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Home , 56 Nights, Campaign (mixtape), Echoes of Silence, Humanz, Kasabian, Purple Reign

06–07 Campaigns , Joe Goddard, Kasabian 08-14 Behind The Campaign

APRIL 26 2017 sandboxMUSIC MARKETING FOR THE DIGITAL ERA ISSUE 178

MAKING MIXTAPES MATTER Mixtapes have a long history in hip-hop and R&B – and now they are being used to punctuate or embellish a wider campaign. Increasingly the lines between what is a “mix” and what is ew things in the modern music business are as confusingly named as the mixtape: an album are blurring – but this allows artists the freedom to experiment and collaborate more F they’re not tapes, for a start, and most of without a mixtape being dissected like an album proper. We look at the ways they can work them aren’t actually mixed. In fact, defining what mixtapes are in 2017 is probably harder best, how they should connect with fans, just how liberating they can be (for artist and to pinpoint than what they aren’t. marketing team) and why they don’t always have to be given away for free. But let’s try: mixtapes are a group of songs, typically from a rapper or R&B act, that are intended as a coherent piece of work but which exist without the weight of expectation of “an album”, allowing the artist to experiment, bring in outside collaborators and – if the mixtape is free – sample with less of an eye towards lawyers’ fees. Mixtapes are stopgaps, filling the space between album releases, or used to introduce an artist to the world, and they are predominantly digital releases. And, while they used to be largely free, nowadays mixtapes have been co-opted by the major label system, which means many now come with a price. “Mixtapes are one of the most important elements of this culture,” explained on a Def Jam conference call at the end of 2015 (via greenlabel.com). “That’s where you really build your relationship with your fans with no yellow tape involved. You create your own release date; you decide when you release material. You’re in control of that and, as an artist, I think even labels respect that. ” Mixtapes are also ubiquitous in 2017. A format that used to be a promo tool for MAKING MIXTAPES MATTER up-and-coming rappers and DJs is now used by some of the biggest artists in the world, including , and . made his name with mixtapes, creating history by winning a Grammy for his 2016 mixtape Coloring Book, the first streaming-only ‘album’ to do so. Somewhat inevitably, brands have got in on the action too: on 1st April 2016, General

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Mills’ packaged food brand Hamburger a “traditional”, extended album rollout and attention, without the need for the listener to 3) Modern audiences have a Helper released its own Watch The this means you can think outside the box on give anything in exchange. voracious appetite for music, Stove mixtape on SoundCloud, a jokey if every aspect of your campaign. “ In hip-hop in general, mixtapes which can be exploited surprisingly coherent release whose five Mixtape releases tend to be less tightly are given away for free and, as such, tracks have now racked up more than 13m managed than those for – and less money may be put to them as In the 1960s and 1970s, putting out (at least) an plays, while HBO released the two-volume this can be liberating for marketers, giving they aren’t seeking to earn a direct album a year was standard fare for recording Catch The Throne mixtape in 2014 to them more creative reign, as well as artists, response ,” explains Motive Unknown acts. By the late 1990s and early , promote Game Of Thrones. who can promote their new material founder Darren Hemmings, who has worked however, this had changed, with most major While debate over what constitutes a on social media without having to fret extensively with Run The Jewels . “However, artists averaging an album every three years. mixtape, album or even – thanks to Drake unduly about strict promotional plans and I’ve also seen labels push a mixtape with Audiences, it seemed, were happy with this and – playlist album will undoubtedly continue embargoes. the free download because it simply gets labels were wary of flooding the market. to rage, one thing is certain – the mixtape “Labels are basically packaging these the artist into people’s ears and builds their Mixtapes have helped to change this will only grow in ubiquity. The question, albums as mixtapes mainly because I think profile. In that respect, I’d argue hip-hop thinking once again, with artists like Drake then, is what can music marketers learn it’s easier and quicker to put them out,” has been far, far more savvy in the simple or Future often releasing more than one from the way in which mixtapes are Kyle “KP” Reilly, VP of leading mixtape concept of giving something away for free mixtape a year, in a way that enhances released and promoted? sandbox presents site DatPiff told Billboard. “There’s no real to capture attention and then building rather than damages their commercial its 10 key learnings. stress behind them, you don’t have to live from there.” fortunes. In some cases, artists will even and die by the numbers.” release a free mixtape in the run up to a 1) Sometimes a more paid-album release, something that would relaxed release strategy 2) Understand the value have felt like career suicide a decade ago, but can pay dividends of free as a brand builder today serves to keep their profile high and their stream counts brimming. “Marketing a mixtape is more relaxed,” The music industry has, on the whole, Lil Wayne has particular history of this: explains Hayley Marchant, marketing embraced the value of a free giveaway over in July 2011 he released his Sorry 4 The Wait manager for Island UK, who has worked on the past decade, often offering downloads in mixtape as a way of apologising for the mixtape releases from the likes of Drake. return for email addresses or other data. But delayed release of his Tha Carter IV studio “You are focused on it as a body of work and hip-hop, with its embrace of the mixtape, has album, which eventually came out in August it is more underground.” The upshot of this, long understood how free can work in terms of that year, selling 964,000 copies in the US Marchant adds, is that mixtapes don’t need of simple brand building and getting people’s in its first week.

