06–07 Tools The Appreciation Engine 08–09 Campaigns Ariana Grande, The Kooks, Travis Scott 10–14 Behind The Campaign- John Coltrane

SEPTEMBER 05 2018 sandboxMUSIC MARKETING FOR THE DIGITAL ERA ISSUE 211

AT THE SHARP END what to do (and not do) when a song suddenly spikes COVERFEATURE

Tracks and artists spike on audio and video services for all manner of AT THE SHARP END reasons: being added to a playlist, landing a key sync, a video that gets everyone talking, a kink in the algorithm and more. But what happens after? How do you keep the ball in the air and turn good fortune into even greater fortune as well as long-term success? Rather than look at viral hits (ephemeral and often the start of the end of a career), here we look at what you can do after you spot a spike (and have determined it’s a genuine spike) and what you can learn from those who have been through it a number of times.

what to do (and not do) when a song suddenly spikes has inbuilt obsolescence. A viral hit can quickly become a meme nyone reading Fredric Dannen’s 1990 and were even complicit in. In 2018, the marketing teams try and hold on for dear – and when it becomes a meme it is book Hit Men: Power Brokers & Fast media windows may have changed but life to something not of their own making; condemned to become the punchline to a AMoney Inside The Music Business they remain equally limited (if you don’t but they need to expect the unexpected joke it is no longer in control of. Arguably will be left with the impression that have YouTube, Spotify, Apple and Amazon from the off and have a contingency plan the definitive example is ‘Harlem Shake’ nothing happens in the music industry by involved, you might as well not exist). The in place. – a track that took off like a rocket but, in chance. It is all carefully orchestrated and difference, however, is that the ability to In this piece we are making an explicit going through its many iterations, was (in many cases) paid for by cash-crazed carefully manipulate hits has started to distinction between viral hits and tracks record companies as part of a complex crumble so that serendipity can and will that spike. “Viral” comes with a multitude power battle with each other for market take over. of negative semantic connotations. It dominance. The unexpected is not quite the new implies “novelty” and an explosive, but brief, The era he wrote about was rife with normal, but tracks and artists can now moment in the sun – a one-off that defines payola and other less abrasive tactics to catch fire in a variety of sudden and and, in doing so, sinks an act as they can make hits – something that the limited bewildering ways. This does not mean that never repeat it. Short-termism is the DNA media windows allowed, encouraged marketing strategies have to be torn up as of virality. A viral hit is unrepeatable and

1 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 COVERFEATURE completely unhooked from Baauer, the you to choose the things that you want to act behind it. Indeed, most people using follow. So sometimes you are not actually the track in their UGC video had little or no following an artist because they are not in interest in anything else Baauer did. It was campaign, so it can still catch you off guard about that one track in that one fleeting even if you have a lot of those things in moment. place.” Equally, Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ might Sometimes just keeping an eye on things have racked up 3bn+ views on YouTube by manually checking them can be a way and the follow-up, ‘Gentleman’, might have to spot anomalies. But not every anomaly reached 1bn views by effectively being should be treated as a starting pistol for an ‘Gangnam Style II’, but that was really emergency marketing plan. the high point Psy’s career in the West, although he has continued to build his Spikes and red herrings: YouTube audience. If you keep trying how to filter out all the to bottle the same bolt of planned activity and lightning, your bottle is quickly going to smash. its impact If there is a lesson here, it is this: “viral” surprise spike has even happened and, if it “We get all the major data feeds The reaction to spotting a spike should is less of a springboard and more of a has, what you need to do next. coming back from most of the never be to immediately swing into action trapdoor. This invariably involves some forensic major retailers and that might and try to grow it; rather it should be Quite the inverse, a “spike” should be work in trying to figure out what the cause tell you that X’s streams have about ticking off all the possible causes the beginning of something – not the of the spike was. increased by Y% in the past 24 to see if this spike is genuinely a surprise. end of something. Speaking to marketing “There has generally been a bit of reverse hours; so then you can dig into that What might seem unexpected from one teams and managers about song spikes, engineering involved,” says Lee Barter, and see why that has happened. perspective can be very much expected it is immediately apparent that the cause engagement manager at INgrooves. “You see We use Chartmetric quite heavily and that from another. is often unique, but there are a number of you have a spike and then you try and figure will tell us if things are growing and if there Often, when rights are split universal responses that can apply. out where that spike is coming from.” are any spikes.” internationally, a marketer in one territory Here we offer key lessons from those Like the canary in the mineshaft, setting This is, however, not always a might not be aware of what is happening who’ve had to grapple with a song spiking up a series of flags and alerts on an analytics straightforward and convenient life-saving in another territory that can have global and what they did to build, rather than dashboard can give you a first-mover technique. Even a large label might be implications. Two decades ago, there bury, it. advantage. The issue, however, is how this is hesitant to put resources into tracking were territorial limitations to much of the benchmarked for every track and artist. An every song in their catalogue and, in marketing around an act and marketing Spotting a spike in overnight bump of 600 streams on Spotify doing so, putting their data dashboards teams would know when a track was the first place or YouTube for a mega act is nothing; an under enormous (and often unnecessary) getting heavy radio play in their country or overnight bump of 600 streams on Spotify or pressure. had landed a sync in a major TV show – and This is not a rhetorical or an existential YouTube for a brand new act with only one “Even if you were doing those dashboard so could prepare for it. question. Sometimes a spike has a track out could be the start of something records, the dashboard would have to be The internationalisation effect of, first, carefully planned cause – it just might not significant. Context is everything and will set up in a certain way to alert you when the internet, then music streaming and be immediately obvious where it has come define what you do, or don’t do, next. there is a huge jump in streams,” says now, with Netflix and Amazon Prime, from. So what might seem like a spike is in “At INgrooves, we have a lot of in-house Justin Barker, director of streaming strategy television, has removed many territorial fact part of a structured growth trajectory. tech that tells us if something is suddenly at PIAS. “But most dashboards, in order borders; this means that music marketing So the first thing to do is to figure out if a spiking,” says Barter. to minimise the data overload, will ask cannot behave in the way it once did.

