Tag: singer-songwriter

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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:

 

 

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Alec Benjamin

Alec Benjamin - End of the Summer - YouTube

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