TGE 2014: Email remains the best marketing tool for songwriters and artists when trying to promote their music, a Great Escape panel has said.
The comments came out of the PRS for Music’s Making money from music: early revenues panel at this year’s Great Escape conference in Brighton.
Panellists including Julia Payne from the hub, Glenn Cooper from Island Records, First Column Management’s Phil Nelson and state51’s Rob Woodland all agreed that email is still the best for artists to interact with fans despite the prominence of new platforms.
Glenn said: ‘Every email address you have is worth more than five pounds. With all social media platforms, you’re lucky if you reach 20 percent of your audience.
‘You need to convert followers and likes into email addresses in a database. That should be the foundation of everything you do.’
Julia added: ‘In terms of converting comms to sales, email works the best as you can segment it, reach different parts of your audience as well as find out more about them. Email is key.’
She added that while many music industry advisors suggest that DIY is the way to go, DYO or Do it ourselves is more appropriate as new artists should look to build a team around them.
‘It’s really hard to do it all and it’s amazing what you can do just by asking people. Some are as excited about building a database as you are about going on stage and playing live.’
The panel, which was chaired by PRS for Music’s Andy Ellis, also discussed the best ways to source funding including the benefits of PRS for Music Foundation’s Momentum Music Fund and crowdsourcing.
Read more from this year’s Great Escape festival on how to get gigs and the best ways to build a fan base.
The comments came out of the PRS for Music’s Making money from music: early revenues panel at this year’s Great Escape conference in Brighton.
Panellists including Julia Payne from the hub, Glenn Cooper from Island Records, First Column Management’s Phil Nelson and state51’s Rob Woodland all agreed that email is still the best for artists to interact with fans despite the prominence of new platforms.
Glenn said: ‘Every email address you have is worth more than five pounds. With all social media platforms, you’re lucky if you reach 20 percent of your audience.
‘You need to convert followers and likes into email addresses in a database. That should be the foundation of everything you do.’
Julia added: ‘In terms of converting comms to sales, email works the best as you can segment it, reach different parts of your audience as well as find out more about them. Email is key.’
She added that while many music industry advisors suggest that DIY is the way to go, DYO or Do it ourselves is more appropriate as new artists should look to build a team around them.
‘It’s really hard to do it all and it’s amazing what you can do just by asking people. Some are as excited about building a database as you are about going on stage and playing live.’
The panel, which was chaired by PRS for Music’s Andy Ellis, also discussed the best ways to source funding including the benefits of PRS for Music Foundation’s Momentum Music Fund and crowdsourcing.
Read more from this year’s Great Escape festival on how to get gigs and the best ways to build a fan base.