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and artist, the net result being that cases and are more attuned to the way YouTube and Spotify streams of the things can be manipulated, is not always track suddenly accelerated. Again, bulletproof. that took a lot of digging to unearth “There are occasions where it turns out the root cause and then come up with I am totally wrong,” accepts Barter. “The a strategy to capitalise on it. artist might have had a sync or it turns Then there are the fake streams out that the people following that playlist that can and do happen. Bots can be just really love that playlist and it’s been deployed – unknowingly to marketing reposted by others. You have to dig deep teams – to try and game the algorithm into it and look at what is coming back. on YouTube or Spotify . Someone – From that you figure out what is legitimate perhaps the artist or their manager and what is authentic.” – has made the rookie error of paying a click farm to try and inflate streams Harnessing the serendipity: One marketer we spoke to proffered and drum up interest in this way. If a what to do next the example of a track that had been sudden spike in a track seems too good to released two years earlier – and only had be true, sometimes it is. It is often down playlist with 500 followers that is suddenly So, you have investigated all the possible moderate and limited success at the time to the marketer to see that it has been generating 25,000 streams [so you would planned marketing around a track and – yet suddenly spiked and they were left manufactured and to step back. be suspicious].” sniffed out all the false streams triggered confused as to why. “It’s about looking at the data He adds, “There is also a lot of following by bots and – yes – it appears that the track “Suddenly we saw this two-year-old that you get back as fast as you your gut instinct. If you think you’re is spiking unexpectedly and organically. track blow up in all the viral charts ,” can and try and figure out if this smelling a rat, the first thing to do is they say. “We have to do a bit of internal is organic and legitimate or if it figuring out why you are feeling that way. What now? detective work to find out why.” is coming from another source,” Then you look at the data and see what is The cause, it turns out, was that the label says INgrooves’ Barter. “We look at, where coming back from it.” Barter gives the example of Norwegian indie- handling the release in the US had managed possible, where these listeners or clicks are While gut instinct, especially if you have pop acts Boy Pablo suddenly taking off. It to negotiate a sync deal for the track for coming from. So it could be China, India or seen unusual spikes happen in multiple was initially down to the YouTube algorithm the season finale of a hit show on Netflix. Russia – countries where we know there serving up a Boy Pablo video to fans of other As it was being watched globally, the track wasn’t a fanbase before and suddenly acts – but the song was strong enough to in question was pinging up on viral charts there are 10,000 people taking an active stand out and get shared again. on Spotify around the world. It took a lot of engagement in the artist. You would “The only thing we could really do was to digging to finally trace the cause. So what discount those.” hold on for as long as possible and to try and was unexpected in one territory can be very There are other ways to spot fakery convert those passive listeners into active much expected in another. and save embarrassment by not trying fans,” he says of the strategy that followed. Equally an act can, without the label to capitalise on momentum that is not They also noted that the bulk of views knowing, trigger a series of events that actually there. were coming from mobile, so the focus see a track start to catch fire. Another “If it’s coming from a Spotify playlist, it became more about mobile viewers than marketer said this happened to them would involve looking at the number of desktop ones. when an act had sent a SoundCloud link followers that playlist has and measuring “The algorithm was doing the work for to a YouTube influencer to see what they that against the number plays that are us by just pushing stuff out there, so now thought of it. The YouTuber liked the track, coming back,” advises Barter on how to we just had to separate the wheat from the used it in a video and named the track sense check things. “So you might have a chaff to try and find the engaged fans as

