The days of big budget music videos are long gone in the world of music promotions for most worldwide artists, let alone the young, aspiring, bedroom DJ.
2022 has uncovered an entirely new spectrum of promotional ideas which could transform that routine Ableton session into a career behind the decks – a spectrum that Cameron Glasgow studies, perfects and thrives on.
As with most of the world’s growing businesses, a major focus shift toward social media strategy has taken precedent ahead of all other mediums and the electronic music business is no different. The attention of the masses is captured by these social platforms and the Rave Residence Boss knows it all too well.
“With a ton of consumers concentration spans on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and more decreasing at an ever rising pace it is becoming increasingly harder for new music to break through or achieve maximum exposure”, stated Cameron from the outset.
“As video content is becoming the primary way we now consume content, tons of artists and labels are repurposing viral content and actually sourcing content creators to make videos using their tracks dubbed over it.”
Recent years have shown us all that the right track fused with this ‘viral’ effect can set an up and comer up for the ride of their life – look no further than Patrick Topping’s ‘Trick’ label, birthing two new giants in Ewan Mcvicar and Schak in back to back years. The common denominator?
The right track fused with the ‘viral’ effect. As the owner of a nearly 500,000 strong online rave community, the 23 year old couldn’t help but pay attention to this growing trend.
“Over the pandemic l’ve noticed this change [in promotional approach] massively through the growth of my online rave community and music label, Rave Residence which has grown a staggering audience of over 400,000 since 2018 through the use of viral video content such as
rave related memes, UGC [User Generated Content] & more. Through this platform I’ve worked with many international agencies and DJ’s to promote events, music and more, and l’ve certainly seen the shift.”
The Belfast born DJ, label boss and promotor is no stranger to driving artists’ pursuit for greatness in the right direction, notably to date the rise of Melohaus – an Australian techno producer. Cameron’s viral content strategy has helped the Aussie reach 400,000 Spotify streams on his track, ‘Fly Till Die’. However, such great results do not come without a knack for detail and knowing what strategy to deploy.
“Usually an artist or label will approach us with a new track and we would source content from a creator in which would later be distributed to our platform. Due to Spotify’s integration to these platforms it makes it easy for followers to pick up the track and re-use it on their own videos. Cameron’s interest was further peaked by increasing instances of fan-filmed footage, a concept that very much went against the grain of music marketing.
“Another thing I’ve noticed is that events and artists now favour UGC footage as opposed to heavily edited ‘pro’ footage.”
“More times than not, we find folders from clubs and artists that include footage seemingly shot on an iPhone, and I feel this is becoming more and more popular as it makes the consumer feel a lot more ’in the moment’ and connected than the pro videos would. These clips often also receive much more engagement as they appear to be more real”, he revealed.
Identification (ID) pages have become a massive tool for all those involved in the raving sphere, between DJs, dancers, promoters and everyone else in between. Dearly sought after tracks, played at club nights or festivals, are posted with a collective goal of identifying the track for all to enjoy again and again. But this is not the only use for these pages – communities are built from them, talent is promoted through them and the scene grows as one directly because of them – undoubtedly a point of interest for the Northern Irishman.
“This [viral content] approach is becoming more and more used throughout the industry, and artists and labels are paying for ad spaces on these highly followed, niche pages. Once tracks are directly tagged on the page, as a result of hundreds of thousands of views, the artists then receive a conversion to their streams. This saves the hassle of expensive, traditional styles of marketing for the big artists and labels.”
Interest in these pages has boomed in over the last few years, with admins popping up across the world, posting videos of the hottest artists in every genre, usually playing out tracks which are unreleased, under the radar and very much sought after. However, ID spaces possess another superpower in offering a platform for the young rising talent in the scene, exposing them to thousands of eyes who follow the page for the former.
Rick van Santen, owner instagram ID page, @deep.grooves has been in this game around three years now, with his passion for minimal and deep tech being a reason for starting up his community. The recurring themes of promotion of viral tracks and moments combined with
platforming the future of this tight knit scene are elements which are integral to the foundations of Rick’s work, with his nose for finding unknown artists paying off in a big way.
“I quickly found that besides posting videos of the bigger artists and labels, I also wanted to use my reach to give space to new and upcoming artists”, revealed van Santan. “Therefore I started a podcast series on Soundcloud where I have guest mixes from mostly lesser
known artists at the time but some of them are now really starting to make name for themselves. To name a few, we have had Artmann, Job de Jong, Baccus and many more.” Through the service people like Rick bring to the scene, the closer this world-wide community becomes.
“To me, the most beautiful thing about doing what this is the connection I’ve made with likeminded people. I can say i’ve built some true friendships via music with people of which I haven’t met in person yet.’
Cameron has his finger firmly on the pulse of what’s new and what works in the world of music – playing it, making it, promoting it – and his predictions for the future firmly align with the trend’s he has already spotted in today’s climate.
“I do feel as time goes on, artists and labels are having a deep look at their marketing strategy and ever so quickly adopting this new approach to drive plays to their music. It also helps to keep the ‘ads’ non spammy and very organic.
“Platforms like Distrokid have noticed this change and now offer on their own website, a tool in which you can generate memes for your music to share online. We also see labels like Defected Records, and clubs like Ministry Of Sound adopt this viral content approach on their own platforms.”
Cameron’s outlook on the progression of electronic music is inventive, insightful and largely unprecedented. His attitude towards promotion is undoubtedly a fresh take in a modern society.
“People just want to see stuff that is engaging. It’s not the old ways anymore, it’s the new ways.”
Andy Lindsay
Freelance Journalist