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In August 2011 Warner-signed rapper Wale released a mixtape through hulkshare. people talk to their friends: ‘Have you heard com titled The Eleven One Eleven Theory, about this new mixtape?’” she says. “You feel which both predated and made reference song, is important, as it ties into the wider short snippet of a new song on their mixtape, part of the artist’s journey and discovery. It to the release date of his second studio marketing trend whereby fans, DSPs and then releasing it in full as a paid download. feels more exciting.” album, Ambition. The mixtape managed media can get behind particular songs Lily Allen used this tactic early on in her Indeed, the spontaneity of a mixtape – to crash the Hulkshare servers – not bad irrespective of whether the label considers career, releasing two free mixtapes which many are released with little or no warning, publicity in itself – recording an estimated them a “single” or not. showcased snippets of her songs (including even in the major label system – can also 1.2m downloads in just three days. Ambition Mixtapes, true, often have what might as-then-unreleased tracks) alongside some help to create excitement, compared to would later sell 164,000 copies in the US in be considered a lead track, which the label of her favourite music, a move that not only the typical months-long tease of an album its first week of release to debut at #2 on the will promote with a video. But this “single” got her music into the ears of hundreds of release. This can be difficult for marketers, Billboard chart. can sometimes come about months after a thousands of listeners but also positioned who find a major new release dropped into Wale told Billboard that the mixtape mixtape has been made available, on her as a leftfield, urban-leaning pop act their laps with little in the way of notice. was “like a never-ending commercial” and the back of public support for the song. whose music could fit in alongside that of But they can also tap into the spontaneous returned to this tactic earlier this year, Mixtapes allow labels to test the Dizzee Rascal and Jay Z. (Admittedly, it also excitement around a release. Spontaneity releasing his Before I Shine mixtape for free market, in other words, with the proved problematic when Allen later spoke can also play into one-off seasonal releases, this March, in the run up to the release of his fans serving as both A&R tool and out about piracy.) such as Chance the Rapper and ’s fifth studio album, Shine. At time of writing, unpaid publicists. Such was the case surprise Christmas mixtape Merry Christmas Before I Shine is the #1 release on DatPif , with Future’s March Madness, a track 6) A spontaneous release Lil Mama , released on SoundCloud on 22nd with 269,000 listens in just over a month and initially released on his mixtape in can create excitement… December 2016 with nothing in the way of more than 80,000 downloads, underlining March 2015, then commercially released as a advance publicity. Wale’s underground credentials ahead of the single five months later, selling over 500,000 Perhaps the key difference between a release of his studio album. digital copies in the US. mixtape and traditional album is one of 7) … although “cool” is a perception, Mixtapes, with their background double-edged sword 4) The audience knows best 5) Teasing can be fun in hip-hop and DJ culture, are perceived as something newer and probably more The hip-hop history that makes mixtapes so The idea of mixtapes as a body of work, Artists and labels can use mixtapes to tease fashionable than the poor old album, as exciting can also be a double-edged sword, where there is less focus on one particular new material by, for example, offering a Marchant explains. “If you think about how with the hip-hop community understandably

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But Future’s mixtape, released in January 2016, some three years after he signed with Epic, was launched on LiveMixtapes and DatPiff, a decision that makes sense if you consider Future’s history of free mixtape releases and DatPiff’s 15m users, 1.7m likes on and 512,000 followers on . What’s more, has credited DatPiff with helping to restart his career after leaving Warner Bros. in 2009. In August that year, he released a joint mixtape with Curren$y on the platform, entitled How Fly , which proved an instant hit, passing 900,000 downloads and exposing him to a new fan base. There are various ways for rappers to 9) People will pay for a sensitive about major labels and brands mixtapes and this means that they have promote their mixtapes on DatPiff, “free” product if packaged co-opting their culture; or, as hip-hop site to be on the right platforms, typically social including paying for the mixtape to be the right way Greenlabel put it rather succinctly last year, media and mixtapes sites like DatPiff, featured on the site’s home page, and “HEY, RAPPERS, LEAVE MIXTAPES OUT LiveMixtapes , AudioMack , Spinrilla sponsoring the mixtape, so that anyone can It seems to defy all capitalist logic that people OF YOUR MARKETING SCHEMES IN 2016, and Hot New Hip-Hop. This may limit the download it without paying. But the will pay for something when they could just PLEASE.” amount of money you can make from most important part of releasing get it for free. But mixtapes have shown that Perhaps understandably, marketing a mixtape: you typically can’t charge for a mixtape to these sites is simply this is possible. budgets for mixtapes tend to be rather mixtapes on these platforms, which means being there, showing off your Drake was a pioneer in this: his mixtape smaller than for traditional album releases. you won’t find If You’re Reading This It’s Too mixtape where the mixtape So Far Gone, released in February 2009, But this can also be a positive for the Late available for free download. audience goes. was re-released as the So Far Gone EP creative marketer. “You can’t be too heavy on the marketing because the mixtape is a discovery tool,” says Marchant. “You want the marketing to be more underground. For example, you might do traditional posters, you don’t want to be shoving it in people’s faces. You don’t want to over- market it. Maybe you try to do a show. You have a live element, some flyers, something really underground.”

