ReverbNation, the popular platform with promotional tools for nearly four million artists, is playing record label in an effort to build the careers of its standout artists. Called The Watch List, the artist development program is a series of monthly singles released by ReverbNation artists to a wide audience.
The first release is “What Are You Waiting For” from Nashville-based Vienna. The track was recorded at The End in Brooklyn and Southern Ground in Nashville. ReverbNation will support the single with print advertising and social media and publicity efforts. Digital distributor INgrooves will provide retail marketing support.
Tracks in “The Watch List” series are selected from Connect, ReverbNation’s “artist development incubator” that uses the company’s proprietary technology for finding standout tracks from the hundreds of thousands of new songs uploaded to the platform. A panel of experts then whittles down the candidates to a select group of tracks for Connect.
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“Our curation-at-scale capability enables us to identify the best emerging artists at the very beginning of their careers,” said Simon Perry, Chief Creative Officer and head of A&R, said in a statement.
Everybody wants to help break artists. Spotify uses its new music playlists and editorial power to springboard artists to more popular playlists and more streaming activity. Apple touts the Connect feature in Apple Music as a powerful tool in building artists’ careers. Pandora uses Pandora Premieres pre-release album streams to introduce new music to its 80 million monthly listeners. It also bought Ticketfly to help artists sell tickets to fans. Satellite radio service SiriusXM Radio has earned a reputation as an early supporter of new music. Woe is the digital service that doesn’t have a reputation for artist development.
ReverbNation already helps artists in other ways. Aside from its online tools that allow artists to promote and market themselves, the Connect program has led to sync licensing opportunities and helped place member artists in such festivals as Voodoo Music + Arts Experience and Hard Rock Rising.