{"id":4023,"date":"2022-06-06T01:57:13","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T01:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/?post_type=in-conversation&p=4023"},"modified":"2022-08-22T03:46:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T03:46:23","slug":"amber-horsburgh-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"in-conversation","link":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In part II (below), Marc and Amber dig into the concept of the seven gatekeepers and how you must not only find them but convince them to help you. The trick is that you will also need to help them.  <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Miss Part I? Find it here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Brown: <\/strong>So, let\u2019s talk about gatekeepers. We had a previous discussion about this, and I thought that you had a great way of talking about who these people are and what you can do about them. Tell me why you use the word gatekeeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber Horsburgh: <\/strong>OK! So say you\u2019re an artist, and you\u2019ve got the best music that you\u2019ve ever made. You\u2019ve done the exercise where you decide which publication you exist in and what your headline is. What I teach in my course is that the fastest way to get your music heard is by identifying the 7 gatekeepers and how you can work with them. If you can get the recognition from these 7 gatekeepers, you\u2019ll grow your audience a lot faster than trying to buy your followers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gatekeepers are people who work within the industry and have an audience that you can use to help grow your own platform. In my course, I teach about the motivation behind each of the 7 gatekeepers, how you can be of value to them and how you can collaborate with them. Some of the artists from the last cohort who were able to do this ended up getting a residency on community radio, booked their first support slot, got songwriting sessions etc. It\u2019s through collaboration that you advance your career further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc, I know you said that your first knee-jerk reaction was that you didn\u2019t want to promote the idea that the music industry has a lot of gatekeepers, but it does. That being said, the gate is wide open and everyone that works within the business is there to promote and support artists. If you can pitch your music in a way that adds value to these people, then you\u2019ll be able to advance and build up your audience much quicker than relying on organic methods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>So those 7 gatekeepers, are they the same for each type of artist and genre or are there different categories?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>There are certain categories that represent the main influences in the music industry. You have promoters, radio, artists, influencers, streaming curators, journalists and music industry movers. These are the same for anyone, no matter what genre. You need to figure out what world you exist in within the music industry; that is when the people within that space, with big audiences who can put you on their platform, becomes clear. This can be either grassroots or on a bigger scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>What you\u2019re saying about grassroots makes total sense. This idea is that you\u2019ll drown in all of the opportunities out there if you don\u2019t focus your efforts. So if we go back to this hypothetical artist who has come up with their story, what would the next steps be when reaching out to these gatekeepers? How do you suggest people decide on who to reach out to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>You research the people who are in your world. From there, you start to look at how you can categorise these people. The most important part of the whole thing is figuring out what value you add to another person and how you can support them. That\u2019s the thing a lot of people are missing. The method is the same, and the outcome looks different for everyone, but no matter what, it becomes a lot easier once you know what your strategy and \u201cheadline\u201d is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>You just hit on something I think is super important – what value you bring to other people. There is the assumption that people will just play your stuff, but are you saying you need to seek out the people that will be more receptive to listening to your music because of what they do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>Absolutely. There\u2019s a community radio station here in Melbourne that has this program where they play the best new music from Australian and New Zealand artists. So if you\u2019re a new Australian artist, your likelihood of getting played on that show is much higher than getting played on the general pop stations. So going and developing a relationship with that host will increase your likelihood of getting to know who these tastemakers are, and you can grow from there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>Yeah, it\u2019s also knowing where you fit in and who you are, which goes back to what you were saying at the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other thing I wanted to discuss is timelines. You\u2019re talking about going to certain people and building a group who are interested in you, but when do you start building your audience in the context of how you release music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>I would say about 12 weeks out. People usually think that\u2019s too long, but it gives you enough time to develop and properly execute your campaign. The more time you have, the less overwhelmed you\u2019ll be because at that point, it\u2019s just executing the plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists sometimes come back to me and say, \u201cwhat if I can do the blueprint you gave me in 6 weeks\u201d and I say to them it\u2019s fine but just know that you need to create a system that is executable and repeatable for your resources, whatever your timeline is. Make sure that you\u2019re excited on release day and not burnt out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>So you explained the importance of having a timeline for yourself. Can you explain more about how these seven gatekeepers would work into this timeline? Do certain types of media work with different deadlines, and how would an artist figure that out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>You have to start! In the course, I give you a spreadsheet with individual timelines for different gatekeepers, but the best thing is to just start and see what happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should make your own timeline spreadsheet and document everything so that afterwards, you can look at it with a critical eye and repeat what works and throw out what doesn\u2019t. That way, you can make every release smarter and smarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>Would you argue that it\u2019s better for new artists to do a series of singles and try a series of different strategies or record and release an album? What\u2019s the best format, in your opinion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>I tend to stay away from this because my job is as a marketer, so I come in once the art has been created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The singles versus album debate – I\u2019d say if you\u2019re releasing an album because that\u2019s what your vision is, then that\u2019s fine, and you can work with that. The argument for releasing singles is that you have a lot of chances to learn and test what works and doesn\u2019t work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, I don\u2019t know if releasing an album versus singles is going to give you a better chance. I usually encourage artists to release singles because you\u2019re going to learn a lot more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>A lot of what we\u2019re talking about isn\u2019t new, the idea of DIY. I found when I was doing radio that a ton of the radio DJs actually wanted to hear from the artists themselves. People want to connect with the artists because they are the creators, but when external people come in and start dictating a plan it sort of changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, I also want to talk about pitching. What\u2019s the best way to approach others, in your experience? