Digital-Music-Report-2014

Working in partnership: Passenger and the Embassy of MusicBritish singer-songwriter Mike Rosenberg,better known as Passenger, first cameto the attention of German independentlabel Embassy of Music in early 2012.Once the frontman of the UK-basedband of the same name, Rosenberg hadmoved to Australia in 2010 as a solo artist,before signing to leading independentlabel Inertia Records. Wanting to build onRosenberg’s Australian success, Inertiaworked with Embassy of Music to launchhis career in continental Europe.Embassy of Music MD Konrad vonLöhneysen says Passenger had alreadybuilt up a strong following on Facebook,but a combination of social media withtraditional marketing helped take himfrom a little-known singer-songwriterwith a small but loyal following totop-ten success across Europe andAustralasia. Before breaking the artist intheir native Germany, the label used itsnetwork leverage a successful campaignin the smaller Dutch market working inpartnership with Sony Music Netherlands.“German radio is really fragmented.Even though we knew we had a potentialhit in Let Her Go it’s hard to create animpact with an unknown artist from astanding start. The radio market is farsmaller in the Netherlands. Workingclosely with a top Dutch radio plugger,we helped get the record to numberone in November 2012. That was theturning point.”This success gave the label a platformto reach the German market, with apromotional campaign, again focused onradio, followed in the New Year.Von Löhneysen said while Facebookwas also a critical channel in thecampaign, the label didn’t view it solelyas a sales channel. Embassy of Musicused Facebook’s geo-IP technology tofilter updates by territory, enabling themto work with the artist to provide fanswith useful updates on tour dates andnew releases, without compromising hisartistic integrity. “Passenger had built arelationship with fans, we didn’t want totake over the page and compromise that— it’s all him.”Passenger’s Facebook following inGermany grew to 140,000 through 2013,as the label capitalised on its success inthe Netherlands to launch him in Germanyand across Europe. Having topped theGerman singles chart in February 2013,Let Her Go went to number 1 in Austria,Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Australiaand New Zealand, as well as number 2 inthe UK. Album All the Little Lights enteredthe top ten in a dozen global markets,“A record label’s experience in marketing, plugging, andbreaking artists is still a vital complement to what the artistcan do on social media, not an alternative.”— Konrad von Löhneysen, Embassy of Musicgoing Platinum in Germany and Australia,as well as Gold in the UK.“Any artist can upload a YouTube video,put out an album, talk to their fans. Andit’s best when it all comes from them.”adds von Löhneysen. “But traditionalmedia is also important to take them tothe next level. Not every artist can belike Radiohead, who had years of labelsupport helping them build their fanbase.A record label’s experience in marketing,plugging, and breaking artists is still a vitalcomplement to what the artist can do onsocial media, not an alternative.”29