8) Word of mouth means being where your audience is

Word of mouth is hugely important for

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Wesley A’Harrah, music:)ally’s head of training and development, on capturing the feel of a mixtape...

in August of that year, featuring five tracks 10) Mixtapes aren’t just bargain price, be considered a precursor to from the original mixtape and two bonus the mixtape craze? songs. It debuted at #6 on the , for rappers and R&B acts The point here is that, while indie with first-week sales of 73,000 copies, going It is undoubtedly true that that the bands and pop acts may shy away on to sell around 785,000 copies in the US. overwhelming majority of mixtapes have from producing something so When we think of a mixtape, we don’t usually think of the Trilogy, meanwhile, was a compilation come from the worlds of rap and R&B. But rooted in the world of rap as a most complex production going into the tracks. We think of of tracks from ’s three free this may be more of a linguistic distinction mixtape, the spontaneity, freedom a raw, basic mix underlying the music, particularly with hip- mixtapes (, Thursday and than a musical one. DJs and and relaxed musical attitudes that hop releases. Echoes Of Silence), remastered and remixed, producers typically release online mixes as mixtapes offer will cross over to A few artists have really captured this intimate feeling with with three new songs added. It was released a promotional move, which serve the same other genres of music. the final production of some of their albums — the foremost, in as a paid album in November 2012, debuting function as mixtapes (even if they tend to The polished, finished product of the my mind, being Drake with Views (pictured above). Several of at #4 on the Billboard 200 by reaching out focus less on the artist’s own productions), album is not, by any means, dead and the tracks have a stripped-down, almost demo-like feeling that to consumers beyond the early adopter, while Lily Allen showed that mixtapes can listeners will continue to seek out such makes them ideal for everything from background music to mixtape market. work for pop acts. definitive statements. But there is also remixing, and it can be considered an incredible marketing tactic The lesson from this is that people will To go slightly further: what was Gorillaz’s appetite for other forms of musical release, to release a whole host of tracks in such a way. The Fall pay for something previously available – a low-key release initially be it hastily recorded mixtapes, remixes, Capturing the feel of a mixtape across a 20-track album for free – but you have to create the right offered as a free download on the Gorillaz’s demos or even playlists. Your act may never was a smart move by Drake; not only as a nod to the product, offering something that varies in website for members of the band’s Sub- release a mixtape, as such. But the lessons underground culture that sustains his credibility, but also from the original free release Division fan club – other than a mixtape? learned from mixtape releases can apply as a way to enhance his sustained ‘playlistability’ and also in terms of format (for example, creating a Or how about ’s 2003 demo to other genres of music so long as the potential for embeds in UGC. well-packaged physical release) and extras album, Democrazy? Could PJ Harvey’s 1993 marketing, placement and overall strategy (new tracks, remastered quality). album, 4-Track Demos , released at a are inviting. :)

