Collaboration:
Artist Case Study- Lorde
Biography :
- Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, age 25, known as Lorde
- Elecropop/indiepop artist from New Zealand
- Grew up listening to American jazz and soul musicians like Sam Cooke, Etta James and Billy Holiday
- Influenced lyrically by her mother who is a poet as well as authors Raymond Carver, Wells Tower and Claire Vaye Watkins
- During the recording of her second album she said that she took inspiration from the melodic styles of Rihanna, Florence + the Machine, Tom Petty and Frank Ocean
Beginnings:
- Won a middle school talent show with her friend and a Universal Music Group scout Scott MacLachlan discovered a video, she signed with them in her early teens
- self-released her debut EP The Love Club November 2012 then commercially released with UMG and Virgin Records in March 2013
- Her song Royals was a major hit earning her two Grammy Awards and a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Song
- Released her debut album Pure Heroine and sold 8 million records
Management:
- Lorde is with Crush Management also has a website https://www.lorde.co.nz/ where she promotes and sells her tour tickets and merchandise.
Longevity:
- Lorde has had several hits over that past decade and has a very big fan base now, with the consistent hits I don’t doubt that she will have a thriving music career for at last another couple decades
Repeatable:
- There are several artists who got noticed through videos/social media, if you put your content out there here is always a chance its going to get noticed, but it is a game of luck
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorde#Influences
- https://youtu.be/vt4OeI3Q6gk
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Love_Club_EP
I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
Biography:
IDKHOW started in 2016 consisting of lead vocals, bass, guitar, synthesisers, piano, ukulele, glockenspiel, programming, production Dallon Weekes with drummer, percussion, backing vocals Ryan Seaman and Anthony Purpura guitar and backing vocals joining in 2021. They are based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They’ve signed with Fearless Records.
Beginnings:
Before IDKHOW Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman were longtime friends who had worked together in the past. Seaman joined Weekes’ former band The Brobecks in 2008 and played drums for Weekes’ solo projects. Weekes had been writing and recording songs for several years while on the road with Panic! at the Disco. Seaman performed drums on these songs, which eventually became their debut EP 1981 Extended Play, and Weekes proposed that they present themselves as a duo.
Management:
They are managed through Fearless Records where they sell merchandise and sell tickets for tours. They also manage their own website where they have a music store selling vinyls and a merch store selling shirts etc.
Longevity:
IDKHOW have toured six times and have an upcoming tour starting Jan 18. They have 529k subs on youtube
Repeatable:
I believe that it is because they started out with a small band and soon moved to a bigger band to then star by themselves.
References:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dont_Know_How_But_They_Found_Me
https://www.youtube.com/c/IDONTKNOWHOWBUTTHEYFOUNDME
Sewerslvt Artist Case Study
Biography
Sewerslvt AKA Jvne/Jvnko is a breakcore and atmospheric drum and bass artist that has found popularity on TikTok and YouTube about a year ago, creating music with depressive overtones and “aesthetic” covers that appeal to teenagers and young adults. At the time of this post, she has been on a permanent hiatus from producing music since November of 2021.
Beginnings
Jvne originally went by Sadboy Sheldon and would create remixes of popular songs, and these remixes can be defined as pisscore. Unfortunately, Jvne was not well known during this time, so it is difficult to find many records pertaining to their former alias Sadboy Sheldon. Jvne has also deleted many of the songs and videos they created during this time, possibly due to controversy over offensive titles of the songs.
Pisscore is a satirical genre using heavy sampling of Skrillex as well as many other popular artists in combination with a high tempo.
Management
Jvne does not have a significant social media presence outside of YouTube. Most Sewerslvt tracks are currently on the official YouTube channel; albums, EPs and singles can be bought on Bandcamp, and there used to be a Sewerslvt merchandise store before Jvne decided to retire Sewerslvt.
Longevity
If Jvne did not enter her permanent hiatus, she potentially could have been popular for several years from now. She has been on an upward trend in popularity ever since her music started being used on TikTok, and on YouTube the Sewerslvt channel (as of January 2022) has over 200,000 subscribers.
Repeatable
Jvne’s popularity seems to come from a little bit of luck, unique aesthetic, and consistency in production. She was releasing albums, EPs and singles several times a year from 2017 to 2021, and eventually her music was picked up by TikTok users, leading to even greater success.
This example of success CAN be repeated. There was not a specific fluke or interesting scenario that allowed Sewerslvt to become popular, but instead for the most part it was hard work and dedication.
References
https://sewerslvt.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.sewerslvt.store/
https://genius.com/artists/Sewerslvt
https://www.youtube.com/c/Sewerslvt
https://www.discogs.com/artist/7606376-Sewerslvt
https://www.last.fm/tag/pisscore/wiki
Alec Benjamin
Alec Benjamin is a singer-songwriter, grew up in Phoenix Arizona, his breakthrough happened in 2018 with his song “Let Me Down Slowly”. This he ended up rereleasing with Alessia Cara, a well known artist.
While at the University of Columbia, he signed in with Columbia records, but the partnership ended soon after the album was released. He still went on a tour in Europe and opened for Marina Kaye and Lea which he paid for himself. Other than that, he would perform in public outside of show venues and hand out business cards for self-promotion.
He has been signed by Atlantic Records since 2018.
One booster he got, was when someone used his song “I Built a Friend” as the track for a dance on America’s Got Talent.
He has his own website on which he promotes his music, with links to all his streaming platforms. He lists the dates he is going on tour. On there he also sells his own merch which includes hoodies, hats, shirts, and socks. link is below!
https://www.alecbenjamin.com/
Another promotion technique he uses is making “The Story Behind the Story” videos, which explain the background and lyrics on songs.
As a reflection of he started, he creates “Can I Sing For You” videos, where he performs acoustically in public.
He has built a good reputation for himself. He is loved for his songs which have a lot of meaning. Since his breakthrough 4 years ago he has been steadily been releasing new music that has gotten popular as well. I think his career will last a long time.
Alec Benjamin did get some “lucky breaks”, but most of it was hard work and persistence. He kept trying and didn’t give up when his first label dropped him. He does a lot of self-promotion. The ones he did; creating his own website, merch, handing out business cards in public, making supplementary videos about himself, can be replicated quite easily. He also does touring, which is really good for meeting new connections. While touring isn’t possible right now, it is a good thing to invest in, even if your first one has to be self-funded like his.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Benjamin