8k followers)
HolyChill: https://soundcloud.com/holychill (20.9k followers)
chill Trap records: https://soundcloud.com/chilltrapnetwork/reposts (88K followers)
Chill Masters, France: https://soundcloud.com/chill-masters (45.9k followers)
Deep House, London: https://soundcloud.com/deep-house-london (126k followers)
Deep House, Amsterdam: https://soundcloud.com/deep-house-amsterdam (389K followers)
Big EDM sounds: https://soundcloud.com/bigedmsounds (308K followers)
3000 Bass: https://soundcloud.com/3000bass (69.K followers)
Future Bass Records: https://soundcloud.com/future-bassnet (62K followers)
Youtube Promotion Channels (101K+):
These Channels are the largest in the scenes that fit the EP’s Genre, however, having the EP featured on these would be hard to achieve, also, although the EP comes under the genre’s that these channels promote, the EP has a very niche sound so may struggle to appeal to these channels. On the other hand, the niche sound may be appealing to some for that specific reason.
EDM City (357K subscribers)
Vital EDM (818K subscribers)
Proximity (6.4M subscribers)
EDM Movement (106K subscribers)
House Nation (1.9M subscribers)
Future House Music (785K subscribers)
House City (339K subscribers)
BANG THE HOUSE (249K subscribers)
Future House Records (128K subscribers)
Bass House Music (117K subscribers)
Electronic Gems (189K subscribers)
Electro Music TV (435K subscribers
Ultra Music (11M subscribers)
MrSuicideSheep (8.9M subscribers)
xKito Music (1.6M subscribers)
UKF (1.5M subscribers)
Diversity (706K subscribers)
Kyra (348K subscribers)
ElectroPosé (959K subscribers)
Majestic Casual (3.8M subscribers)
THUMP (523K subscribers)
Sensual Musique (892K subscribers)
Vibes (165K subscribers)
Chill Nation (4.8M subscribers)
Ambient (270K subscribers)
Fluidified (301K subscribers)
Ninja Tune (206K subscribers)
Houseum (104K subscribers)
Aviencloud (253K subscribers)
Youtube promotion channels between 11K-100K:
When search for channels of these sizes it was not uncommon to find channels that look appealing at first glance, however, upon closer inspection, many of them didn’t have many videos or haven’t made regular uploads either for a long time and so are technically inactive, or just don’t upload regularly but are still active, making them not very suitable for the promotion of the EP
EDM (56K subscribers)
EDM House Mafia (63K subscribers)
Turkish EDM (76K subscribers)
Meow EDM (77K subscribers)
EDM SONY VN (87K subscribers)
Diamond I Club & EDM Music (60K subscribers)
girl8bit (63 subscribers)
MiXeR (24K subscribers)
QDR Quality (43K subscribers)
Deep House Amsterdam (72K subscribers)
Deep Territory (91K subscribers)
Youtube promotion channels 10K or below:
Here are very few channels as searching for channels of this size made it very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of what is needed to help push promotion of the EP. They have mainly low follow count and/or are inactive, too small, upload very rarely or irregularly and not what the EP would benefit from. There were a few that look like they could work and so are listed below.
Epidemic EDM (8.7K subscribers)
The EDM Area (10K subscribers)
Primal EDM (2.4K subscribers)
EDM en Español (Also Lyrics in English) (8.1K subscribers)
Blogs/web Magazines (free to submit or suggest):
The following are the best/top blogs and web magazines (mainly blogs) that not only revolve around the scene the EP best fits in, but also are free to submit the EP to or contact about it at the very least to gain interest.
edm.com/page/contact-us
www.sohblog.com/submissions/
www.youredm.com/about-us/
http://mixmag.net/page/contact-mixmag
http://www.factmag.com/about/#contact
https://ukf.com/submit-promo
https://www.residentadvisor.net/contact.aspx?show=other
https://dancingastronaut.com/advertise/
https://www.edmtunes.com/contact-us/
https://www.magneticmag.com/page/contact/
https://publishing.typeform.com/to/amgZ9x
https://consequenceofsound.net/contact-us/
http://www.themusicninja.com/contact/
http://cdm.link/submit-newswire-article/
https://www.indieshuffle.com/pages/about/ (use this link to submit: https://www.submithub.com/ )
Blogs/web Magazines (which cost to submit):
Although there are many free ones above, it may be that paying for the EP to be submitted may give it more of a chance to be pushed into public view.
https://www.edmsauce.com/submit-your-track/
http://www.thissongslaps.com/submit/
Mixcloud:
Mixcloud is like an online radio hub and is very big, with many radio shows, podcasts and the like. Being able to infiltrate this platform could be very beneficial for spreading awareness of the EP. Below are some of the places on the platform that could promote the EP.
