"When I first hear a song, it doesn't matter if it was released today, one year ago or 10 years ago. It's new to me, the moment I first hear it, and that's the same for your fans."
Our guest on today’s episode is Mike Warner, founder of Work Hard Playlist Hard – The DIY playlist guide for Artists and Curators. Mike is also the Head of Editorial Marketing Partnerships for North America at Believe, the global music distributor. As the go-to authority at the forefront of the digital music world, for all things streaming, we get into it with Mike. Find out how he got started as a DJ in Australia and then eventually made his way to California. How unemployment can lead to some great ideas, opportunities and even a book. Let's find out about the path that led to Mike eventually ending up at Believe USA for his day job, yes he loves a day job. Throughout this episode, Marc brings a bucket of questions to the table. Mike gets more specific about some excellent strategies, timelines and how to approach building a team. He also explains a few unique ways artists can get noticed by the many Digital Service Providers (DSP) out there.
The biggest lessons offered up:
Mike spoke to us from California, USA.
Show Notes:
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation
Work Hard Playlist Hard – The DIY playlist guide for Artists and Curators
00:10 - Byta.com
02:20 - I grew up in Australia
03:39 - All I wanted to be was a DJ
06:10 - I moved to the USA and could not work so researched streaming services
08:40 -Pay a fee & get on a streaming platform: DistroKidt, CD Baby, TuneCore
09:00 - Other platforms provide services on top of that- The Orchard Ingrooves and Believe
11:55 - The band Date Night
13:00 - Writing the book: Work Hard Playlist Hard
20:18 - Fill in the forms and pitch your music to the DSPs
27:52 - What is an editorial playlist
29:07 - Spotify only allow you to pitch one track at a time
30:18 - Amazon Music: Pitch your music everywhere
32:00 - Pandora, only in the US, but a lot of listeners and great artist support
36:15 - Tidal for artists, “Rising Artists”
40:23 - Make a plan, talk up your music
43:31 - 8 Weeks before release, stick to a schedule
47:05 - Don't be disheartened, people take longer to discover new music today
49:30 - Its new the first time you hear it
51:56 - Finding your team- ask lots of questions.
56:00 - How I got on the Starbucks playlist
59:00 - Reach out on LinkedIn
59:30 - Creating your own playlists and exchanging music with other curators
1:03:20 - Working with labels and distributors
1:04:00 - The New Spotify user interface, Spotify canvas
1:10:00 - What are publishers looking for?
1:12:00 - Byta.com
Music by Fin Productions and Oliver Lyu
Artwork by Jen Pmphrey
Hosted by Marc Brown
Series coordinated by Jamie Ford
Produced and edited by Colin MacKenzie
Music by Fin Productions and Oliver Lyu