3 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 COVERFEATURE opposed to the passive fans,” he says. it. Understand who the fans are and On YouTube they added trackable work to transfer that interest in the track links and info cards to the video in order to into interest in the act, pointing towards get greater visibility on who, exactly, was existing tracks online but not rushing out listening to and sharing the tracks. new material to maybe make (temporary) “That meant we could see the people hay while the sun (temporarily) shines. who were viewing the video and then see Rushed-out material is easily identifiable how many of those people were converting and risks making the one song that people onto other social media platforms as well like by the act became the only song people as how many people were converting onto like by the act. listeners on Apple Music and Spotify,” The next stage should be about ensuring he explains. “We were then able to collect that the heat around a track is not confined data on the users, link the channel to to one platform. If it is taking off on our account so we could get the Google YouTube, subtly direct viewers to Spotify, re-marketing data and the analytical data Apple Music and other DSPs. And also use that comes through. We got really lucky the spike on one platform as a way to push because you can never predict what the the act and their music to the editorial and algorithm is going to do.” playlist teams on other platforms. Another beneficiary of a quirk in the “You really just want to fan the flames,” YouTube algorithm was US ambient says Barker. “You want to make sure that pop band Cigarettes After Sex. They had matter of days and the people at the DSP [in question] are all released ‘Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby’ then cover versions aware that this thing is happening. But in 2012 and by August 2015 and it had started to appear they tend to be because it would appear got to around 100,000 views on YouTube. online. “There they have similar tools internally [to give Follow-up track ‘Affection’ arrived in was nothing alerts on track spikes].” October the same year and it blew up. (It is pushing this You should then start to draft a now at 45m views.) except sheer compelling story to take to the other DSPs. “We even spoke to content managers organic magic,” “With Boy Pablo, it gave us great fuel to at YouTube who couldn’t quite pinpoint it,” says Harris. go back to the streaming services and re- says Ed Harris, the band’s manager, on their Rather than pitch him,” says Barker. attempts to understand why this video take down the UGC Barker adds, “Viral charting is not would take off in the way it did. “From the videos and try and necessarily a guarantee of success later, excitement from the fans around ‘Affection’ focus attention on but it is certainly a powerful part of your coming out, ‘Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You world. The [YouTube] content manager the main ‘Affection’ video, the band and story. In general what happens on platform Baby’ started heavily getting placed in the told us that the algorithm was driving it management were happy to let it spread. is the main thing that the [DSP] editors, suggested videos section.” for the first day or two and after that it “As long as people weren’t trying to make from a data point of view, are interested in.” It then, however, took a very esoteric was the fans who kept listening to you and money off it, we were fine with it,” says At the earliest stage in a spike, keeping turn. “They ended up on the homepage in engaging with it. That momentum kept it Harris. “We still are.” a proper perspective on things is essential. Poland,” says Harris. “This was within the going and fed back into the algorithm.” Unlike Canute, you should not try and To begin with, it is the song – not the artist first 48 hours of ‘Affection’ coming out. It This was almost a perfect storm and command the algorithmic tides to recede; – that is driving clicks. Turning fans of a just took off everywhere. Poland was the there was still no YouTube editorial input at rather you should let them work as they song into fans of an act is never a given. first country and then it went all over the this stage. The video hit 700,000 views in a do and build moments to capitalise on “Your challenge is to cross over the

