On the Pulse of Pop Pod’s first episode, I sit down with Melbourne/Naarm indie pop singer/songwriter, Ally Eley. She's amassed over 1.7 million likes across her TikTok page, has written music for Eurovision Australia Decides and has even appeared on The Voice Australia in 2022.
We discuss the shift to artist content creation and its impact on artistry - not just for independent artists who have always had to self-promote, but now signed artists too. We also spoke about Grammy-winning artist, James Blake’s new subscription platform, Vault, and whether it will be a success in bringing music back to its core purpose.
Listen now and leave your thoughts below!
Transcript
ZK: You’re listening to the Pulse of Pop Pod your favourite podcast for all things pop culture, music and marketing trends. I'm your host, Zoe Koulbanis. Today we're in for an insightful dive into the world of music artists as content creators, but before we get into it, I'd like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation who are the traditional owners on the land on which I'm recording this episode.
With over 100,000 new songs being uploaded to Spotify every single day, it's a question of, ‘how does one actually stand out and grow a fan base?’ The rise of TikTok has meant that many artists, both independent and signed, are stepping into the role from simply being musicians, to also being their own marketer.
Today's guest is Melbourne pop singer/songwriter extraordinaire, Ally Eley. She's amassed over 1.7 million likes across her TikTok page, has written music for Eurovision Australia Decides and has even appeared on The Voice Australia in 2022. Welcome to the podcast! How are you feeling?
AE: I’m feeling good, thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here so thank you.
ZK: So, have you found yourself becoming more of a content creator over the last couple of years in order to promote your music and how do you find it?
AE: Yeah absolutely. I feel like being an artist nowadays means you have to really embrace content creation. You have to be your own marketer, you have to be a digital photographer and videographer and everything and yeah it becomes really overwhelming at times. I've started my music career and it's always sort of been like this where you have to create the content everything, whereas some people, let's say Missy Higgins for example, she in her earlier career wouldn't have had to worry about any of this, whereas now her label would be really pushing content creation.
ZK: 100% and you talked about Missy Higgins as an example but someone like that is a signed artist, so I guess from an outsider’s perspective they probably assume that being signed means - or at least it used to mean - that labels would take care of that marketing element…
AE: Yeah I've had some friends who are signed artists who are still, like every day, having to film 5 videos just so that they have enough content to satisfy their label. I've even had friends who have been threatened to be dropped from their label if they don't meet a certain amount of videos or don't get enough views.
ZK: Interestingly, Ally’s most popular TikToks have actually been non music related: from Karen's Diner vlogs to relatable work stories. While this is allowed for her infectious humour to shine through, the TikTok algorithm isn't really showcasing her musical content to that same extent… and it is still a question as to why.
AE: Look, I've found it’s mainly the ‘personality videos’ that are the ones that go viral. Other than when I was on The Voice, like if I'm posting a singing video, it tends to only reach that certain cap of people. I don't know if that has to do with this social media world we live in where the consumers are just craving authenticity and they're wanting to not just hear a song, but see the person who wrote the song. I'm not sure, if maybe that is the reason why that's happening.
ZK: With more artists voicing their concern over spending countless hours and tarnishing their musical brand for fleeting TikTok videos, UK artist, James Blake decided to launch Vault.com: a music subscription service which gives fans direct access to their music and fan interaction for monthly fee…but would this work for smaller artists?
AE: That would be amazing but whether it would work and whether people would choose to pay, rather than to get everything else for free, I don't know. Especially for smaller artists. I feel like someone like Taylor Swift could go on there and say, ‘this is an exclusive album,’ but then again does Taylor Swift really need any more money? Generally, I feel like it should be for independent artists who are like struggling to make money off their music but I don't know whether, unless you've got really devoted fans I don't know whether to many people will pay for that.
ZK: And in the words of Grammy-winning Vault creator, James Blake he said, “when somebody asks me how to get into a career in music, my answer cannot be: ‘become a content creator and sell products,’ I refuse.” he said. But perhaps this isn't the reality for most artists around the world.
AE: Artists are really expected to be active on social media and I feel like that's almost unavoidable if you want to get noticed at this point in time. Look, I that being said, I hope that we evolve and maybe there ends up being a way where artists can focus on their craft without having to constantly produce content to stay relevant, but I feel like it maybe is something we have to get used to.
ZK: On that note, no pun intended, that brings us to the end of this episode. Thanks, Ally, for all of your incredible insights once again, it's such an interesting topic to see how marketing and the music world is intersecting, especially on channels like TikTok. I'm your host, Zoe Koulbanis and stay tuned for more Pulse of Pop Pod episodes to come. Bye!
*Consent for audio to be recorded was obtained before recording begun.
Audio Credits
‘Girls in the Magazines’ acoustic performance. Music by Ally Eley. Used with Permission. YouTube.
‘Camera shutter clicking’ sound effect. Audio by Epidemic Sound. Used with a Pro Content Licence (Canva).
‘Party walls 3’ sound effect. Audio by Epidemic Sound. Used with a Pro Content Licence (Canva).
‘Rise - Down Lows’ sound effect. Audio by Epidemic Sound. Used with a Pro Content Licence (Canva).
‘Aurau’ ambient, calm soundtrack. Music by Rob Bridgett for Audiosocket. Used with a Pro Content Licence (Canva).
‘Fashion Hip Hop - Big Bell (instrumental)’ lo fi, hip hop soundtrack. Music by Krayolaklick for Audiosocket. Used with a Pro Content Licence (Canva).
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