Chill Out Mixes
11.644 followers
https://www.mixcloud.com/mazzu43/
Chill Out Chart
7,890 followers
https://www.mixcloud.com/chilloutcharter/
Future Garage
1,092 followers
https://www.mixcloud.com/FutureGarage/
Take Flight Club
2,454 followers
https://www.mixcloud.com/TakeFlightClub/
Resident Advisor
50,127 followers
https://www.mixcloud.com/residentadvisor/
Chris Coco
87,469 followers
Melodica
https://www.mixcloud.com/chriscoco/
Radio:
With digital radio now overshadowing traditional radio with its ever-growing younger and more internet savvy listeners, going for these types of radio can, not only keep out EP current but also potentially be accessed by people worldwide rather than on the local frequencies.
KissFm (KissFresh, Non-Stop New Beats, KISS House & Bass with DJ Pioneer, DJ Pioneer in the mix with everything House & Bass!)
Rinse FM
http://rinse.fm/
The Rinse FM started as a pirate radio in the East London. The radio is evolving around underground music genres promoting innovative music.
NTS
These are some NTS shows that suit the style of the EP and so the hosts would be good persons to contact and potentially feature the EP with.
Throwing Shade - New Music Special
https://www.nts.live/shows/throwing-shade/episodes/throwing-shade-22nd-april-2017
London-based DJ and producer Throwing Shade brings you an ethnomusicological perspective on weird and wonderful music from around the world. Expect regular themed special episode; a good dose of history, and above all, good music to broaden your horizons. Every other Saturday between 1pm and 2pm.
Fauzia & Kode9:
https://www.nts.live/shows/fauzia/episodes/fauzia-w-kode-9-4th-may-2018
Homegrown talent FAUZIA takes on the NTS signal once a month on a Friday evening, guiding you through a frenetic mixture of high energy club music - spanning footwork, jungle and beyond... Tune in.
From The Depths with Drakeford:
https://www.nts.live/shows/from-the-depths/episodes/from-the-depths-20th-april-2018
Electro Techno Breaks Garage
The FTD label’s bi-weekly audio vomit. Often hosted by Charles Drakeford, with occasional guests if they’re in town. Expect music for all occasions, though perhaps most commonly club-centric selections.
Tom Ravenscroft
https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/tom-ravenscroft-25th-april-2018
Electronica Techno Bass
Dark Sky
https://www.nts.live/shows/darksky/episodes/dark-sky-17th-april-2018
Electronica Deep House House Broken Beat
Bergsonist
https://www.nts.live/shows/bergsonist/episodes/bergsonist-29th-april-2018
Techno House
Radio and NTS points of Contacts:
These are where we can try and build a rapport with the hosts of the NTS shows and suggest a listen to the EP. From then maybe a talk of featuring it on their shows.
Dj Pioneer KissFM
https://twitter.com/djpioneer
Dj Throwing Shade
https://twitter.com/throwing_shade_
Dark Sky
Rinse FM
Fauzia
https://twitter.com/fauzimoto?lang=en
DJ Drakeford
https://twitter.com/drakefard
Bergsonist
https://twitter.com/bergsonist
Tom Ravenscroft
https://twitter.com/tom_ravenscroft?lang=en
Production Project: Audience and Market Research
The genre that I feel my EP fits into most (industrial/experimental rap) is quite a niche genre, but whilst not gathering the most attention in the mainstream, on the internet, bands like Death Grips and Clipping have gained a large following and have begun to push the genre to a wider audience.
The use of the internet as the main source of promotion for my EP is not only the most obvious for independent music releases like mine, but as described earlier, is the currently the main channel for even the major releases in the genre, so most of the listeners that I’m trying to reach will be accustomed to listening and downloading their music online, and will roughly be in the channels that I’ll be aiming to release and promote my music in.
In terms of current promotion, whilst I’d like to take the Death Grips’ style of a lack of marketing and promotion and just dropping something that people caught onto through reviews, I feel like isn’t a good idea for my release, as it isn’t as substantial as Exmilitary (Death Grips’s debut mixtape) in terms of actual musical content. Instead I’ll upload it onto services like SoundCloud and Bandcamp, and use the tagging features on those sites, in conjunction with buzzwords surrounding the genre, to get people searching around the genre online to have a greater chance of finding my EP. However maybe using Death Grips’s most recent promotional video for their upcoming album ‘Year of the Snitch’ which was a teaser trailer with the track listing as a text message with seemingly unrelated videos in the background could serve as some inspiration for some marketing that I could pull off.
The other way of getting my EP noticed and listened to online, is to try and send it to music review blogs or music review YouTube channels. Some examples of these would include thewordisbond.com, a underground rap review blog, deep cuts, a YouTube channel that often reviews more niche albums and undergroundhiphop.com a rather self-explanatory underground rap review. An example of a experimental rapper who gained notoriety through this method was JPEGMAFIA, who had 4 releases from 2015-2017 without much attention, but when his 2018 release ‘Veteran’ dropped to positive reviews from traditional review websites such as Pitchfork and The Fader, but also from large music YouTube reviewers like Dead End Hip Hop and TheNeedleDrop. Whilst getting attention from these larger sites and reviewers is highly unlikely, if I was to build from this EP then it could become more of a possibility.