4 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 COVERFEATURE popularity of the song, which is what the spikes that are happening and lobby do, I am told. We certainly didn’t do that. people care about,” says Barker. “They for new editorial and playlist support. And we wouldn’t have had sold-out shows care about it for reasons which might The spike is the start of the PRECISION REACTION everywhere if that had been the case.” not necessarily have much to do with the secondary push, not an end in Patrick Ross SVP of digital strategy at Music Ally artist. Your challenge there is to make and of itself. 6) Be careful wih your sponsored posts them care about the artist when they The record business has historically been about chasing a It might seem obvious to start diverting hit, but these days better analytics and timely data allow actually care about the song because it is 2) The unexpected can be dealt with if advertising spent around the spike as that us to react with much more precision. These are the times in this [TV] show that they like.” you have a contingency plan from the off will only amplify it. But this could be the Ultimately, however, there has to be “You never hope for the unexpected, when music marketers are able to make the most of what thing that sends it all crashing back down an acceptance of the firework effect but you always try and build in a bit of often seems like an endless sea of data. By drilling down again before it has even really begun. “We here: a track can take off quickly, but the contingency into the plans,” says Barter. to what’s happening where – and, most importantly, why didn’t do sponsored posts,” says Harris momentum can run out just as quickly. “Literally anything could happen. I always – we are able to react on a global level when there’s a of the immediate aftermath of ‘Affection’ Presuming the heat on one track is going try and make it that we can pivot the plan sudden and unexpected spike. starting to gather steam. “We didn’t do to carry over to other tracks is dangerous. or rearrange the plan if necessary. It is just This can even happen territorially, where you pick your anything that looked like advertising. We Sometimes it is just going to be – no about keeping an eye out for those things.” big singles on a record globally – then all of a sudden you just wanted to keep connecting with the matter what back-up plans you have – have a dark horse track suddenly take the lead in a key fans. But the way it was going, you just location. about that one song. 3) Don’t hit it too hard didn’t need to do that […] With the magic Doing things to push through to the “Don’t push it too hard – and don’t hit it too As a marketer, you certainly don’t want to do anything that happened on YouTube, nothing could next stage might not always work. It can hard and too fast,” suggests Barter. “It is that hinders any organic activity; and, as such, reactivity to have made that happen other than just just be a lottery. But there are many other the law of diminishing returns. Don’t expect these sometimes-surprising trends is ever-more important, not disrupting it. For any of the songs things that you can do that will bring down the same results again the second time whether that means changing focus tracks or even radio that we put up online at that time, we something quicker than it took off. round […] My thinking is that if it has taken plot in a territory to support what’s going on locally. didn’t put any ads around [them] for a off organically then let’s see how it grows while. That was just to let it be this pure The kill switch: what not to do organically. If it tails off a little bit then we experience that people were having – as can maybe try and give it another shove – clearly it was connecting.” Every example and every spike will be be that with another piece of content or a like a very old-school thing to do. When different and so every response will have paid push.” something is doing its own thing, you really 7) Let the adventure choose you to be tailored to that specific context. There just want to let it do it something. Just “I say [to people] that we live now in a are, however, some general rules that can 4) Don’t even consider trying to put it make sure everyone knows about it.” choose-your-own-adventure world where be followed if you are lucky enough to have back in the bottle for “later” the adventures choose you,” says Harris, a spiking song or act on your hands. A spike might disrupt your original 5) Never make it look or feel forced but adds that the conditions around a spike marketing plans, but it cannot be delayed “A big part of it is what you don’t do,” are so unique that there is no templated 1) Don’t change everything; just adapt and put in storage for use at a later date. suggests Harris, based on what or step-by-step approach that The most immediately tempting thing to It moves at its own speed and you need happened with Cigarettes can evenly apply across the board. do when a track starts spiking is to take to bend to it, not the other way around. After Sex . “We didn’t want it Like snowflakes, spikes might have all of your carefully planned marketing “Trying to put that moment back in a to look pushed. It wasn’t – but a short lifespan, but equally they ideas, throw them out the window and try bottle and trying to hold that pressure for we didn’t want people to think are always unique and you have and whip up more attention around the a bit and then unleashing it again later – that. Although some people to very quickly come to peace with spike and the spike alone. “I generally try stopping people getting what they want thought that anyway. There were that. “The way that Cigarettes and pivot the strategy around it,” suggests when they want it – is a really good way to some people who accused us broke, that’s not going to happen Barter. That would include re-pitching the fuck that up,” warns Barker. “But I haven’t of buying likes on YouTube and again for anybody,” he says, act or the track to the DSPs, pointing out seen many people do that recently. It feels stuff. But that isn’t very easy to “probably ever.” :)

5 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 TOOLS THE APPRECIATION ENGINE

Acquire, Attribute and Automate are the which is why both Universal and Sony three As that are driving modern music both have AE closely tied into their tech marketing. Using tools like smart links stack now. and pre-save campaigns with installed Inside AE’s dashboard, you’re able to retargeting programmes help us get a view view what’s been going on across your of how fans find their way into streaming fanbase at an artist level, a global level services from our campaigns. and an individual fan level, so teams for a specific artist or across a wider When campaigns involve social or catalogue can all work together within streaming logins, we can often get some the same place. insight into what other pages our fans AE is currently available to any labels are interacting with on social media, and management companies that would what other artists they’re listening to like to start working with it and, although and what’s being added to personal its features are currently geared for very collections. large labels, it is prioritising its updates Looking at our entire fanbase and over the coming years to be every bit as then identifying trends in what they’re accessible to smaller labels, management listening to and engaging with the most; companies and other teams in music or looking at our individual fans and marketing. seeing which of our tracks they’ve not sandbox has spoken with Annabel yet listened to from artists they like are Youens, CMO and co-founder of AE, on just a couple of new ways that marketers how the platform works and where it’s are starting to make campaigns more going. efficient. Enter The Appreciation Engine (AE). How would you describe AE? It allows marketers to capture fan AE is a data and marketing automation information from streaming and social platform that’s custom made for the platforms through any type of campaign music business. What’s different from that would include a social “log-in” other automation platforms is that it button, and then view insights down to collects all your fan insights in a single the individual level and create audiences view in real time. We pull together your to target, retarget or expand on those captured fans, you’re able to exclude fans By accounting for our fans’ specific fans’ data from social media as well as audiences with lookalikes. who have already listened to the single actions, we’re able to segment audiences music streaming services [like Spotify and Imagine marketing a single on from your advertising audience, and and tailor messages much further than Deezer]. Our simple dashboard helps you Spotify by directing fans from Facebook instead serve those fans a different we would be able to otherwise. This holds use that data to create loyal fans, improve or Google ads into the streaming ad (such as a call to action to pre-save increasingly greater value for companies open rates, save marketing dollars and service. From your audience inside AE’s the album). and artists who have large audiences, drive revenue in your music business.

