Patrick Ross<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a boat called Holly, on Regents Canal, in London, England<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m the Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy for Music Ally<\/a>. I educate the industry on all things digital marketing as it relates to music, constantly in front of folks spreading the good news of digital. I also work with artists and labels to help them better connect with their audience. And sometimes I even write for our publication, but usually I just talk and someone else quotes me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ruben Dawnson<\/a>, a former student of mine from LIMPI<\/a>. He\u2019s awesome. Oh, and also The Grateful Dead. Deadhead for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apple Music does a good job of telling me what\u2019s out. There\u2019s the occasional well done Instagram Story ad that piques my interest, like it did with the band Parcels<\/a>. I also hear about a lot of stuff from our Sandbox<\/a> publication, which covers all kinds of great digital campaigns. And then of course there\u2019s artists I follow talking things up on social media and email. My daily listening is usually done on Apple Music. (I also still have iTunes Match that keeps all my more obscure collection available on the go.) At home I listen to vinyl, but only buy records I really love, and these days, have fallen in love with digitally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do a lot of travelling these days. (Recently realised I was on 9 flights in the span of 7 days. \ud83d\udeeb\ud83d\udeec\ud83d\udeeb\ud83d\udeec\ud83d\udeeb\ud83d\udeec…) So a lot of listening on airplanes, airports, etc. There\u2019s a Panda Bear album, Person Pitch<\/a>, I listen to on every takeoff. It\u2019s been putting me to sleep in-flight for over a decade. If it\u2019s an artist I am really into, there will often be an NPR First Listen<\/a>. And yes, we do often get stuff through from the artists we work with pre-release. Usually they are sending around a Soundcloud link. When listening to stuff digitally, that\u2019s not released, it can be challenging. I get a fair few links in emails. (I also send a fair few, usually what I am passed.) If I actually love something, being able to download is a plus, as I can add it to my iTunes library and listen over Apple Music. Private Soundclouds can be annoying, especially because I can\u2019t play them on the office Sonos. Also, I inevitably end up losing them, as you always need the link to get back to them. Apple Music does a good job of keeping things in a \u201cRecently Added\u201d list. It\u2019s what you initially see when you navigate your library on the app. (And it\u2019s far more exhaustive on desktop.) They also do a good job of surfacing your favourites to you, both by showing what you have in heavy rotation and by surfacing tracks that you know and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have tried things, like music discovery \/ sharing app Laylo<\/a>, but find some of the best ways are still the old ways. Mine tends to be either directly messaging friends \/ family about what I think is good. That, and continuously loading up the office stereo with things I am digging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since beginning writing this and finishing writing this, Music Ally has started managing our first artist. He\u2019s called Ruben Dawnson<\/a>. His latest track \u201cWhat Happened to the Days?<\/a>\u201d is just great, and getting some Spotify love in Scandinavia. He\u2019s also got a great little video<\/a> for it. Check him out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat are you listening to?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you discover new music?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On the latter I\u2019m always looking for acts doing things outside of the usual suspects. I\u2019m not a Spotify person, so those playlists are kind of meaningless to me. And Apple Music is far more about presenting albums than transient playlists. What I really look for is artists taking a leaf from a recent article<\/a> (and panel in NY<\/a> at our Sandbox Summit<\/a> conference) that we\u2019ve been talking about. The Dry Streams Paradox<\/a>, as we call it. The idea is that simple playlisting alone is not going to create a sustainable artist-fan relationship. So I\u2019m always on the lookout for artists doing interesting things to stay connected with me, and fans at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services and why?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Where do you do most of your music listening?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Commuting of course, gotta have something to drown out the noise on the bus.
At work we have a Sonos on our boat, so we can all share what we\u2019re digging. (As well as play some key \u201cyacht rock\u201d playlists from Spotify<\/a> and Apple Music<\/a> for our obligatory \u201cbubbly booze\u201d on deck sessions in the summer.)
And at home it\u2019s all about my vinyl collection. Drop that needle and let it play.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do find and listen to pre-release music?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I was teaching in Lillehammer, Norway for most of last year, and got a lot of stuff coming my way from the very talented students. They use Auddly<\/a> as a place to manage their song rights, so I get a fair few links from there for my listening pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
As for general digital music, as mentioned a few times I use Apple Music. It\u2019s basically the same experience I\u2019ve had with iTunes for years, so very familiar. It works for me. Since relocating to the UK a decade or so ago, I\u2019ve been mainly digital. Yes, I did finally bring my records over, and do love that format best, but as I\u2019m on the go so much I love having my library available anywhere. As a teenager I took all my 400 CD\u2019s with me wherever I went. Now I just need my phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do you keep track of everything you are listening to?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do you tip other people off to new music? How?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Anything you want to \u201cpromote\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n