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Gorillaz launching a dedicated app as one of the first pieces of marketing ahead of their album at the end of April could for its marketing buck) when be met with wave upon wave of BBC Radio 1 DJ and host cynicism. But the fact the “band” MistaJam interviewed Murdoch have always been equally split and 2D from the band “live” between the musical side (Damon on YouTube on 20th April. It Albarn) and the visual side (Jamie ran for half an hour and fans In the wake of the iPhone (and subsequent rise of Hewlett) is a pretty solid guarantee that whatever could submit questions to be Android as a massive OS) a decade ago, there was they do is not going to be rote and will instead be answered during the broadcast. thundering hype around artist apps and how they fizzing with ideas, innovation and (crucially) fun. It was a high-wire act given the would kill websites as the primary platform for fan It is described as an “immersive mixed-reality animation demands, but was engagement. experience that lets you step into the band’s pulled off with aplomb. house” that mixes AR (think Pokémon Go), VR , is that it was sponsored by Deutsche Finally, (so far), there’s the band’s further jump There were the interesting and arty (Björk’s and geolocation to allow pre-release listening Telekom through its Electronic Beats initiative. into the real world (sort of), with the opening of Bilophilia is – rightly – still the go-to example) and parties in 500 locations around the world (with The branding is subtle, with a little logo appearing Spirit Houses (real-world replications of the house the lumbering white elephants (the Sting 25 app in prizes on offer for photos shared with the only in the app’s opening section and thereafter it’s in the ‘’ video) that will have short 2011 apparently cost an inexplicable $1m). #HUMANZHOUSEPARTY hashtag). You can snoop not seen at all. It would have been a risk to have residencies in Brooklyn, Berlin and Amsterdam. It Even the budget options – as offered by around where they live, tapping on the screen sponsor messages popping up all the way through is in partnership with Sonos and entry is free, but the likes of Mobile Roadie, despite the ringing for shortcuts into the members’ rooms and, once the app – but here the “less is more” approach fans had to apply for spaces online. A meshing of endorsement of – seemed to be there, click through to bespoke Spotify playlists for pays off. Plus, it feeds into other parts of the the real and virtual. stuck at a certain adoption level, their wheels each one. campaigns, so that Deutsche Telekom is a constant We will run a Behind The Campaign focus in the spinning in the dirt. A lot of this was down to It is, naturally, beautifully designed and and subtle presence through the campaign’s coming weeks on the Gorillaz campaign where the social media, not apps, becoming the place straddles the divide between funny/cute and dank unfolding, rather than a noisy branding irritant. team behind it will explain why they did what they where artists and fans met. horror. Plus, the win for the band and their label, Electronic Beats was back again (getting bang did and the impact it all had.

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Amazon paid $970m to acquire back in 2014) to play FIFA 17 against two of Twitch’s biggest gaming stars. There was, of course, the obligatory Q&A with fans as well. So far, so average (, for example, used Twitch as part of their build up to the launch of The Day Is My Enemy in 2015). But in this case the band also played Joe Goddard from Hot Chip is clearly keen a show at The Forum in North that on side projects. Apart from his day job, he’s was streamed live on the Twitch platform. also one half of The 2 Bears and ahead of the The whole thing, to complete the circle, was release last week of his second solo album, have to open in Spotify to hear the complete sponsored by Amazon Music. Electric Lines, he created a new website that tracks) are generated as the music plays, with “This event perfectly represents how taps into and remixes Spotify’s API. the option to save the playlist alongside subtle Twitch has expanded beyond being a links to buy the album. Boisterous rave-rockers Kasabian destination solely for live streamed video It’s the next step on from his wonderfully- Speaking to music:)ally about the project, already have the most gloriously ludicrous game content into a broader platform for eclectic Spotify playlist (also called Electric Domino Recordings’ marketing manager album cover of 2017 – and For Crying Out other industries, such as music and sports, Lines) that he started sharing earlier this year Brooke Salisbury and digital design lead Bjorn Loud is not even out until May. (Seriously, to connect with fans,” said Jason Fletcher, to give people a better understanding of the Floki Bjornsson explained the concept behind it gaze at it in startled wonder.) Ahead of that Twitch’s EMEA director of marketing, in a range of music that fed into this solo album. all. “We’ve always wanted to build something album release, they have gone on Twitch statement. The website blends the tracks with an original using the API platform when the right to play a football video game, ticking the The band’s football credentials should not audio commentary from Goddard himself. It idea came along, and Joe has been crafting a important lad-rock boxes. be doubted. They are hugely vocal supports includes music from Hot Chip and The 2 Bears few of his own playlists on Spotify since 2014,” of Leicester FC, their home team, and even as well as Caribou, Slum Village and Massive they said. “He had a strong influences playlist They are, admittedly, enormously aware of played a one-off gig at the team’s ground Attack, with short linking audio excerpts which he was regularly updating, so working their own occasional ridiculousness and, as last May when they were heading towards (generally around 30 seconds) where Goddard with him to bring the stories behind the playlist such, it’s hard not to warm to them. They surprise promotion to the . talks about how he made the music (if it’s his, to life was the idea we’d been waiting for.” went to the London offices of Twitch (which The Twitch partnership was on the same day including talking about the samples he used) It’s common for acts to create playlists as Leicester played Atlético Madrid at home. or why he likes it (if it’s someone else’s music). to promote their own albums but often they “Seems only right to get stuck in on FIFA It is basically just a “radio-style” playlist seem rushed or limp – with the musty tang of ahead of the Leicester game,” said Serge where he showcases music and gives it all a contractual obligation about them. Building Pizzorno, the band’s guitarist and main context. It also contains the album’s title track a playlist is one thing, but as Goddard shows . “Hopefully, we can make life (which features Hot Chip singer Alexis Taylor), here, if it’s a) good and b) actually offers proper imitate art for a win in the Champions League sitting as a teaser for the album. When played context, it’s automatically elevated high above too.” A perfect storm of cartoon rock and from his own site, graphics for each track the dross that often passes for playlists. Other terrace chants. (albeit truncated versions of the tracks – you artists – take note and up your game.

