You may not know the name Zach Sobiech, but you absolutely should. This week, we lost Zach to a rare form of bone cancer, but not before he was able to inspire millions with his story and music.
In 2009, at age 14, Zach was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a disease with no viable treatment. Several operations and bouts of chemotherapy followed, but last year, doctors told him that the cancer had spread and that he only had a few months to live. Zach funneled the frustration and fear of that diagnosis into “Clouds,” a goodbye ode that has accumulated millions of YouTube views and a surge of support towards his story via CNN, Billboard, and a host of other media outlets.
I’ve worked with Zach’s record label, Rock the Cause, for the last two years and followed Zach’s story every step along the way — as local press turned to national press and national press turned to a record album charting on the Billboard Heatseekers and Folk Charts. The most astounding part about Zach was that while each piece was about him, it was never actually about him. Zach never let the dire complexity of his situation derail him and continued doing what he loved to raise funds to support others diagnosed with his disease.
Last week, as Zach was nearing the end of his time with us, a host of celebrities contributed to a cover version of “Clouds,” a fitting goodbye to a young man trying to find the best way to express that very sentiment. So, minimize the e-mail you’re writing, the text you just received, or whatever other ancillary task is currently holding your attention, and check out the video below. Zach may be gone, but he will not be forgotten.
All proceeds from “Clouds” go to the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund, which you can donate to and read more about here.
At The Orchard, we value that our clients are also our partners. As such, they constantly keep us on our toes and challenge us with new ideas and suggestions that help us improve our service and our products. Every expression of a need, every communication of a wish, every outreach for support helps us stay ahead of the curve while always keeping our clients’ best interest top of mind.
Penned by our client managers themselves, here are 15 examples of how clients have pushed us to improve and be the best partners that we can be.
Arti Farti — Arti Farti is a leading Scandinavian client and home to superstar DJ & producer, Rune RK. The Nordic territories can work very differently, often with much shorter lead times. Working with them, we have grown to further understand the importance of close communication, particularly in native tongue, in order to execute quality campaigns under sometimes challenging circumstances. By working closely, we have secured outstanding retail and interactive results, including VEVO UK premieres and playlists, and #1 chart hits. –Emilie Snellman
Body & Soul — As a label, Body & Soul is a living encyclopedia of Jazz — a unique concept of releasing recordings based on a completely “chronological” approach which brought us the challenge of gaining them the same recognition they had in the “physical” world. With 1.5 million CDs sold, their expert knowledge of the genre has helped us adapt specific pricing strategies: Best Of’s by great names such as Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, but also prepare new work around streaming stores with playlists prepared together including great tracks from other lesser known artists. Check out: A History of Jazz/Une histoire du Jazz: 100 tracks. –Ben Oldfield
Cleopatra Records – Cleopatra Records puts out an incredible number and range of releases through The Orchard – from historical speeches to Broadway plays to cutting-edge dubstep. As a result, they’ve forced The Orchard client team to learn how to handle metadata rules for every single type of release across the entire spectrum of deliverable content. In addition, the label has been influential in helping us maximize our efficiency and improve deliveries for the future. –Jeff Stempeck
Cobra Entertainment — Our friends at Cobra are always pushing the boundaries of compiling Classical music. Focusing on quality music at an affordable price, they have come up with an amazing formula that just works, all the while creating thematic compilations that are truly relevant with today’s trends. These high-volume compilations have really kept us alert when it comes to Classical metadata rules, as these can be tricky for even the most seasoned professional. –Jeremy Sponder
Farol Música – As part of one of the most important media groups in Portugal, they definitely contribute to bringing top local Portuguese content and artists much closer to us, and also challenge us to learn how to market top international artists in the territory, such as Katie Melua. –Eulalia Rafols
