TikTok

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari is joined by the completely independent and incomparable neo-soul artist and producer, Madison McFerrin (recorded live at the Labelcoin x Roland House at SXSW last week).

The Rare Occasions are an LA-based, New England-bred indie rock band known for their explosive garage rock anthems with catchy vocal harmonies. In 2021 the band released their first album as a trio, Big Whoop, which received significant press and radio play. Around the same time, their 2016 track “Notion” went viral on TikTok and continues to make waves, topping Spotify’s viral chart in the US and several other countries, and later landing on Billboard’s alternative charts and top 100 singles charts in the UK, Ireland, and Canada. The Rare Occasions released their new EP, Attaboy, on November 4th, 2022. The first single off the EP “Seasick” has already garnered the attention of radio DJs across the country including SiriusXM’s Alt Nation with the second single “Not Afraid” being an explosive follow up. After sharing Attaboy’s hard-hitting riffs, danceable grooves, and ear-catching melodies with audiences across the nation on their Fall 2022 headline tour, the band has shifted its efforts towards new music in 2023.

Our guest this week on the New Music Business is Dan Runcie, the founder of the podcast and research group Trapital.

Our guest this week is Alex Ciccimarro, the Vice President of Marketing at RCA Records. In this episode, Ari and Alex dive deep into the digital marketing endeavors across Atlantic and RCA Records, why artists don’t need to be on all social media in order to be successful and how to embrace the future of music fans.

Do you want to know who the most powerful gatekeeper in the music industry is right now?  No, it’s not a Spotify playlist editor. It’s not a major label A&R. It’s not even a person. It’s the TikTok algorithm.  TikTok is currently the most powerful free promotional tool that musicians have at their disposal.