Music Ally Focus

Ep 173: We're refreshing Focus (or should that be re-Focusing?) for our many music marketing listeners – we'll now be publishing regular episodes that spotlights recent excellent music marketing work. We're calling it "Genius Steals", so get ready to be inspired as regular host Joe Sparrow asks the stupid questions to Music Ally's marketing expert Marlen Hüllbrock.She'll explain why a bunch of great campaigns caught her eye recently, including a Lily Allen USB stick that you might get behind, Sleep Token's colouring book, The Kinks' tea, and lots more. Also: is Marlen smug about her Spotify Wrapped Age? (Yes, she is.)It's ideal for anyone who wants to get up to speed quickly and be inspired by* good recent marketing ideas.=====Music Ally's team is constantly on the lookout for the latest and greatest music marketing campaigns. download - for free! - our huge Campaigns of the Year report for 2025 here: https://musically.com/best-music-marketing-campaigns-of-the-yearAnd dig into all our marketers' resources right here: https://musically.com/marketing-insight=======Here's a load of links to all the stuff Marlen mentioned:Lily Allen (https://www.instagram.com/p/DRzjmtIjOGF/?igsh=dGttbWc0bTdpYnRl)• Lily Allen (https://lilyallen.tmstor.es/product/west-end-girl-usb-nrd)• Fred again.. (https://www.reddit.com/r/fredagain/comments/1pdi19n/usb_necklace/)• TOMORA (https://www.instagram.com/tomora)• TOMORA (https://soundcloud.com/tomoraofficial/ring-the-alarm?si=6d087a14f2ca44bf9ef224a0fb000418&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)• Sofi Merone (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRzsZJYDZc1/?igsh=YTR2eGg0MW1zNmkx)• Sofi Merone (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR78m79jdJV/?igsh=dGF4YjkwYzA1eHcy)• SAILORR (https://www.instagram.com/p/DR5k_JMASWs/?igsh=dW4waWV4eWxkc2R1)• The Kinks (https://thekinkstea.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopokPr8qjspz3-4VY96ARYCj5VpGMKLREN4_TeWaPYV2rW7k4Hg)• berlioz (https://krankbrother.seetickets.com/event/berlioz-presents-deep-in-it/finsbury-park/3560930?pre=pre&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email)• JADE (https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1peg1x8/jade_thats_showbiz_baby_the_encore/)• Sleep Token (https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/sleep-token-coloring-book-even-in-arcadia-album-1236130093/)• Eli (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRLC713Y/)• Eli (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRLXJBuq/)• Eli (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRLXNhNQ/)• Gunna (https://www.instagram.com/p/DR2nl-eEZcC/?igsh=MTU4Yzk3M2kwcWp0ag==)• Katseye (https://www.instagram.com/p/DRiQpMvDyS8/?igsh=MW00dHQ4eWE3YXJoNQ%3D%3D)*genius steals, remember

Ep 172: Taking the pulse of music-tech in 2025. We asked Music Ally’s head of insight, Stuart Dredge, to chat to our managing editor Joe Sparrow about the state of music-tech – and they talk in depth about AI doing your admin, the proliferation of tools designed to empower artists, direct-to-fan monetisation tech,  and more!This podcast connects to Music Ally's latest Insight Report on music-tech in 2025 (https://musically.com/category/reports). This year is the third “Year Of AI” in a row, by our reckoning. So how will people in the industry actually use AI – and in mundane ways? How much can be automated and when do humans need to step into the decision-making process? And if you automate away the mundane tasks, where do entrants in the industry start?

Ep. 171: We speak to Idan Dobrecki, the co-founder of Aiode, an AI music-making platform that emphasises two key features: its ethically-trained system that shares earnings with the musicians whose music is used, and its “virtual collaborator” approach. Idan compares the latter to having a talented musician “riding shotgun”, and music producers can call on the skills of the virtual (real) musicians to augment their songs.If you’re wondering how that works from a music production perspective, you can hear it working in real time in this episode. Idan also chats to Music Ally Editor Joe Sparrow – in this episode made in collaboration with Aiode – about the future integration of AI with the music industry as a whole, and to music production in particular; the ethical use of music training data, and how doing it ethically “makes better business sense”; and how sharing money with rightsholders makes for a better product. Aiode: https://aiode.comMusic Ally Co-Labs: ⁠⁠⁠musically.com/music-ally-co-labs

A quick bonus episode for you all, in case you have missed our new, other podcast, The Price of Music, your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. (You can follow it here on your platform of choice: Spotify / Apple / YouTube / other)In the most recent episode, presenters Steve Lamacq ands Stuart Dredge get stuck into...Listener Richard had a great question about music journalism – and Steve has a lot to say when answering: what’s changed about music journalism, whether music journalism is still important, where the music print media has gone, and what the future of music writing holds.(Plus - does Steve get paid when his 1991 “Nevermind” NME review is re-printed today?)Stu’s Big Number is 75 million – and they are “spam tracks” that Spotify has removed from its service in the last year alone. But what on earth is a spam song anyway?What extra information do artists need to attach to their songs when they upload music? Spotify has new rules around AI music – so what’s banned, and what’s not banned?TikTok is apparently about to be sold in the US (maybe) – but why is TikTok so important to the music industry?Why are old Billie Eilish and Rihanna songs re-emerging to huge popularity?The Great Record Shop Album Filing Debate rumbles on – where would you file Elton John – “E” or “J”? And if you like this podcast you can join Steve and Stu in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans.

Ep. 170: We bring you a bumper episode of Music Ally Focus, with four true domain experts, all sharing their advice, insight and strategies for you to use. (UPDATE: we fixed a surprising number of audio glitches!)Music marketing is in a transitional era where traditional funnel marketing rubs up against wallet-draining superfan campaigns – and the desire to create deep, narrow direct-to-fan communities that will support an artist forever.So... what's the right path? It's about building a community of people who are thrilled to be part of a fanbase, and who love spending time with each other. But this kind of fanbase might not generate those giant social media or streaming numbers that labels love. So what needs to change? It's a combination of hard work, daring to look past old behaviours, and "random acts of kindness", our experts say. Our springboard was this article that guest Simon Scott wrote about music discovery and fan commitment: https://musically.com/2025/07/10/how-music-discovery-and-fan-commitment-are-inextricably-linked/Guests are, in A-Z order:Aaron Bogucki – founder of direct-to-fan services company Big Cookie Keziah Reed – Digital Marketing Manager, Artist Services, UK, at BelieveRobyn Elton – Head of Artist Strategy (Audience) at agency BlackstarSimon Scott – Founder & CEO of fan engagement technology company Push entertainment