A recent article in Mixmag highlighted one of the interesting recent developments in music promotion, namely focusing promotional activities on an 'impact date' rather than the traditional release date.
The approach - put simply, to make sure your music is already available to buy at the time you are getting results from your promotional activities - is very logical and marks an interesting shift in attitude away from the days of tastemakers building 'hype' and suspense in the run up to release. Impact dates certainly have a lot of value in terms of maximising sales in the ‘instant gratification’ digital world.
Inspired by the Mixmag article, we have highlighted a number of factors which are worth considering around adopting an 'impact dates' strategy:
- Major download stores often decide which new releases will get feature spots based on the promo feedback/coverage (see our article on the value of promo feedback). Such decisions are often made 2-3 weeks prior to the date of release and may not account for your own impact dates. Therefore if you wish to maximise these opportunities you may still need to consider embarking on some pre-release promotion.
- Certain types of media still need to have the music several weeks ahead of the impact date - for example printed magazines who work to advance deadlines and radio shows with pre-planned playlists.
- Some tastemakers thrive on being 'upfront' and 'exclusive' - it is important to know who these people are, the value they offer, and if there is a risk they will be less likely to support your music if they know it is already available to the wider public. You can then weigh up when to get your music to these people.
As ever we are open to new strategies of delivering music and maximising the impact of promotion. We will continue to follow and report on such developments with interest.
To talk to us about promotional strategies for your music please contact us via the Kahua Music website.
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