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Photo: Ben Knight BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNED SHEERAN

÷, Ed Sheeran’s third album, had a low-key launch, happy to exist in the far margins and leave the charts untroubled. Of course it didn’t. It’s already the biggest album of the year and unlikely to be overtaken by anyone else. Its success was immediate, as was its ubiquity – with all 16 tracks immediately taking over the UK top 20 singles chart. MARK MITCHELL, GM at Atlantic Records UK, and NICK LONG, How a pantone square announced his head of digital for Atlantic, talk us return and set the internet on fire through the first phase of the campaign MM: We came to the end of the (it’s planned to run for 24 months, so we X campaign around Christmas 2015. That will do a follow-up later in the year), the was an 18-month campaign. impact of “Edageddon” on the charts, why the whole album was uploaded NL: Ed tweeted on 12th December 2015 to YouTube on release, the precarious at 6.29am UK time. It wasn’t particularly future of promo videos and how they symbolic, but then when we were discussing [his comeback] we felt we managed to get his music on a Snapchat needed to mark that date in some way. We filter for free. knew we were coming back and it felt like that was a nice way to change everything at that point and do it exactly on the minute – 6.29am on 12th December 2016. Coming back at that point, we liked that we weren’t putting anything out bar a blue square [the same colour as the album sleeve] – but we were doing it at a significant time, which created a lot of conversation. Fans picked up on the symbolism really quickly [as it sat right after the previous tweet a year earlier on his timeline].

MM: I remember coming into the office that morning and Nick saying that people had instantly got it.

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songs being written and recorded to mixes and we did consider it – but you could just being done and we were talking about tell as it was one of those conversations maybe mastering it. where everyone in the room was thinking We probably could have hit Christmas – it would feel so much better starting the and a lot of people thought we were going new year, being really clean, and coming to go for Christmas. [We didn’t go with a straight out of the box. It would give us Christmas release] as we just felt it was more space in the market and more share worth getting it right rather than rushing of voice in the media. it out for Christmas and being in that Christmas melee. NL: It also gave him the opportunity to own We were very aware that he had been this year. He started it off in the right way away for a year and there was going to be a and set a great tone for it. hardcore fanbase who would obsess about blue squares; but in comparison to what the MM: There was a realisation that with every actual market is for the record, that’s a very previous Ed campaign, we gave out all the small amount of people. It might look a lot information. So we’d say that on X date NL: The fans liked it as it was obviously artist has to be always on. We put up that when they are all posting on , but there would be Y single and it is available on thought out and there was some blue square and people were going, “It’s worldwide it’s a small amount of people in Z platforms. symbolism to it. Considering how well an album for Christmas! Definitely! I’m comparison to where we had the ambition If you look at this campaign, it travelled showed that people knew calling it now!” Fans went off on tangents, for the record. there is none of that. We knew we that it meant something – but it was just convinced they knew what it was. With We could have gone for Christmas – were going to come back with two a blue square [at this point]. that always-on culture, if you can attach some significance and assert yourself for MM: We are always conscious of people an artist on the scale of Ed, it creates that getting bored. People need a gap [between conversation – that has still been going on albums], especially with an artist of the while you were away but you then come scale – maybe not so much then, but back into it. As long as your entry certainly now – of Ed. It was Ed’s choice to back into that conversation is come off social media and have a break. right, then it does generate a lot of Obviously coming back, we were unsure conversation and people feel like exactly how much excitement a blue square they missed the act and are glad of a specific pantone number would create. they are back. “Ed Sheeran is back to You have to remember this is slap bang save 2016!” was a classic tweet that we in the middle of the run up to Christmas. saw. And literally all we did was put a blue There is a lot of noise and everyone is vying pantone up. for attention. Just about every major artist in the world is on X Factor or in the UK doing Avoiding the Christmas rush and promo and we just popped up with a little understanding the fan echo chamber blue square. MM: The album was pretty much getting finished, and we could see a final date NL: As regards an always-on culture, it probably back in June. That’s when it started doesn’t necessarily always mean that the to get very busy and went from all the

10 | sandbox | ISSUE 178 | 26.04.17 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNED SHEERAN tracks but we purposely wanted to keep the timeframe. A UK single might last eight that secret. weeks but a US single might last three or four months [at radio]. Choosing to lead with two singles What is happening with the advent of MM: The double-A side single [‘Castle On streaming holding tracks and slowing their The Hill’ and ‘’] came from the rate of fall is that radio are staying on tracks fact that we wanted to do something out much, much longer. In actual fact, in the UK, of the ordinary and something a bit more you can probably stretch a year in between exciting. The record itself is very diverse. It three singles. Two years ago, you’d be on was a mix of genres and we wanted to put five singles in the year. We did think about that out there and show everyone that it it and that we might be giving a lot away was very different. Ed really loved ‘Castle early doors before the album was even out. On The Hill’ and we really loved ‘Shape Of But knowing that if we got this right the You’; so it was a really simple conversation future singles would last at least three or where we decided to do both of them at four months – like in the US – so then that the same time. was OK.

