Digital-Music-Report-2014

Avicii photo by Jocob SchulmanAvicii: From club DJ to global superstarAvicii has gone almost overnight frombeing a club DJ in Sweden to a global artistwho plays in the world’s biggest arenas.He worked with his management andrecord company on a world conqueringcampaign fuelled by innovative electronicdance music (EDM) and harnessing onlinesocial networks.Per Sundin, senior vice president,Nordic region, Universal Music GroupInternational, first discovered Avicii onYouTube, where he had posted a song,Bromance, the instrumental version ofwhat later became Seek Bromance, underthe pseudonym Tim Berg. Sundin wassearching for EDM acts after witnessing thepopularity of a new generation of artists atthe Pacha nightclub in Ibiza.Sundin was impressed by the songand the harmonies and, of course, theamount of views the unreleased song hadgained and approached Avicii’s manager,Arash Pournouri, signing a deal to releaseit across the Nordic region. It was asuccessful hit and they followed up withthe single Fade Into Darkness. Sundin wasencouraged by the reaction to these twotracks to energise Universal Music’s globalnetwork to promote Avicii’s single Levels,which became his first global hit sellingmore than five million copies.In January 2013, Avicii launched acampaign in partnership with Ericsson, tocreate the world’s first ‘crowd sourced’hit song. Fans sent basslines, effects,melodies, rhythms and vocals to Avicii forhim to edit and release as a finished track.He also released the track Three Million tomark the acquisition of his three millionthFacebook fan.Avicii and his record label then preparedto promote his debut album True and itslead single Wake Me Up. The album wasunveiled at the Ultra music festival in Miamiin a live performance featuring a range ofartists who had collaborated on the album,“Avicii has built his loyalglobal fan base throughonline social media.”— Per Sundin, Universalincluding Aloe Blacc, the vocalist on WakeMe Up. EDM fans at the festival dislikedthe album that featured elements of othergenres, including country music, and therewas strong hostility across online socialnetworks over the next 24 hours.Sundin says: “This is where we had tohold our nerve. We knew we had a greatalbum. We knew this was a shock tohardcore EDM fans, but we were convincedthis album would take Avicii to a wholenew level.”This judgment proved correct as WakeMe Up topped the charts in more than20 countries and has now sold more than8.5 million copies worldwide. The singlealso proved a huge success on Spotify,becoming the most streamed track in theservice’s history with more than 190 millionstreams to date. Avicii’s single Hey Brotheralso proved another global hit on Spotifyand in download sales.Per Sundin says: “The campaign hasbeen a game changer for the whole musicindustry. Avicii has built his loyal global fanbase through online social media. We’vefocused our marketing resources ontargeting the under 30s in the world theylive in. That means focusing much moreon social media, rather than traditionalnewspapers and linear television.”Sundin also points to the successof Avicii’s brand partnership deals withthe likes of Ericsson and Ralph Lauren.“Business understands that music is thefrontrunner of change in society and theywant to harness its emotional power.Artists know that working with brandshelps them reach a broader audience.EDM is built around the collaboration ofDJs, songwriters and artists and this is anextension of that. Collaboration is thenew creation.”The campaign to take Avicii fromSwedish club DJ to global superstarunderlines how online social media,properly harnessed, can help artists andrecord companies speed up the process ofbuilding a global fan base. It also highlightsdaring to be innovative can help take anartist to a whole new audience.25