This year, we had the awesome opportunity to join the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) event, thanks to an invite to the GRRRL Music Team!
Imagine this: five days packed with conferences, live music, a bustling trade show and the She Rocks Awards to top it off. We were buzzing with excitement and eager to soak up insights from big names like Taylor Guitars, Reverb and more, learning all about the future of the music industry! We’ve gathered some of our main takeaways from the conferences to share with our audience of artists and music industry professionals alike!
We learned so many amazing tidbits throughout the conferences as well, from podcasting tricks to sync licensing to artist development. The hosts and speakers were all absolutely incredible and were not only open about the struggles of the music industry but also felt encouraged and hopeful by the next generation. So our biggest takeaway is that the music industry is going nowhere, if anything, the Millenials and Gen-Z’ers are taking what we’ve learned and amplifying, diversifying and fixing the important issues. A huge thank you to NAMM for having GRRRL Music attend this year, we can’t wait for next year!
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
ADVANCED TIKTOK STRATEGIES: Creating Content The Algorithm Favors
Presented by: Taran Gray
Taran Gray is seriously impressive, his resume includes artist, Broadway composer, a co-founder of SocialPlay and Yamaha’s current TikTok Director. We were beyond excited to hear what he had to say about the one platform we’re all wondering WHAT to do with and oh boy, did we find out!
For Gen-Z, TikTok has become THE go-to search engine for questions. No longer are the days where the platform just hosts fun dance trends and funny skits, but is functioning as an actual place to ask questions. With that, there’s a huge learning curve for brands to get noticed (ours included!), and to find your community. Taran gave us a few key takeaways that we’re putting into place immediately and now feel less frustrated with getting visibility.
TAKEAWAY #1: Use ‘Native Language’ in your video. Meaning, SAY your keywords, not just use them in your caption. Get to the point, immediately start off with your point so that the algorithm understands WHAT your video is about and will push it out to people who are looking for those specific types of content. Plan your keywords in pre-production, as Taran said, ‘copy write first, shoot video later’
TAKEAWAY #2: Hashtags. Are they important? Taran says yes, he recommends using 3 - 4 hashtags BUT with a caveat. Your first hashtag is going to be SUPER niche (his example? #sandiegoacidjazz), the second Medium niche (#jamiroquai), the third being Regular niche (#acidjazz) and then if you use a fourth, make it your brand (#grrrlmusic). The more you actually niche down, the more opportunity to hit the right audience who will spend time watching your content instead of scrolling by.
How To Go From Connections To Clients
Presented by: Molly Mahoney
Another incredible panelist, Molly’s energy immediately had us perk up to hear how authenticity is your biggest selling point.
In a world of ‘influencers’ and content creators, how does a brand show up on social media? How do you as an artist use social media to your advantage? It’s all authenticity (with a LITTLE bit of automation as well!)
TAKEAWAY #1: Use yourself as a selling point! What do YOU bring to the industry, is it a really unique story or insider knowledge about how sync licensing works? Use it. Tell your story without the ‘fluff’ or ‘outside noise’, be honest, be unapologetically you and have your community know your mission, values and even what your favorite food is.
TAKEAWAY #2: Automation is your best friend! Make sure that when someone DM’s you, you have options for them to sign up for your newsletter (especially educators) or a pre-save link to your new song. Molly has a whole presentation for tools she uses and you better believe we’ll be diving into these!
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