NL: The two tracks, on launch, got NL: In the original conversation, we knew the same level of prominence. It something we were really excited about; but people had the choice, they’d take both that the album was going to come in March was always going to be the case as long as we had one of them at #1, that [songs]. and so we’d have a set-up single in January. that one would naturally move would be OK. One single into the album was a short slightly quicker than the other The traffic and other releases around NL: Initially there was some trepidation on window, but we knew we had to create a and it was probably the case that that time weren’t particularly high. We took our side about how it was going to land and lot of attention and a lot of noise around ‘Shape Of You’ was a slightly more , another of our acts, off #1 – so how radio was going to look at it. Actually, it to give it that scale. So with the two urgent record initially. Our whole we had clear vision of what that was doing. everyone bought into it and thought that it singles, that was the conversation. Those thing when we were gearing up for it We knew what the competition was. We was quite exciting. Because they told a bit of two singles gave us such a super-charge of was that it was a double-A side and they thought that if both tracks could do around the story of the record, people bought into excitement that carried us through to the were two songs that Radio 1 was going 100,000 then we’d have a good chance the whole concept and [radio] decided to album. Once your album is out, the single to play equally and Capital was going to of getting #1 and #2. We did 227,000 and play both as they thought both were great game is a very different prospect to your play equally. 193,000 sales of them [sales and streams records. For everyone – from Spotify to singles going into the album [release]. Once combined in the UK]. In terms of streaming, Radio 1 – it made complete sense. everything is out there [on the album], it is MM: We presented both tracks at the same ‘Shape Of You’ was higher than ‘Castle about us finding ways to refocus people on time to everybody – with the strong request On The Hill’ – but not by that much in the The balancing act of getting content out specific tracks. that they didn’t tell anyone there were two opening days in the UK. early but having enough in reserve to coming. We very much said this was not an If you were a streaming consumer and sustain the campaign for two years Questioning the value A side and a B side – and that both tracks you had any interest in Ed Sheeran, you’re MM: It was a concern. However, part of and power of promo videos very much stood in their own right. They not going to listen to just one of the songs. my role here is to oversee all the American MM: The difference now is that if you go were so different in styles that everyone You’re going to check both of them out. It repertoire coming into the UK. Obviously to Spotify, unless you rate what is on the got their heads around it pretty quickly. became apparent that, in those opening when you have got an American act and a Spotify chart where the ones on the top are Everyone quite liked the excitement of it. days, if ‘Shape Of You’ got more playlist UK act of a certain scale, a couple of years clearly singles, there’s no difference. There We were reasonably confident in having additions than ‘’, that ago – or even a year ago – you’d need two is a lyric video for ‘Galway Girl’ [as of April a #1. The concept of having #1 and #2 was would take ‘Shape Of You’ higher. But when UK singles for every US single. That’s due to 2017]. There is a full video for it coming,