An advantage of having my EP in this genre is that there isn’t loads of music that’s currently like this, especially in comparison to other genres, even within hip-hop. With the current trap music/SoundCloud rapper trend currently dominating most of the hip-hop scene, my music has more of a chance of standing out because it’s something different to that. This could also be a double-edged sword, as that will most likely mean that less people are also looking for my music, however I feel that because the genre my music is within is quite niche, it is unlikely that the attention of my target audience is being distracted by the current mainstream hip-hop trends.
In terms of smaller promotions for the EP, I would make social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to promote and push the EP out, as with all of these sites being very popular, it would be a waste to not utilize the power of social media marketing to increase the scope of audience that my EP could reach. I could also use specific Facebook groups which centre on the discussion of music, such as ‘>implying we can discuss music’, to promote my EP, especially as they run a self-promotion thread for members’ music weekly every Monday. Using this could help to spread some underground following if people like the music enough.
Instrumentals for my EP to try and gather some similarities between them, and then try and incorporate the parts of it that I liked into the music I was making. Some of the most common musical ideas between the artists I listened to included heavy use of synthesizers, intricate drum rhythms with the drums also being very up front in the mix, often aggressive vocal performances, and a large use of sampling to create or add to the beat of a song. All of these I incorporated into my music in some way or another, however with some being more common than others, like my heavy use of synthesizers, compared to only 2 uses of sampling on the EP.
To stand out from other artists in terms of visual promotion, I could use pictures and artwork which subverts the expectations of genre. Artworks and promotional pictures in the experimental/industrial hip-hop genre normally are very serious and quite edgy, and sometimes have disturbing or subversive elements designed to shock the audience. Examples of this include JPEGMAFIA’s ‘Black Ben Carson’ album cover, Ho99o9’s ‘United States of Horror’ album cover, and most obviously, Death Grips’s ‘No Love Deep Web’ album cover, which features an uncensored picture the drummer Zach Hill’s penis.
(Black Ben Carson)
(United States of Horror)
(No Love Deep Web)
One way that I could subvert this expectation is by having a picture or artwork which either is very happy and the opposite of the music, or have a picture which on the surface seems happy, but the more you look at it the more sad or intense it gets.
Other potential auxiliary promotion methods would probably be limited to submission to radio channels like BBC introducing, although the genre of music I’m in is rather unlikely to get played, however I still won’t entirely count of this form of promoting my music.
These ‘where people listen’ on Spotify are for Death Grips and JPEGMAFIA respectively, and they are in the same places, so trying to target these areas specifically, either through internet radio stations in these areas, or possibly through targeted ads to these areas. Some internet radio stations that I could send my songs to would include: KPWR in Los Angeles, WWPR in New York or Reprezent in London.
Another potential avenue of promoting my music is the use of music videos. Death Grips make a large use of music videos, particularly low budget videos, with a whole host of videos shot on a low budget, including ‘Giving Bad People Good Ideas’, ‘Guillotine’, ‘You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it’s your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat’ and most recently ‘Streaky’, a single release from their upcoming album ‘Year of the Snitch’. I could also make something like this on a low budget, and it might gain traction, as Death Grips’s online presence picked up from the viral aspect of their music video ‘Guillotine’.
A Closer Look - MD5311
A closer look at potential exposure areas.
Radio
A list internet radio stations that frequently play music similar to my Abate EP. All of these stations can be contacted vie email in their ‘Contact Us’ section.
Swindon 105.5 - http://www.swindon1055.com/
Tone Radio - https://www.toneradio.co.uk/
Burst Radio - https://www.burstradio.org/
AT Radio - http://atradio.online/
Brum Radio - https://www.brumradio.com/
Danger Radio - http://dangerradio.uk/
Indi XL - https://www.indiexl.nl/
8Radio - http://8radio.com/
Spotify Playlists
A list of Spotify playlists in which my music would fit.
All of the private playlist creators can be found and contacted through Facebook
Cool Indi Runnings – Created by Terry O’Leary - https://open.spotify.com/user/clarettel/playlist/6F2c7FmyygxiYpXAEuPEfs?si=x0K0XYPKRwCcSMs3w0dKGw
Upbeat Indie Coffee Shop – Created by Tom Ward - https://open.spotify.com/user/tomward.com/playlist/5HS8QQ4vT5QNLuZR54PTUS?si=vzPjNsPDSciUhu9jL5Disg
Indie Playlist – Created by Erin Halpenny - https://open.spotify.com/user/11121287154/playlist/0MSCX9tZWQmitMQsfhvZIl?si=5pYsYojaRWeCnvHP6cladw
Indie Roadtrip – Created by Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWSQScAbo5nGF?si=v32Itg-PQGaGLdvU88Lf7Q
Here is a link to the corresponding post - http://christopherhuntwatts.tumblr.com/post/173768956790/production-project-market-research-2-md5311
Band Camp
https://bandcamp.com/
Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/stream
Sync For Music
http://thinksyncmusic.com/