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Finally, you can see what your fans are from the campaign. Then believed in our mission to appreciate doing and create more personalised and you can take that deeper fans. That’s really the heart of AE. targeted marketing. segment and target them We believe that technology has the with a new ad [telling power to connect fans and artists in What is the core product offering of AE? them to] pre-save the deeper ways than have been done in AE offers two main products. First is our album. With AE you can the past. Fans are way more than an fan registration tool – called AE Connect. actually see what your email address. From your website or campaign, fans sign fans are listening to so in using Spotify, Facebook, Deezer or any you can precision target What are AE’s strongest other social network. The log-in looks just the fans that will be the relationships across music so far? like a standard social log-in process, but most engaged. Where are you looking to expand? AE sits behind the scenes. Once your fans If you’re looking to We’ve developed our Enterprise give permission, AE listens to your fans’ understand how to platform with UMG and Sony Music. online behaviour and reports back. promote emerging artists, Both those companies have been so Our second tool is AE Insights. This AE can tell you what supportive of our technology that it’s gives you a dashboard where you can other artists resonate now a fully integrated part of their monitor your fans and take action based with your fanbase. technology stack. We’re taking all on their behaviours. For example, you can From there, it’s quick the lessons we’ve learnt and getting see the most popular artist your fans are and easy to advertise ready to launch AE for indie labels listening to right now, find fans to target crossover artists to your and management companies. Our with a certain message, or see how to fans. If you’re trying to roots started with indies and now segment your fans to get them clicking decide which fanbase to we’re building AE to work for any right now. One client we work with went piggyback on with AE, size label or management team. It’s from 7% open rates on their newsletters you don’t need to guess actually soft launched right now, so to 57%. The precision targeting you can do anymore. Just plug in if anyone wants to get in early they with our engine makes a real difference. the artists or bands you can sign up here. We like to think that with AE you can stop suspect will resonate with guessing and starting knowing which your fans. Our engine What are AE’s next goals? fans you should target. will work its magic and – It’s all hands on deck supporting our voila! – you know exactly indie friends with our new platform How can marketers currently using self- which major artists you for the next couple of years. We serve ad buying and a mix of CRM tools should be looking at really see ourselves working in best benefit from using AE? for co-promotions or partnership with our customers and If you’re buying right ads right now, AE advertising. it’s hugely important to me that can help you spend less money and get the AE they use every day makes better results. Marketers can segment Where did the team their jobs easier. Data is hard work, their fans to make sure the right message behind AE come from? but when it’s used correctly it’s goes in front of the right people. For My husband Jeff Mitchell incredibly powerful. I want every example, if you’re looking to run an online and I founded the company together to with over 25 years combined experience digital marketer to feel more in control of ad for a single streaming on Spotify, you explore how technology could support in technology, strategy and marketing. what they spend, how they spend it and can use AE to see which fans have already the changing music industry. Both Jeff We’ve been so lucky to have team confidently know what it will generate in listened to that single and exclude them and I have our roots in the digital space members around the globe who’ve also return. It’s really exciting. :)

7 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 CAMPAIGNS The latest projects from the digital GRANDE PRIX: ARIANA GOES ALL OUT FOR NEW ALBUM

into an e-commerce store, something it began testing the waters with in April through the introduction of the Shoppable AR feature. But it doesn’t end there. For fans in the UK, she is also working with location- based marketing company Landmrk on a Sweetener-themed treasure hunt. A series of “sweetspots” (see what they did there?) can be found on a dedicated By the time this is published, there will probably a T-shirt/album bundle for $35, a tie dye mask/ mobile website. When you go there, you have to have been a multitude of other digital activations, album bundle (?) for $20, a three-pack of socks/ decipher a code on a nearby billboard (either real but let’s work with what we have. For Sweetener, album bundle (!) for $35, a “fanny pack”/album or virtual depending on the location) and prizes Ariana Grande’s fourth album, Universal have bundle for $45 and the “web exclusive” Cloud include tickets to her UK tour – whenever that really put their shoulder to the wheel, making it fragrance/album bundle for $25. (Cloud, in case is – CDs, assorted merchandise and “location- clear this will be a blockbuster leading all the way It is a smart play to drive sales in opening you were wondering, is “a dreamy blend of specific selfie filters” that are designed to be into next year. week but, as Taylor Swift found out last year alluring lavender blossom, forbidden juicy pear shared (for bragging rights) on social media. when she tried to gamify ticket pre-sales, teen and mouthwatering bergamot”.) You can also There are already a lot of moving parts to this First up, they have bundled a download version fans (or, more precisely, the parents of teen just buy the CD version of the album for $13 and campaign and they will almost certainly be added of the album along with “priority venue entry fans) are not necessarily going to be overjoyed get pre-sale access. to when the 2019 tour dates are announced. to a 2019 Ariana Grande Headline Tour + future at having to fork out for extras to go with a It is not all about hooking the tour to the There has been growing debate in the US about discounts”, calling it The Sweetener Pass (which ticket they have to buy separately and have album, however. She also has a Snapchat lens the role of album bundles in driving week-one sounds like someone refusing Canderel in their no guarantee of actually getting until they go based around the new album. The lens allows sales (see the Travis Scott/ Nicki Minaj spat coffee). This is, they are at pains to stress, NOT a on sale. you to virtually try on the tie dye mask and buy it, mentioned overleaf) and it is not clear for now if ticket, but rather just swifter access to the venue There are, however, “specified Sweetener along with the album download bundle, for $20. Billboard will move to tighten the chart-eligibility and you will still need to buy a ticket, although album or album bundle orders” on her official This is perhaps most notable for the fact that it is rules or if the dizzying range of bundles that no dates for her tour next year have even been site that come with pre-sale access to tickets for a further move by Snapchat to partner with one Ariana Grande is offering here will become the announced. the as-yet-to-be-confirmed tour. These include of the biggest pop stars in the world to turn itself new normal.

