Aardvark Records quietly launched its new podcasting feature
on 10th April 2006. So great was the demand that additional
bandwidth was required less than 24 hours later. The
label also looks set to increase its bandwidth requirements
again due to a steady and rapid increase of people
catching its RSS feed. It goes to show what veteran
label executives already know – when people hear something
they like they tell their friends and then their friends
want it…and so the chain begins. It's a time-old organic
process which, when left to its own devices, gathers
new fans for an act.
As far as it's aware, Aardvark is one the first record
labels to create and release RSS podcast feeds. And
what was meant to be a quiet and tentative toe in
the water could prove to be a triumph for the small
independent. There has been a marked increase in its digital
download sales. Digital distribution operators which
offer 'real time' accounting - such as Trackitdown
and Play it Tonight – have shown an upturn in sales.
The podcasts are comprised of mixsets and videos from
artists EricM, Chris Hale, Zetan Spore, Rachel White and
QED. Following on from the popularity of the current
podcasts, Aardvark plans to make exclusive podcasting
features from new releases; including podcast-only
versions of tracks tied in to sales with iTunes. In
other words, the podcast-only version of tracks will
be for sale exclusively with iTunes. Other features
will include podcast call outs from Aardvark artists.
Marketing and Promotions Director, Alex di Savoia,
said, "Myself and my team spent a day putting videos
and mixshows together to test out whether or not podcasting
would be as viable a proposition as I suspected it
would be. Podomatic was the obvious choice for us
to test the proposition. It has a solid platform with
great security features. It's also a very popular
service with a broad reach. We were all pleased with
the
|
|
results and spent a day doing the usual plugging
and promotion to get people to link into and grab
the RSS feeds. The initial response was staggering.
We had 70 podsters podcasting our videos and mixshows
within the first half hour…and we had only worked
our way through an eighth of our plugging and promotions
targets."
"I've always been a maverick when it comes to promotions
and marketing," di Savoia continued. "New platforms
and new delivery models always get me going. I remember
an interview I gave when iPods first hit the streets.
I said at the time that these tiny devices were going
to change the way people listened to music forever.
iPods are everywhere. And I reached the decision that
more of our music needs to be pumping out of them.
I can appreciate any label having to take a deep breath
before plunging into these waters. However, I also
remember being a huge advocate for digital downloading
at a time when record labels just didn’t want to know
about them. I was a band manager at the time and,
while drummingup recording and publishing deals,
got my artists' albums selling online. Those online
CD sales and digital downloads proved to be very nice
little earners. Five or six years later, after the
monetary value of digital downloading was assessed
– and downloading security improved – it was all about
digital downloads. Podcasting isn’t any different.
Anything that can get our artists’ music out there
and selling, on a global basis, is exactly what I
want. Considering the overheads are ridiculously minimal,
it's a win-win scenario as far as I'm concerned. The
last 24 hours have proven that to me."
While the Aardvark Record team acknowledges it has
a duty and obligation to protect its artists' copyright,
it is fortunate that it has strong relationships with
the artists on its roster. And the relationship the
label has with its artists has gained the trust needed
to enter into such a venture.
|
|
"It's about being a bit pragmatic," said di Savoia.
"People are going to share music. There just isn't
any getting around that. Once upon a time, audio cassettes
were the scourge of the industry. Then came the home
PC and the internet, the recordable CD, the mini disc
and wireless devices. And now it's the iPod. Music
has been recorded and shared ever since I was a kid.
And the music industry is still here and there is
money being made. It may not be as easy as it used
to be but then again I've never believed that has
to do with the how much music is being shared. Don't
get me wrong, we keep a close eye on peer-to-peer
sharing platforms and regularly have our tracks removed
from them. That kind of vigilance is just part and
parcel of our operating procedures now. However, peer-to-peer
sharing is a completely different proposition from
podcasting. Our podcasts are branded, meta-tagged
with enough information to make a decision to purchase
tracks easy. And it must be working because sales
activity since yesterday would lend itself to the
assumption that tracks and ringtones are being bought
having heard the podcasts. We haven’t launched any
new advertising campaigns so that limits the possible
sources for such a rapid upswing."
di Savoia finished by saying, "What I really like
about formats like podcasting is the complete democracy
of it. Its not me telling people what's cool or what's
good, it's not me telling people they have to listen
to anything. All I do is let them know this music
is out there and basically say 'hey, here it is for
you to listen to. Make up your own mind'. The rest
is down to them. The listener makes his or her own
judgment. If they like it, you’ve got sales."
At present, the Aardvark podcasts are limited to its
dance roster. However, the label will be rolling out
podcasts for its pop and rock artists over the coming
months.
|
Additional Information