Community Engagement
Feeling like I'm an integral part of a community is something that's extremely important to me; both personally and professionally. My greatest cohort for engaging with various communities is the internet.
Connecting with people on social media is something I do daily, whether it's reaching out to fans on Band of the Day's Twitter account, debating the merits of various streaming music platforms in a music industry Facebook group, or tagging my friends in funny pictures I come across on Instagram.
When we were considering opening a branch of Applauze in London at the end of 2014, I used LinkedIn and my existing network to successfully set up three months' worth of meetings there with music industry executives. In addition to engaging with people online, I make a point to attend as many industry events around the world as I can. It may or may not be coincidence that these events are conveniently tied in with the music festivals I like attending...
Artist Managers Connect
After The City and Horses asked me to manage them, I was inspired to start a private Facebook group called Artist Managers Connect. My goal was to create an environment where people could freely share advice, connections, and opportunities specifically targeted to artist managers. In just a few months, it's grown to a global network of over 500 esteemed artist managers, and it's incredibly rewarding to see the collaborations that have happened.
Global Battle of the Bands: Bahamas
Because of my work with Band of the Day, I was invited to be the sole international judge at GBOB: Bahamas in November '13. I represented Band of the Day in interviews with the local morning news television program, radio show, and newspaper.
BIME Fest: Bilbao, Spain (2013)
I was selected by The App Date to give a 15 minute presentation on how mobile apps have revolutionized music discovery, specifically focusing on my work with Band of the Day app. Through networking at this conference, I established new industry relationships that I was able to later tap into for booking bands for Applauze's SXSW parties in 2014, and for setting up features in Band of the Day app.
Social Media Engagement
I manage Band of the Day's socials, interacting with bands and fans daily. Since taking on account management, @bandoftheday has consistently been listed as one of the Top 100 Twitter Users in San Francisco since May 2013. During SXSW, I engage with the SXSW Mafia, a collective of festival fanatics with a combined reach of tens of thousands of followers.
Artist Relations
An integral part of my role as Head of Music at Applauze is connecting with artists on behalf of the company in order to get them on our platforms. This is the part that 17 year-old Amanda, the music geek who wore a band's t-shirt (in this case, The Libertines) to their gig and who waited around after their set to take a picture, is still in awe of.
Showing genuine interest in artists is not something that can be faked, and because of this, I was able to quickly take on the role of artist outreach and content licensing for Band of the Day app, saving the company thousands of dollars a month on a music supervision team.