8 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 CAMPAIGNS The latest projects from the digital BAKING WITH THE KOOKS: BAND TURN UP HEAT FOR NEW ALBUM GREAT SCOTT: RAPPER GIVES AWAY $100,000

The Great British Heatwave Of Usually when the media uses the words Cash App 2018 now seems like a distant “[name of pop star] took to social media” admin to memory – with temperatures it is to report on some outrageous send money rising to the mid-30s. (Yes, we statement they have made or ludicrous to 2,000 know that 35°C in most other beef they have found themselves caught different countries is deemed “spring” up in. accounts, or “autumn”, but if you’ve even so spare a been to Britain in the summer But in the case of Travis Scott, it was to thought for months you’ll know how give away $100,000 to fans to mark his Scott’s RSI if unprecedented this Astroworld album going to number 1 in this was the was.) Seizing the moment, the US. case.) The Kooks used this hot spell Fans had to respond with their Cash Other acts have given away money for as the hook to promote their App username and the title of their more noble reasons. British grime artist fifth album. favourite Travis Scott track. “I KNOW Stormzy set up The Stormzy Scholarship LIFE IS HECTIC SO IM GIVING AWAY 100k last month to provide funding for four The appositely named Let’s TO THE FANS. LEAVE UR CASH TAG IN black students from underprivileged or Go Sunshine came out at THE COMMENTS W/ UR FAVORITE TRAV disadvantaged background to study at the the end of August, but in SONG,” ran his full message. Within a University Of Cambridge. And last year the lead up, the band set couple of hours, there were over 300,000 Nicki Minaj started responding to fans on up a dedicated website to responses. Some Twitter by helping them piggyback on the sharp uptick suspected it was a with their tuition fees. in Vitamin D levels in the UK and to tap into you were in the UK) and returned to the scam and/or bluster, Minaj, however, became the dramatic change in the national mood by site every day that it was sunny to collect a but Epic, his record embroiled in a war of offering a series of prizes tied to how long stamp on your Sunny Day Reward card. Once label, confirmed it words with Scott when the good weather lasted. you collected eight stamps, you were entered was all real. Astroworld kept her own This move “to celebrate the finest into the prize draw. It is not clear how Queen album off number summer in living memory” with a giveaway It was all terrifically British to obsess many fans got a cut 1 in the US, accusing him included tickets to the Reading Festival over the weather, but they missed a trick by of this money, but of gaming the charts on the last public holiday weekend of the not having random grievances pop up on the Twitter posts from by bunding a revolving year, where the winners got to meet the site (“It’s just too hot to sleep”, “It’s good for Scott suggest he range of merchandise band and stand side of stage when they drying clothes, but the garden looks like the was handing it out in with albums to boost played, plus meet-and-greets on their tour Gobi Desert now” etc.). If there is one thing in chunks of $50 – sales. Sadly for both of and signed albums. the British are more obsessed with than the which would mean them, sticking $50 notes The mechanic was very simple but no less weather it’s complaining. 2,000 fans got a to the front of albums is effective for that. You registered (with the Maybe they can try this during the next small windfall. (Side not, for now at least, a site asking to check your location to ensure UK heatwave... note: that’s a lot of chart-eligible move.

9 | sandbox | ISSUE 211 | 05.09.2018 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN JOHN COLTRANE