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For all the tracks on the album, we put now. But we weren’t necessarily directing them up on YouTube as well and made people to one particular place. It’s a case of avatar versions. When we put ‘Shape Of the music being out everywhere – and that You’ and ‘Castle On The Hill’ up, we had lyric was the message. videos for both and the numbers on those videos were bigger than any ‘proper’ Ed MM: We were very conscious that we Sheeran video on the last campaign. To an wanted the conversation to be about extent, the lyric videos did their own thing. the music and hopefully the scale [of its streaming success] as opposed to, Putting all tracks from the album on “The Ed Sheeran album’s out and it’s YouTube on the day of release not on YouTube!” You look back to the MM: It is trite to say, but while some will Adele album not being on Spotify and argue that the music industry might hate people getting worked up about that. YouTube , the music industry does like its Understandably so. In our world, that’s big fans. If it [the album] wasn’t on YouTube, news. We all want to talk about that. The there would be a huge community of fans consumers want it and they want it where saying they couldn’t get the album. Our they go [for music online]. If it’s not there, but we are having a lot of conversations happy; but I don’t know, if we boil feeling at Warner is that music should be they will go somewhere else. We didn’t about videos and what they achieve. For a it down to hard commercial terms, available everywhere. If you don’t make it want to turn a huge release from a great developing artist, a video is storytelling and what that actually gives us. available, you are encouraging people to go artist into some sort of music industry introducing people to the artist so they see Likewise, with ‘Castle On The Hill’ and elsewhere and make their own decisions – politics [issue]. their look and get a feel for them. Arguably, ‘Shape Of You’, we had a lot of discussion which may or may not always be the right for Ed Sheeran, I don’t know if you need about if we should release the videos for decision. Understanding how pre-orders to do that. They know who he is and they the tracks at the same time as the audio. and anticipation can parlay into know the track as they are streaming it in We realised we had almost three months to NL: It is one of those platforms where you chart domination their millions. So what actual part does an get from the single releases to the album. If know everyone can listen to a track. You MM: On Multiply, as iTunes downloads were Ed video play? We are asking ourselves this we had released two tracks and two tracks may share it with your friend on YouTube a much bigger part of the market at that a lot. on audio [on video sites] and the videos, we on the Friday that it comes out, but on the point, we realised that by the machinations is a good artist to look at here. would have been sitting around twiddling Saturday you might go and listen to it on of the iTunes track charts, every time we I would say that part of why that is valuable our thumbs and waiting for the album. Spotify purely because of the nature of how released an instant grat, we could jump for Katy Perry – doing a video in the UK – is So that stretches it out a . Then the interconnected world works. You might that track into the top 10 of the iTunes because she’s not going to be in the UK the videos do have a clear point. They are know your friend doesn’t have Spotify but track chart. In the week leading up to the much. She played The Brits [but that’s it]. flagpoles where fans go, “Oh my God – the know they can watch it on YouTube, so that release of Multiply, every day we released There need to be some assets that each video is out!” and get excited. People talk created its own social buzz. a new instant grat because by that point international territory has which they can about that, then it goes quiet and then they your volume of pre-orders meant that put on TV or out on different services. move on to the album. MM: YouTube is often a jumping off point every time we released an instant grat, that The video for ‘Galway Girl’, as well as Videos are playing quite a different role for other areas. It easier to sit around the track would just jump into the top 10. The being a vehicle to tell a story and bring a now. Five or six years ago, they used to house and just play tracks off YouTube than week before the album came out, we took slightly different light to that track, is part of really impact on a song and give it a real it is on Spotify [for some people]. over the singles chart. It was lovely green the international story. In the UK, what commercial sense of life. I am not sure squares with black crosses in the chart. will the video for ‘Galway Girl’ do? that’s the case anymore – it’s about a media NL: We put it up [on YouTube] and our Visually, it was fantastic. It will make Ed Sheeran fans very buzz and getting the fans talking. messaging was that the album was out We had set a precedent with that and

12 | sandbox | ISSUE 178 | 26.04.17 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNED SHEERAN the volume of pre-orders alone created normal thing that, if you get the momentum MM: We were very conscious that excitement around that week. You couldn’t and the excitement right, that can launch his world tour was starting two go to iTunes and ignore it. It was exciting. a huge amount of tracks into streaming weeks after the album came out We were very aware of that; however, we service [charts]. and we’d lose him. He can do some were also aware [on this album] that we promo on tour, but generally he’s in had already given away two tracks and we Sustaining velocity tour mode. He is an incredibly hard weren’t going to give away another six or MM: Think about Multiply – with ‘Thinking worker and he always wants to do seven more. Out Loud’, which we knew was going to more – not in a greedy way; he just By this point, there were two things we be a future big single and that we had wants to do whatever he can. He had realised. One was that we had done earmarked from the start, by the time we was very much, “Work me to the an instant grat of ‘How Would You Feel’ on focused radio on that track it had done bone when you’ve got me.” 17th February – that was a more ballad-y 280,000 sales already. Now it is so much track. We realised that the amount of more apparent as everyone is staring at the streams we were getting from these tracks Spotify chart and those numbers are now and what it meant for the singles chart, in the tens and hundreds of millions – if when the album actually came out – or if we not billions. Yes, people are migrating from released a bunch of tracks before the album other formats to streaming, but you always – they all would just rocket into the top 10. have that issue of future singles always That got us thinking about what was being available. actually going to be more powerful in terms I can’t say I am absolutely not concerned. of excitement levels. Was it going to be to I can see that this year we will have ‘Galway have some of the tracks, maybe four or five, Girl’ and a future single into Christmas. Next in the top 10 in the week before the album year, it might become more of an issue. came out? Or, when the album comes out, a lot of the tracks in the top 20? Obviously, NL: The approach we have taken in we went for the second choice. We kept our marketing the Ed campaign has been about powder dry. We had released three tracks finding a way to keep telling the story and by that point and there was a feeling that finding significant moments. Even with Getting a Snapchat lens and asking there was enough out there. There was ‘How Would You Feel’ and releasing it on Shazam to block certain information enough chatter and enough buzz to wait his birthday, that felt like the right thing to NL: ‘Shape Of You’ was in the lens. We until the album came out and we would see do and we knew it would create the buzz realised quickly that previously the way what happened. All 16 tracks were in the it could have a negative effect on Clean around that song. That is what we need to we had run Ed Sheeran campaigns was top 20 and everyone lost their shit! Bandit and Anne-Marie – our own acts that find for the future singles. Really focusing transparency and making sure the fans It wasn’t a plan to own the top 20, but we we obviously wanted in the top 10 – but people’s attention on the story around him knew what we were doing. We flipped it realised that if we did over 400,000 streams they got struck away by “Edageddon” or – and finding a way to do that that feels on this one. We knew we were going with a day on any of the album tracks it was whatever people were calling it. What we “him”, which is a corny way to put it. two singles, but we didn’t want to reveal probably going to put it ahead of any track, didn’t know was how long those tracks That is always in the discussions and too much. We found that created a huge other than those by Ed, that was in the top would stay around for. it’s a real partnership between us and his amount of conversation – more so than just 10. Those were the magic numbers. managers. It was such a juggernaut [at saying when the songs were coming out. We realised that this could have a NL: As we saw with the record and release] but that doesn’t mean it’s going to We had been talking to Snapchat for a negative effect in some areas. It was great the tracks jumping into the Spotify 50, you hurt us later as there are still a lot of stories while about doing something with Ed. It for Ed and, if I am honest, we were worried started to realise this was becoming a very around the album. fitted really nicely that we were doing this