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>The secret that unlocks pitching is finding what the value is to the other person. It\u2019s more effective to craft intentional pitches and to know what you\u2019re asking the other person. Develop relationships and support what others are doing on your channels before actually asking. It\u2019s harder than putting together a general pitch, but the more personal your pitch is, the higher your success rate will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>That also goes back to the idea of knowing who you are – do you need to research how you would fit into what they do? Do you ever recommend looking at similar artists?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber:<\/strong> All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>Why do you recommend that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber:<\/strong> <\/strong>In order to get an idea of which world you exist in. Figuring out which similar artists exist in your world and seeing who\u2019s supporting them is a great way to find people who could also support you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>Let\u2019s talk collaboration – what\u2019s your take on that? Is it an effective tool for exposure or overused? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber:<\/strong> <\/strong>I think collaborations are the best! It\u2019s the fastest way to grow on streaming platforms – every label knows that. If you look at the Billboard Top 100 now versus 20 years ago, there are so many more collaborations. You\u2019ll also learn so much by working with another artist. So long as it makes sense for you and your vision, only good things can happen by working with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>Should you have criteria when looking for or seeking out collaborations? You shouldn\u2019t do them all, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber:<\/strong> <\/strong>Yeah, it goes back to your strategy. That strategy will be the filter for everything that you do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>What kinds of genres do you love to work on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>I\u2019ll work across everything except country and gospel since I don\u2019t have expertise in those areas. It\u2019s not so much about the genre for me. It\u2019s more about the artist. Like I said before, I like to work with artists who have a really strong vision because I find that collaboration way more natural. That being said, the main genres I work across are electronic, pop, hip hop and alternative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>I see! So using pop & hip hop as references – even though they\u2019re different genres, would you generally start in the same place and then differentiate in the details?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber: <\/strong>Well, you can\u2019t give the same marketing plan to a pop and hip hop artist, but you would generally start in the same place where you start mapping out the scene you exist in, your strategy and identifying which collaborations and partnerships you need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, then, you can map the creative ideas with those opportunities. Strategy principles sit above channels and trends, so what you do in that phase remains the same. Once you get down to the channels, that\u2019s where the nuances happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc: <\/strong>Amber, I really appreciate you taking the time to meet with me; thanks so much! Hopefully, at some point, we\u2019ll get to meet in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber:<\/strong> <\/strong>Bye Marc, thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To watch all of Byta’s #HowWeListen Live: In Conversation videos back, head to our YouTube channel here<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4021,"template":"","format":"standard","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLive in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II- #HowWeListen from Byta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amber Horsburgh, Digital Music Strategist talks about release timelines, marketing strategies, branding for artists and more!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II- #HowWeListen from Byta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amber Horsburgh, Digital Music Strategist talks about release timelines, marketing strategies, branding for artists and more!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"#HowWeListen from Byta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/BytaLtd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-22T03:46:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BytaLtd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/\",\"name\":\"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II- #HowWeListen from Byta\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-06T01:57:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-22T03:46:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"Amber Horsburgh, Digital Music Strategist talks about release timelines, marketing strategies, branding for artists and more!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg\",\"width\":1180,\"height\":1180},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Live: In Conversation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/\",\"name\":\"#HowWeListen from Byta\",\"description\":\"Music Interviews & Music Industry Events\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II- #HowWeListen from Byta","description":"Amber Horsburgh, Digital Music Strategist talks about release timelines, marketing strategies, branding for artists and more!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II- #HowWeListen from Byta","og_description":"Amber Horsburgh, Digital Music Strategist talks about release timelines, marketing strategies, branding for artists and more!","og_url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/","og_site_name":"#HowWeListen from Byta","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/BytaLtd","article_modified_time":"2022-08-22T03:46:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1180,"height":1180,"url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@BytaLtd","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/","url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/","name":"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II- #HowWeListen from Byta","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg","datePublished":"2022-06-06T01:57:13+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-22T03:46:23+00:00","description":"Amber Horsburgh, Digital Music Strategist talks about release timelines, marketing strategies, branding for artists and more!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/amber_thumb@2x.jpg","width":1180,"height":1180},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/amber-horsburgh-part-ii\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Live: In Conversation","item":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/in-conversation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Live in Conversation: Amber Horsburgh Part II of II"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/#website","url":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/","name":"#HowWeListen from Byta","description":"Music Interviews & Music Industry Events","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/in-conversation\/4023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/in-conversation"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/in-conversation"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/in-conversation\/4023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4815,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/in-conversation\/4023\/revisions\/4815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byta.com\/howwelisten\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}