Here in the Product department, we’re always busy building cool stuff to make life (and business) easier for our clients. This time, we’re very pleased to announce the launch of a brand new Accounting section. Please, everyone, calm down. Excuse me, sir, can you put your shirt back on? This …
Videos are by far the most engaging form of social content. This isn’t exactly a new discovery, but there’s a lot of missed potential by bands that claim to have a YouTube presence. The common misconception is that your music videos go up on YouTube and you’re done. Although MTV …
Plugging — it’s a word we often hear in relation to promoting something, recommending it, giving it your stamp of approval. iPluggers does just that for your music, and it does it all around the world. With a 100% airplay guarantee (or your money back), iPluggers provides the platform for …
Meet our latest partner: Conduit Mobile. The mobile app creator is getting all kinds of press these days, and it’s not without good reason. Their sexy app offers every function you could dream of with the ease of use you’ve always wanted. What’s more, they’re compatible with all major mobile …
For avid readers of The Daily Rind, you might remember an article that was posted on songwriter/producer/artist Victor Newman back in July, 2011. Since that time, Victor has diligently been working in the studio as all of the above on a multitude of projects.
One of them is the recently released Down for which The Orchard is providing digital distribution courtesy of our label Lovelane Music Group. The smash single is “Cali’ Livin’” featuring the Doggfather, Snoop Dogg a.k.a. Snoop Lion, which is a tribute to the West Coast that you can bump out your speakers while in your vehicle. The title track, “Down,” is another energetic track that is sure to get couples on the dance floor with its funky beat. Victor continues with up-tempo Club tracks including “Patron,” “Till The Wheels Fall Off” and “Take Me Away.”
Towards the latter part of the release, Victor changes the pace. “She Ain’t Givin It Up” is about a girl that he is into, but she is reluctant to go all the way in their relationship. On “I’m Still Here,” despite being gone for an extended absence, he is always going to be around for his lady no matter what happens and vice versa. One of the standout tracks is “Mama Thank You,” where Victor gives props and love to his mother for being a wonderful parent who rode with Victor through thick and thin. The album’s finale is “Let’s Go,” another blazing track where Victor catches wreck on the microphone strutting his stuff.
Currently, Down can be downloaded on iTunes, eMusic and Amazon, or streamed on Spotify and Rdio.
In addition, Victor has been promoting Down in Dubai, where he also has a residence. You can check him out below doing an in-store at the Virgin Megastore there:
So, if you want to really be “Down” with what it is really going on, look know further than Victor Newman!
As part of The Orchard’s Creative Licensing team, we’re always on the hunt for interesting covers.
This month, we’ve assembled a playlist of some of of our favorite discoveries from the past year, including Albert Hammond, Jr. of The Strokes taking on the Big Star power-pop classic “Thirteen;” The Dandy Warhols‘ rumbling electronic-tinged rendition of The Cure‘s 1981 single “Primary;” AM & Shawn Lee‘s cosmic electro-soul update of Joe Jackson‘s 1982 hit “Steppin’ Out;” and much more.
Stream the entire playlist via Spotify below, and be sure to check it out on ShareMyPlaylists, too.
Introducing Desi Vach, Label Relations Manager, GSA (Germany/Switzerland/Austria)
Hello everybody! I am happy and excited to join The Orchard Team.
For almost 18 years, I have been living in Berlin. I graduated in Fine Arts/Acting and later in Audio-Visual Media. After meeting Gonzales and Peaches at a gig in London, I decided to work for the label Kitty-Yo. I did an internship there and worked in the International Department for 5 years.
Following that, I ran Weekender Records GSA; but once Weekender UK closed, Weekender GSA closed as well.
In 2009, I founded Snowhite, a Label, Management and PR company in Berlin representing bands like Anika, Eights Legs, Zoot Woman, The Bishops, The Sounds on its roster.
Working for The Orchard is a new challenge for me, which I am really excited about.
Besides music, I really love British TV series such as The Mighty Boosh, Doctor Who, The Hour etc; I do Yoga, play piano, really like dogs and enjoy being happy. :)
iHeartRadio passes 30m registered users
SoundCloud hires Pandora director, set to open New York office
Amazon rolls out Cloud Player app for PCs
That’s a lot of videos: YouTube now responsible for 17% of home Internet traffic
It’s no secret that online advertising has flocked to YouTube. The opportunity for advertisers to tap into an already engaged audience of viewers is too good to pass up. But with so many advertisers vying for a spot in front of the crowd, does the ad clutter ruin the experience? You’d be surprised.
Online advertisers now have to be more careful with their strategy. If your ad creates a barrier between the viewer and their content, they won’t be happy and neither will the content owner if they leave. The solution? TrueView Video Ads. This flexible ad format allows YouTube channel owners to monetize their videos without blocking their viewers’ experience. TrueView ads are skippable after 5 seconds and provide a refreshing alternative to brand barriers for everybody.
Channels
The decision to monetize YouTube content can be a difficult one if you have a specific brand presence that you’d like to maintain. Brands don’t want ads to alter their image or drive away viewers. But with over 3 billion video views per week globally, ads are becoming an expected part of the experience. Just because everybody else is doing it, does that mean you should too? Not necessarily. But it is comforting to know that the stigma associated with advertising on your content is fading and becoming more normalized.
TrueView ads give channel owners the best opportunity to monetize content without deterring viewers. Because the ad can be skipped after 5 seconds, viewers are more likely to stay and watch. In fact 15-45% of viewers stick around to watch the whole ad. This helps keep your viewers happy and your brand image intact. If you’re going to monetize, why not give your audience some options?
Viewers
It’s up to advertisers to compete for your attention. Campaigns have to be carefully catered to what you want simply because the power is now in your hands. Advertisers need you to watch their whole ad before they get paid. If their TrueView ad sucks and you skip it, they loose out. This introduces an interesting new level of competition to the mix. Advertisers are trying harder than ever to make creative, engaging commercials that you might actually want to watch. This improves the quality of everything you’re “forced” to watch and could occasionally produce a pretty cool commercial. Also, YouTube knows when they showed you a TrueView pre-roll last so you won’t have to sit through it on repeated views.
Advertisers
TrueView ads might be one of the most insightful campaign options available to advertisers. The simple fact that you can tell if a viewer skipped or watch the entirety of the ad can give you valuable information about your strategy. If you get viewers to actually choose to stay and watch your commercial, you’re doing something right. Some advertisers have even used TrueView to test the effectiveness of ad campaigns before pushing to a wider television campaign. You only pay for views on the whole ad which makes ROI an easier stat to track. YouTube has also seen click-through rates of up to 4% (3-4 times higher than other video ad formats).
The fact that there is more adversing happening on YouTube doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative thing. Competition is now a much more important part of the equation. High demand for space among advertisers and the ability for viewers to outright skip them means they have to produce knock out content every time. Nobody’s thinking “man, I’m really glad that Swiffer commercial came on before this Phantogram video,” but at least the potential is there.