Photo: Chuck Stewart Photography BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNJOHN COLTRANE

was recorded during his term on Impulse. Photo: Jim Marshall Photography The release of this album just happened to coincide with us approaching the estate. We didn’t know that it was coming. It had been long rumoured; but the rumours were very different from the reality. He went in and made this album with his classic quartet and, when they mixed it, they had two copies – the reference tape that he took home and then the master tape. They were both created at the same time. One was not a duplicate of the other; they had two tape machines running. He brought the reference tape home and the master was put in the vault but never released. At some point, to save space and to save on storage costs, Universal destroyed thousands of unused tapes. This was one of those masters that was destroyed. The only copy of the album that existed was in the house of Coltrane’s first wife. That was it. There was no second master. It should have been in the Universal vault. No one knows for sure [why this album was never released at the time]. I spoke to the son of the producer [Bob Thiele] of most of his albums on Impulse and he said that Coltrane went in all the time to record and Bob Thiele would produce them – but he was protecting them from the label. The label was only Both Directions At Once is an album recorded in 1963 by legendary jazz musician receiving the masters John Coltrane that was presumed lost. The master tape had been destroyed by of the recordings when his label, but a reference tape was also made at the time and was eventually Unearthing a lost album Coltrane said they were discovered in the house of his first wife. JOEL MARK and ANDRE HYUN of JM: His catalogue is split between three ready. There must have management company Deckstar, who now consult for the Coltrane estate, explain different labels. The early period is owned been a reason at the how they worked to accentuate Coltrane’s legacy, where they grew his social media by Concorde Music Group. In the middle time [why it was not presence and why streaming was a huge focus for what they saw as the “the period, he was signed to Atlantic. In the released], but no one Rosetta Stone” of his recording career. Additionally, DANNY BENNETT, president final part of his career, he was signed to knows what it is. What is most & CEO of Verve Label Group, reveals why his label were treating this, not as a label called Impulse which is owned by Universal Music Group. This lost album interesting about this catalogue, but as a frontline release and how they turned it into an event.

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album is that many of the pieces were JM: It’s just about putting the material in being performed live at the time. This front of the public in a respectful way and is why the album is being called the letting them editorialise. Holy Grail. I think AH: We also launched an Instagram of it as the Rosetta Stone of and Twitter account for him around this John campaign. We repurposed all of his amazing Coltrane’s later career. You can quotes and also some of the messages hear from his live albums at the time that went on Facebook. It was a very visual that he was playing some of these campaign as well as being about preserving songs – but there was no studio the legacy. version for the public ever to hear. He has an official YouTube channel, but This was all recorded in 1963 and it we did not put a huge focus on that just was a busy time for Coltrane. The day because his fans weren’t on YouTube and after he made this album, they made the subscriber base wasn’t that great. We an album with the vocalist Johnny relied heavily on Instagram, Facebook and Hartman. He was a really popular jazz Twitter for all of the video content. We also vocalist and someone that Coltrane heavily relied on Instagram TV where we had been really looking forward JM: We started working on this in April and would repost these videos and Ravi Coltrane to recording with. This was a time when our first goal was to raise engagement on talking about the album. Coltrane was going back and forth between social media . Facebook was really the only albums that were pushing the boundaries social media platform for him at the time A quick turnaround from of music and very standard-sounding jazz and it was being run by the three different announcement to release albums that were part of the popular music record labels who control his catalogue. It JM: We started working on this in April of the time. That Johnny Hartman album had a lot of people signed up to follow it, but and the album announcement was in June is the only vocal album that Coltrane ever it had very low engagement. for the album to be released at the end of made and they made that the day after this We set out to try and improve the fanbase and rekindled that relationship record. engagement so that when we announced which was amazing to see. At the time he was in the middle of a the record we would have an engaged JM: The first thing that we did was to take two-week run of shows in New York. So it fanbase. That is really what it started with in over the Facebook page. We ran it from was a very busy time for him. April. We changed the tone of the Facebook the perspective of John Coltrane as The running order for this album was page and we changed the style of posting. an artist – not from the perspective assembled after the fact. Ravi Coltrane put We saw the engagement go through the of the record labels. It was really just together the running order from the takes. roof. about posting nostalgic content in a very For a lot of the songs, there were multiple AH: We really pushed nostalgic content and respectful way. It was about respecting the takes and some of the additional takes rekindled that relationship with the 1.2m audience with the tone. appear on the deluxe edition of the album. followers on there. They were there but were AH: We were putting up old photographs Ravi Coltrane himself is an award- just dormant and so we just reactivated that people haven’t seen before. There was winning jazz musician and has been making them with amazing content that enhanced also live footage of Coltrane playing with records for decades. He is pre-eminently his legacy. With each post we were reaching Miles Davis or with his own quartet. This qualified to do this. 60% or 70% of his fanbase on Facebook – was footage that fans hadn’t seen and they which is unheard of. Facebook’s benchmark were going crazy about it. We did a lot of “On Reinvigorating Coltrane’s social media is 8%. We pretty much reached the whole this day...” posts to mark anniversaries.

