Fan commitment within digital music consumption
The metal fan, the stereotype of a record-buying fan at the merch stand and ready for a talk with the band, is willing to invest in a quality record with grade-A artwork. However, with the developments in distributing digital music, the ways how fans show their commitment to a band are more and more broadly based between the physical and the digital world. How do we still reach the people in a more personal matter and create long-lasting fan relationships? What’s needed to get the same interactions with the listener online, such as the small talk moments at the merch booth? How can we distribute the same kind of feeling that a vinyl lover really admires?
Thursday 6. April 15:00 - Room 1
Mod: José Carlos Santos (The Devil’s Mouth, PT)
José Carlos Santos’ business card says “music curation, consulting and journalism”, which is to say he is a sort of jack of all trades of the underground, and has been so for over twenty years. He loves being at the eye of the artistic storm where performers, press, listeners, culture, language and history all fly around, bumping into each other. As a self-professed “word nerd”, a follower of Heschel’s “words create worlds” maxim, his main focus has always been writing, which he has done copiously in both his native languages, English and Portuguese – for instance, he served as a Senior Writer for Terrorizer magazine for eleven years, and is currently chief of staff for LOUD! and part of the writing staff for Zero Tolerance and Decibel –, but has pursued other activities such as radio hosting, publishing, DJ, photography, PR, management and more. He loves interviewing musicians and music-related people and getting the best out of the message they transmit to the audience, which is why he hosts a “slow listening” podcast where different guests talk passionately about their favorite songs each week. This kind of expertise has led him to be frequently asked as a moderator and/or curator for panels associated with events like Roadburn, Amplifest or SWR among others. José also maintains his own website, The Devil’s Mouth, which the aforementioned podcast of the same name is a part of, a labour of love designed to help spread the word on unconventional music of all genres. Behind all of José’s professional guises, lies essentially a profound love of music and an unshakable will to shine a light on the less exposed artists and help them reach their deserved audience.
David Kaiser (Blood Blast Distribution, DE)
David's first forays into the music industry date back to late 2013 and working in the music industry full time since 2015 either with labels, directly with artists, or festivals where his main focus lied on discovering exciting new ways of using media, marketing, and distribution possibilities. New ways to help artists increase visibility, following, and streaming numbers led him to Believe in Hamburg to build and establish the new distribution unit Blood Blast Distribution. He is trying to strengthen awareness and exposure of heavy music on all digital platforms with a dedicated international team on any artist level from independent newcomers to already established acts.
Sarah Kitteringham (Bandcamp, FI)
A lifelong metal maniac, Sarah Kitteringham joined the Bandcamp team four years ago. In addition to providing Support for Artists & Labels on the site, she is a metal journalist who reviews albums, dissects international metal scenes, and conducts interviews for Banger Films and Decibel Magazine. Sarah recently penned the liner notes for reissues of Cirith Ungol's Frost and Fire, Reverend Bizarre's Heavier than Life, and the Pagan Altar discography. When she isn't assisting musicians or writing about heavy metal, she spends her time painting, foraging for mushrooms, and performing in the epic heavy metal band Smoulder.
Jerome Riera (Nuclear Blast, FR)
After 15 years as a professional musician in various French rock and metal bands, from independent to signed artist, Jerome worked as a consultant for labels, advertising companies, and brands to create content, cooperation, events, and digital strategies between music and brands. He founded, in 2014, the first Consulting agency dedicated to entertainment and brand content based on matching social data analysis, with clients like Live Nation, Nike, Universal, Lacoste… In 2019 he joined Nuclear Blast and Believe, coming back to his first passion, music, combined with the experience from his marketing years.