Jaide Lewis Speaks On Digital Marketing In The Music Industry
Jaide Lewis Speaks On Digital Marketing In The Music Industry, The Process of Growing an Artist, Marketing Procedures For Brand Recognition, The Effects COVID-19 Has Had On The Music Industry and More.
Photo Cred: Nigil/@Lordnc
In these trying times, we’ve been seeing a lot of industries experimenting with ways to keep their audience engaged. From the tweets, Instagram posts, Instagram Live, personalized ads, even commercials, brands have targeted a lot of their message and mission to everyone around the globe dealing with the current COVID-19 crisis. A vast majority of the music industry has taken a hit due to the social distancing rule. There will be no more physical events, such as live shows or concerts, until 2021. Artists have been trying to figure out other ways to stay relevant as this pandemic continues to take a toll on our country, and some have come up successful. I wanted to catch up with Jaide Lewis, digital marketer for Atlantic Records, to help shed light on what’s been happening today. She works with artists from a digital standpoint, so her knowledge and expertise on methods musicians can take to still get their content out to the masses is vital.
Check out our full interview below. We delved a bit deeper into Jaide’s background working in broadcast journalism and marketing, working for labels Sony and Atlantic, strategies artists can use to stay relevant during the quarantine, how she expects the music industry to respond post-quarantine and more.
1 - How did music have an impact on you?
Music has always been a tremendous force in my life. I’ve always thought that music was the universal language of unity. No matter race, religion, or language, music can bring everyone together.
2 - You went to Penn State where you were a dual major in Broadcast Journalism and Marketing. You’ve also interned for companies like Power 105 and Sirius XM. How was that experience for you and would you say that these experiences lead you to work for music labels? If so, why?
Interning in college was the turning point in my life! Most of my internships were in radio, with some of the greats like DJ Clue and DJ Self. This is why I encourage college students to intern in every aspect of the industry (Radio, PR, Events, Marketing, etc.). My senior year, I was exposed to marketing through my BET internship. My first campaign for the show “The Game” got 4 million viewers, That’s the point I fell in love with Marketing and was there for 3 years as the Marketing Coordinator. BET gave me my start in this industry and creative freedom on all my marketing campaigns. From The BET Awards, “The Quad,” “Tales,” and “The New Edition Story.” Traveled all over the country, creating marketing campaigns for consumers. After The New Edition Story, I started looking for the next step in my career and that was to combine my love for music and marketing. So I went to SONY Music to do marketing at a label.
3 - What are the most important things an artist should know about marketing? Does marketing help you create a brand for artists?
There’s a lot of misconceptions with marketing and it’s so overlooked. People think digital marketers give them 1million streams overnight, but we are product pushers, not miracle workers. Marketing is the backbone behind every brand and artist, without effective marketing most campaigns crumble.
Research - Knowing your audience and your brand.
Awareness - Paying attention to the trends in your industry, so you can stay creative and innovative with marketing.
Be authentic - People only want to support and consume things that are relatable.
4 - Explain a little bit of what you do working in marketing for Atlantic.
Digital Marketing plays a big role in developing an artist. We try our best to generate awareness for artists and build a relationship between them and their fans digitally. The misconception is that we make artists go ‘Viral’. However digital marketers do way more than that, we’re digital storytellers. Our role is to leverage all an artists digital channels including email, website, social media and digital content. We have a lot of rising urban artists, so I try to have a create approach in my strategy because of the quarentine.
Photo Cred: Nigil/@Lordnc
5 - In your opinion, what impact has this quarantine, whether negative or positive, had on the music industry and musical acts?
This has been extremely challenging since I started this role when the quarantine began. Digital Marketing is ALWAYS ON, regardless of the uncertain times nothing has changed. If anything we are going harder to execute great campaigns for artists.
This is the perfect opportunity for artists and brands to become innovative and stay ahead of the curve. With every misfortune breeds great opportunity. This is a time for artists to embrace what makes them unique and leverage it to their fans. For example, if an artist likes to paint, is there an opportunity to do an interactive paint and sip with fans? Or if a singer is passionate about nails, Is there an opportunity for them to do a DIY Nail tutorial with a beauty brand. There's an audience and a niche for every artist, especially now!
6 - Due to the shutdown of shows, concerts and tours, what marketing campaigns have you seen recently that raised the bar in the music industry?
The quarantine has forced marketers to become more creative. Music is synonymous to a lot of sports and fashion brands, so tapping into those connections for artists at this time is crucial. I also predict more virtual shows for artists as well. A few marketing campaigns that have been killing it are Travis Scott x Fortnite and Tory Lanez Quarantine Radio. Both artists know their audience extremely well. Travis is a very creative and visual artist so partnering with Fortnite brought a unique experience to his fans. Tory Lanez has a personality to entertain his fans on and off stage. He also did the first “social distancing concert” with YouTube Music, which was a game-changer and might be the future of touring for the rest of the year.
Travis Scott Fortnite: Virtual Interactive Concert experience Over 12Mil
Tory Lane x Quarantine Radio: Leverage his IG and his artist friends to interact with his fans and give away money. Now he has merch!
Verzus Series (Babyface and Teddy Riley): Shedding light to producers and hits with these battles last one had over 500K
7 - What sorts of changes do you think will be made in the industry when this quarantine is over?
The pandemic has put a hold on physical interactions and experiences. Marketing is key during this time, it’s all about the messaging. Digital marketing is as close as you can get to a consumer without touching them.I believe everyone will lean more on Marketing/Digital marketing in the future.
8 - What advice would you give the aspiring black woman who wishes to work in the music business?
Use “No” as a word of empowerment! When one door closes, two more will open. Also with no risk there is no reward, every step in your career should be a risk or bet on yourself.
As a first-generation born American, my parents only saw lawyers and nurses as successful, so It’s always been important to me that I break certain doors down for black women in music marketing. There’s not a lot of us at these labels, so it’s important that we shake the room while we’re in it.
9 - What can we expect from you and your digital marketing campaigns during and post-quarantine?
More Impact, More Creativity, More innovation for urban artists in music.