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don’t do is that we have a by an artist like John Coltrane it can’t ever department that deals directly be about the first week; it has to be about with the DSPs. Our DSP team worked forever. People will be listening to this hand-in-hand with the team at Universal album forever. to communicate about this record to the DSPs. We were sitting down with Apple, Playing up the cultural Amazon and Spotify directly to talk about importance in phase two our records. JM: The second phase of the marketing is That is something we do for every going to be about reminding people this artist on our roster. More management record has been released. As important companies are doing this now, but we as this record and this artist are to us, we were the first ones to have a DSP team. cannot assume that they are so important There aren’t many new releases from to everyone out there that they are going John Coltrane. There have been some live to buy it in the first week. recordings that have been found over People have other things in their lives the years and those would be classed as besides John Coltrane. I don’t agree with new releases even though they are older it, but they do! So we have to keep the material. But in the streaming era, this campaign going. was the first major release from John We will have interviews [coming] with Coltrane. musicians talking about the importance If you are working at a streaming of this album and the importance of service, you are inundated every day with John Coltrane. That will be a big driver to people trying to get your attention. We remind people that this record is out. And find that if the conversation is on the it will also be about introducing people to artist side and on the label side it is more John Coltrane for the first time through effective. And the [streaming] companies this album. that month. With the window from the Building the streaming audience are building their teams to reflect that. announcement of the album to release, the JM: The Amazon pre-ordering for this Many people say that for records it is A first for Spotify’s Fans First label had a really good plan to keep it short. record was huge. Amazon was one of the all about the first week. But for an album Spotify did a Fans First event with John The initial thought was to maybe have a main sales drivers for this record. Coltrane. It was their first two-month or three-month window from The audience are heavy purchasers of jazz event for the Fans First announcement to release; but they had the physical music. One of our goals for the initiative. It was a listening very good idea to shorten it to just a few Coltrane estate is to help shift that into more event with Ravi Coltrane and weeks of a streaming audience. Ken Druker [from Verve and We are big proponents of not talking that The streaming services haven’t been built executive producer on the much about records until they are available. to support catalogue; they have really been album], playing the record The public is so used now to being able to built for new releases. So we have been and talking about it. stream music right away when they hear working with the streaming services to focus Spotify sent out an email about it. We believe that if you make people on catalogue more. to the top John Coltrane wait too long then they will forget about it; One of the things that we do as fans in the New York metro they will lose interest. a management company that most area to invite them to the other management companies listening session. That was a

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week prior to the record being Amazon really got involved in an for the entire week of release in many released. It took place in a small jazz incredible way marketing and promoting countries. It was the highest-charting venue the holds just 300 people. the record, letting John Coltrane fans and album of John Coltrane’s career in the US, Getting that type of support from Spotify jazz fans know this record was coming. the UK, Germany and Japan – the four was new. We saw it top the Amazon music charts biggest music markets. :)

COLTRANE ALBUM RELEASE - “WE MADE IT AN EVENT” Danny Bennett, president & CEO of Verve Label Group, on treating this like a frontline album release: “We made it an event” When the family came in with these tapes under their arms and told me they had found them in the basement, my first thought was that they were going to be outtakes. When we put it on, we were just gobsmacked. My immediate reaction was, “Alright – this isn’t a catalogue piece; this is a frontline release.” The Impulse label is under my auspices here and we wanted to relaunch it. So here is this album by John Coltrane, it is as fresh as listening session at the Van Gelder Studio [in New Jersey] where it a daisy and I am telling my staff here that we are going to market happened. Everyone was thrilled by that as we were listening to this album like a frontline release. I told them, “It’s not catalogue; the music where it was recorded. That’s our Abbey Road! it’s a new record!” Ravi Coltrane was very excited by the project and helped us We didn’t do the traditional set up of three or four months [lead on an international level. We exceeded all expectations – and in]. I kind of pulled a Beyoncé [by releasing it quickly]! not only with our digital campaigns. It was a perfect storm with There is an audience that sits there that we want to be able to regards to old and new with the digital marketing, understanding maximise […] What do we do to have that predisposed audience the analytics and where that audience lives. It is a tremendous want to come back to the party? time right now for music across the board. I wanted to market the records in a way that timelessly feels We are at about 200,000 units worldwide and still going hip. There is nothing hipper than this music, so I wanted to strong. It’s amazing! [You would normally go to specialist Photo: Joe Alper Photo Collection capitalise on that predisposed jazz audience and the aficionados. magazines and radio stations with a jazz album] but we went But at the same time, some of our biggest streams are coming further than that. CBS This Morning Show specials, NPR and so from Brooklyn and the hipster audience there. on. We made it an event. We did television advertising on morning shows in the US. We are doing a beautiful boxset, Coltrane ‘63, which will be WANT TO FEATURE IN People were shocked by that because it wasn’t expected – released for the holidays. It is five albums of everything he did in BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN? particularly for this genre. I don’t recall a pure jazz album ever 1963 – including this. You get a really clear picture of the creative Marketing people: do you have a campaign you are working being advertised on the Today Show [on NBC]. But I like that. force here. on that you would like to see featured in Behind The Campaign Two weeks before the release, we put the pre-order up. That On this album, 25% of the sales were on vinyl. It was leading in a future edition of sandbox? If so, send a brief synopsis of was very close to the release date. the charge with a price point in the US that was $35. We were it to Eamonn Forde for consideration and your work (and your On Spotify we did one of their first in sessions – where we had a selling more of those than we were the CDs, which is a great sign. words) could appear here. Email: [email protected]

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