Electronic music has seen an undeniable boom in the last five years, and at the forefront of that growth has been a host of electronic music promoters pushing the genre forward.
With the move into the online realm, are those involved with the electronic scene inherently better positioned to deal with the challenges of modern music promotion?
To answer this, we’ve asked three industry professionals for their thoughts on why electronic promoters are now leading the way – and what’s next for the promotion of the genre in an ever-changing digital marketplace.
- Matt Bonner, Director of Let Them Eat Cake, the boutique New Years Day electronic festival that has seen rapid growth since its inception only a few years ago in 2013.
- Walter Juan, who has long been involved in electronic music promotion, and currently works in electronic music and event publicity with his company I Like The Noise It Makes.
- Gavin Heron, Creative Director of Thick as Thieves, a Melbourne-based touring and events company providing a stage for DJs and producers from around the world.
John Hopkins, the modern headliner
Has Electronic Music Jumped Ahead?
Has electronic promotion hit the front of the pack in recent years and, if so, why?
“The electronic music scene will, by its nature, be aligned with whatever the current technology is,” Matt tells us. “It’s technologically-based music, so our promotion will always follow suit. I think that’s given the scene a real leg-up in terms of online promotion.
“Which isn’t to say there aren’t other scenes that haven’t used online promotion very well, but I think it’s that connection that has lead to the perception – which I believe is true – that the electronic scene is out front in the age of digital promotion.”
Walter agrees that the electronic scene may have been inherently better-positioned to react to the advent of new methods of promotion.
“I might be wrong,” he tells us, “but it feels like 20 years ago artists across the board used to operate on the same base level when it came to promotion – for example, everyone used to hand out flyers, use radio, do print media… there really wasn’t any separation between genres and how they were promoted.
“The rise of electronic music as a major musical force coincided with the rise of a whole new generation who grew up in a digital world, and they were always going to adapt better to the new promotional technologies. Also, it feels like the more old-school way of promoting through print media, radio, flyering etc. has a certain amount of romanticised charm attached to it that the band scene still holds onto.”
Boutique electronic festivals have gone from strength to strength in recent years
Electronic Is The New Punk
Walter points out that, arguably, that romanticised ideal has begun to shift towards that of the ‘bedroom producer’, positioning the electronic genre as the inheritor of a very hefty mantle.
“The whole idea of the loner computer hacktivist sitting by himself in his room is the new romantic notion to strive for. Whether you like it or not, the DIY aesthetic of electronic music really has made it the new punk.”
The current audience demands and business concerns of course also play a large part in the recent success of electronic music promoters.
“It also boils down to a numbers game,” Walter tells us, “and now electronic music is the genre of choice – and big business. The rise of the home studio has definitely added to the popularity of electronic music. A whole host of cheap and easy-to-learn software, like Ableton and Logic Pro, has lead to electronic music becoming more accessible – and also beat off the challenge from other more instrumental-based genres which require expensive instruments. You don’t need a bass, drum or guitar players anymore – all you need is some samples, a DAW, and time.
“This upswell in popularity has lead to more people actively seeking out events to go to. The interest is such that electronic music promoters need only do a comparatively limited amount of promotion to spread the word. Especially in Australia, it seems like all you need now is a presence on FB to spread the word. Everyone is already on FB, it just makes sense.
Digital Music, Digital Promotion
Having a grasp on technology and software can certainly help when it comes to navigating the ever-changing world of digital advertising, and this may have been a factor in the continued success of many electronic music promoters.
“Each year, there are new people in the marketplace offering all sorts of third-party products,” Matt explains, “saying, ‘If you let me do your advertising I’ll get it to more people, because I’ve got access to software and technology that you don’t.’ You need to be able to work out what’s value for money, and who’s doing something you could be doing yourself and charging you for it.”
“By the nature of the scene, we should have a better grasp on that. I’m not really sure if we do or not, and I’m sure there are some guns in other scenes (I know a few of them), but I think by the nature of the scene, we should.”
“Technology has allowed music promotion to close the gap between awareness and purchase,” Gavin adds, highlighting the importance of being digitally savvy.
“Today with the right tools, we can literally sell tickets within three taps from seeing a promo flyer. That’s a lot less friction than the old days where punters would see an ad in beat magazine, then have to remember to buy tickets when they’re at work the next day.”
Promotion hasn’t shifted entirely online, of course, and there’s still room for the old ways – but also a pressing need to move forward.
“There’s still some non-digital promotion happening out there,” Matt says, “there are still posters on walls, still magazines out there. But as we all know, that share of the advertising marketplace is just getting smaller and smaller, and the feedback is that digital advertising is bringing more gain.
“You’d be a bit worried if you were putting on the most cutting-edge producers and music, and still trying to advertise it with handbills or something!”
It’s not only the producers like Four Tet who are embracing new technology
Thriving In A Flooded Marketplace
Electronic music promotion isn’t without its difficulties though. The immediate pathway that allows a track to move immediately from a producer’s laptop to an audience’s newsfeed presents its own set of challenges, including an increasingly accessible but disengaged audience.
“There’s an absolute promotional overkill that is currently sweeping through the scene,” Walter believes. “You are more likely to delete an event invitation on FB than you are click attend. There are just too much going on – and the festival bubble bursting is a prime example of having reached this saturation point.
He argues that it’s an issue that may affect the electronic scene more than others, due to the particularly rapid pace.
“There aren’t enough promoters doing new and exciting things, and there really is an ADHD-feel to the modern electronic music punter, who dictates that today’s favourite producer is tomorrow’s old news. So you really need to engage with new and exciting ideas to ensure interest.”
Constantly Adapting
Matt agrees that electronic music promotion is becoming an increasingly-crowded marketplace, but argues that the platforms themselves and methods of engagement are just as fickle, leading to challenges in implementing these new ideas.
“Obviously it’s a busy marketplace – there’s a lot going on at the moment – but the other major challenge is that the type and style of advertising is just changing by the day, as are the formats. Facebook, Instagram, and all of these things are just constantly shifting, morphing and changing rules.
“You can plan a launch to be around a really clever competition around a third-party app, and then one day before you launch it, Facebook changes the rules and you can’t use the app. You have to react really quickly, and that sort of stuff is happening all the time. So I think the biggest challenge is staying ahead of the marketplace and staying up on what’s going on.”
“Every year, the game changes. You do something one year and it works really well, and then next year the advertising rules have completely changed.”
“Platforms come and go quickly,” Gavin adds. “When we started it was all about Facebook. Now we’re seeing Instagram as a core platform, and are always experimenting with new developments like Instagram Stories to see how they can work for us.”
The need to constantly adapt is a point on which everyone agrees, with Walter believing that “to ensure survival, promoters will have to become way more clever in how they package their products.”
When it comes to adapting, it seems that electronic promoters are managing to stay ahead of the curve.
