Today, we're diving into the world of Volume.com's groundbreaking Artist Accelerator Program, by speaking with Jon Romero, Volume’s Chief Marketing Officer.
This initiative promises artists an array of unparalleled opportunities, from playing at the esteemed BeachLife festival to securing grants and beyond. Read on to get a look inside not only the program but how it can be used for growing your music career.
Thanks for taking the time to speak with Kill the Music! You’re launching a really exciting Artist Accelerator Program that has some incredible perks for artists, including access to opportunities like playing BeachLife festival, grants, and more. We’re always trying to bring as many opportunities as possible to artists here; can you tell us a little more about it?
Likewise! Helping artists is at the core of Volume.com and is the genesis of this program. We want to provide artists with opportunities that can help them with their music. The program is pretty simple. Sign up for a Volume account, enroll in the Accelerator program, and then GO LIVE!
Perform for your fans, play that new song for them, and let your other social communities know when you do! Go live and perform before Aug. 31st, and you can be chosen to represent our streamer community and perform at Beachlife.
What is the significance of the Artist Partnership between Volume.com and The Foxies? How can indie artists look to this as a model for their own opportunities within Volume?
The Foxies are an amazing band that is building their community, and Volume wants to help them. This again showcases our artist-first mentality at Volume.com, we are always looking for ways to help artists leverage their assets and community. The Foxies just went on an overseas tour and were able to capture performances, and now, together with Volume, we get to help produce these streams for the artists to showcase to their community.
It’s a win-win for both the Foxies and Volume. Volume is helping to produce these shows with video edits, audio mixes, and streaming tech and our platform. We always look to surround our artists in different ways they might need assistance
Can you elaborate on the criteria for artists to be eligible to perform at the BeachLife Ranch Festival through the Volume Artist Accelerator Program? Are there any specific requirements?
We kept this first big opportunity as simple as possible: we ask artists to sign up for a Volume.com account, enroll in the program (so we can ensure we are tracking the artists), and then start streaming to your audience. Let your community know you plan on going live on Volume.com and then go LIVE on or before Aug. 31st.
We are a music community, so we encourage artists to perform a few songs for their fans, take some questions, or showcase a new song or album. Artists can also receive tips during their live streams and keep 100% of the revenue after process fees.
How does Volume.com support artists in terms of monetization and engagement with their audience? Could you explain the various options available to artists for monetizing their content on the platform?
Volume.com is built to engage, cultivate, and monetize a music community. We know performances are at the core of fandom, and Volume provides a platform for artists to share these most valued assets. With our tools, artists can offer free live streams (and collect data on these top fans), ticketed shows, fan subscriptions, exclusive and archived content, and artist tipping, with artists keeping 100% of all tips after fees.
Let’s talk about live streaming. How do you see it working into an artist’s existing tour or in-person show schedule? What are some of the benefits?
Like I said before, live performances are one of the artist's most valued assets. When artists go on tour to play shows, they take up valuable time to hit a small number of top fans. Building live streaming into an artist's current schedule is one great way to cultivate these top fans who are willing to log in when they are not able to join IRL.
This is also an opportunity to offer something special to those top fans who will go to IRL’s and are also willing and excited to log on whenever an artist offers a digital experience. to whatever an artist is doing. This makes way for live-streaming tour passes and fan subscriptions that give access to more of the artists to these top fans who will consume it all.
Can you highlight some of the notable artists who have streamed on Volume.com in the past, including the festivals and sessions they've participated in? What has been the impact of these streaming sessions on their careers?
Volume has had some amazing artists on the platform streaming historic performances to their digital audience. We have streamed the Beach Life festival for multiple years and have had artists like it. Steve Miller Band, John Fogerty, Sheryl Crow, 311, Weezer, Black Pumas, Vance Joy, Stone Temple Pilots, The Black Crowes, and Lord Huron. We work with artists like String Cheese Incident to bring livestreams to their community, with a hardcore fan base that won’t miss a show.
Then there are artists like the Foxies, who stream with us, then we worked them into getting onto our Beachlife stage the next year, and now we have just launched our next phase with a partnership with them. We are looking to impact artist careers in any positive way we can, from large to developing.
Could you elaborate on the Volume venue network and the locations it covers?
The Volume Venue network is a network of wired venues that we have partnered with to help them develop their venue’s live-streaming community. Venues across the country have built loyal patrons and communities around the music they have cultivated. We help them develop this community online through live streaming. We surround our venues in whatever way they might need, from help with video installations to virtually controlling the cameras and stream to just leveraging pre-existing live-streaming production and getting more artists to leverage that in their venue.
We have partnered with historic venues like 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, Bitter End in NYC, Nectars in Burlington, VT, and Basement East in Nashville. We also work with many other venues when possible, and artists are looking to stream in connection with existing dates outside our partner network of venues.
Volume.com also hosts podcasts like Chris Shiflett’s Shred With Shifty. What are some of the other podcasts you offer and how do they contribute to the platform's offerings?
Yes, we have some amazing music podcasts on Volume. One is “Shred with Shifty” hosted by the amazing guitarist Chris Shiflett. It’s a must-see podcast to get a glimpse of these solos played by the artists while getting the story behind them. It’s been a must-watch for music fans, and Chris has more amazing guitarists to come!
Another podcast on our platform is Andy Frasco’s World Saving Podcast, with the amazing artist Andy Frasco. We are excited to work with Andy and are currently working on producing a live podcast episode on Aug. 30th at Ophelias in Denver. Tune in it’s a free live stream.
What’s one thing you wish all indie artists knew about Volume?
We strive to make artists understand our artist-first mentality, created to truly help cultivate and monetize your community. We are a great home, hub, and landing spot for these top fans, a place to collect and cultivate these communities.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Artists must go LIVE and perform, hang, take questions, showcase a new song or other live-streamed content on or before August 31st. So get signed up and let your communities know when you are going live and when you are live.