Fred & Augustus

Challenges

Approached first and foremost as an artist development project, the focus was on building a team that was flexible and able to pivot easily based on what was needed to position both the EP release and the artist long-term. As such, the label team considered everything from songwriting and production, image and branding, music and video production, live performance, and marketing, to social media. Along the way, a range of activities and strategies were implemented to support the artist's development, build a fan base, and lay the foundation for a lengthy career. 

With this in mind, the key components of the EP release project were radio and press, creative direction, and story-telling.

Solution

The artist was a strong storyteller, with an innate understanding of how they wished to bring the narrative for each release to life. The solution? Guide ideation, provide feedback, track asset delivery, and support the artist in voicing how they wished to roll out the story on their key platforms while ensuring they were equipped with the tools they needed to effectively do so.

With the artist's brand being ethereal, hazy, and abstract leaning, finding the right team for overall creative direction was key. The right fit was found with the EP cover art and press shots being shot by a trusted photographer alongside a stylist crew who delivered upon the brief. Along the way, the artist also collaborated with video editors and directors who helped to bring her vision for sharing the EP with fans to life. 

Given the fluidity of the project, there was less of a focus placed on reaching specific streaming or platform growth goals as a result of marketing initiatives. Not to say that these weren’t still considered, but such activity was used to help inform decision-making. Eg. Was a new distribution deal needed to provide stronger playlist pitching support beyond what the existing distributor offered? Or, given that the artist’s fanbase lived primarily on video-led platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, did it make the most sense to ensure that each campaign included a large creative video component catering to those audiences?

With online search being key for fan discovery, time and effort were placed into not only creating an effective and visually appealing website but also building a strong SEO presence for the artist from the outset. This included ensuring on-site SEO and schema were built into the backend of her website, her knowledge panel was claimed as soon as possible, and artist profiles were built on key platforms that helped inform what Google knew about her as an artist. This meant that when fans searched for her, from early on, they would be able to find information, music, music videos, information on live shows, and more. 

However, at the forefront of the EP (and artist development) strategy was radio and press. The plan of action was to ensure the artist was receiving the right looks in media and on radio, at the right times throughout the 12-month release cycle.

These looks included features in i-D’s Top 100 Tracks of 2022 list, gaining support from BBC Introducing, Clash, and other key media, and being playlisted on ‘New Pop UK’. Since the EP release the focus track has been featured on Spotify's Now Pop UK and Fresh Finds worldwide, and received support from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio Essex, Amazing Radio USA, and UK amongst others. Signed with a strong booking team, this activity at press and radio helped to sell out the debut headline performance in London, and secure performances for  BBC Radio Essex, and a confirmation for The Great Escape 2024. 

During the course of the release campaign, the artist increased Facebook fans by 7.84%, grew Instagram followers by 2.09%, and saw a 16.14% increase in YouTube subscribers, indicating that new fans were discovering her music (a statistic that was also seen in EP streams in the first 30 days). While the commitment to developing the artist long-term won’t stop here, the foundations for a strong career have been laid with the level of strategy, and flexibility applied to the release of her debut EP.