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bleed out into a traditional TV advertising They could see that it was an authentic and audience or a traditional radio audience. exciting experience for their users. It was very clearly contained, but for that audience it was a huge thing. Headlining Glastonbury and the world tour We didn’t say anything about it and MM: Our next focus is around the UK tour. that was the point at which, going back to In the lead up to Glastonbury, he is in the UK that always-on idea, we realised that if we for a bit, so there will be a bunch of TV and inserted ourselves at the right point in the radio stuff. right conversation, [it would work]. The track name wasn’t out there and we worked with NL: That is going to be a moment we can Shazam to make sure we were blocking jump off from. We are very conscious about the tracks. You could Shazam the track consistently pumping Ed Sheeran into but it took you to a page that said it was people’s faces. It’s allowing us to have a bit Ed Sheeran but the track title was listed of breathing space. as “???”. We knew what was happening and we knew there was the potential that MM: For the majority of people watching a Snapchat lens would create a Shazam Glastonbury who will not have seen him live spike. But we wanted to keep the mystery before, the one thing that everybody says is, and we worked with Snapchat to say that “There’s no band. It’s just one person.” He has slightly mysterious campaign and we could we didn’t want to PR this and if anyone his pedal board and they see how he builds put 30 seconds of music on a lens and push came to them and asked [they would say up the rhythm by tapping the guitar. The live it out globally, but we didn’t have to say nothing]. performance is very different to the recorded THROWING OUT anything. performance. He has to build up the backing I remember having these conversations MM: Ed didn’t tweet about it. He didn’t track before getting into the song. THE RULE BOOK internally where people were saying that no announce anything. Plus, we didn’t pay That is probably the element of surprise. one was going to know it was him. A specific anything for it. It can cost $500,000 a day in My thoughts are that all Glastonbury can do conversation between us and Snapchat the US to do a lens. is present him as a musician. You can’t help, was that they were very clear that we didn’t when watching that, being impressed by want it to be a pure marketing thing. They NL: It was a partnership. We were talking the fact that he is doing all that on his own. loved the Easter egg and surprise idea of it. to them from November [2016]. We knew That is something we can work with. :) Ben Cook, president, Within a minute of it going live, someone the album was coming and we were having Atlantic Records UK had twigged it was the new Ed Sheeran a conversation with Snapchat as he is a The ÷ campaign is devised from really song on Snapchat. It just went crazy in heavy Snapchat user. They love him and we simple principals – keep the relationship terms of the conversation outside of that were talking about different ways we could WANT TO FEATURE IN with Ed’s fans as pure as possible, but within that audience and young fanbase. do something together. It quickly became BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN? create a tsunami of excitement for an One of the wonderful things about it was apparent that we could create a scenario that Marketing people: do you have a campaign you are working incredible record. It required us as a also that it was essentially what fans were was incredibly exciting on both sides and on that you would like to see featured in Behind The Campaign label to innovate totally and break new doing. They would record the lens and send couldn’t be seen as just a marketing stunt. in a future edition of sandbox? If so, send a brief synopsis of ground. I’m looking forward to it to their friends on Snapchat. That was the It was about finding a way to do this in an it to Eamonn Forde for consideration and your work (and your Ed continuing to throw out the rule conversation. It was almost like they were exciting Easter egg-type way – that generates words) could appear here. book throughout this campaign. able to premiere the song for their friends. excitement for everyone involved. We were Email: [email protected] We knew that that wouldn’t necessarily fortunate to be able to partner up in that way.

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