Raising Awareness

Charlotte-Artist-Signal

I uploaded five music tracks onto ArtistSignal,com on Friday 7th February. Most of my blog friends will have heard all the tracks before because they’re in the side panel of my blog, but I thought I’d let you know how I’m progressing with this new experiment.

The site describes itself: “ArtistSignal is a free social media platform, it allows listeners to vote for a ‘Top Artist’ each month and they give the ‘Top Artist’ $10,000 which allows the listeners to propel talented artists to the top of our platform and gives artists an entirely new avenue to grow their fan base.  Another $5000 is split between all remaining artists based on the amount of votes they receive during the month (excluding the #1 artist).”

When I joined the site I was listed as number 1688 and the current #1 artist was already on 13000 votes and adding around 2000 votes each day.  However, it has been quite exciting as I have worked my way up from a rank outsider to #88, I currently have 4350 votes.

All five of my songs are in ‘Discover’ , under the title ‘Top Songs’ that have been listened to this month.  It is great as all five of my songs are currently in the top 20 listened to 🙂
8th  Amor Commanda
14th Do Not Go My Love
17th O Waly Waly
19th Per La Gloria D’Adoravi
20th Widmung

Not bad to have all 5 of my classical/opera songs in the top 20 across all genres on the site 🙂  so even if you can’t vote as you have no Facebook account you could drop by and listen to my tracks and help propel me to the top of the ‘Top Songs’ league.  My brother did the maths when I asked him to vote for me and he said that it was impossible for me to win this month but I have been happy introducing many more people to my music.  You have to find different ways to catch people’s attention and help them rediscover the beauty of classical/opera music.

These are all songs I worked on in my first year at the conservatoire; they were recorded in one short session in June 2013 at the RCS, with the help of my piano accompanist and friend Danielle DiDonato on the grand piano and studio technician Tim Cooper.

Amor Commanda is an aria from the baroque period opera called: Floridante Act 3 Sc5 by George Handel in Italian.

Do Not Go My Love by Richard Hageman, a child prodigy; he was a concert pianist by the age of 6.  Hageman was born in the Netherlands but moved to America and eventually became an American citizen.  Do not go my Love is an ‘art song’.

O Waly Waly is also sometimes called The Water is Wide, it is a folk song of English origin, based on lyrics that date to the 1600s.  If you want to sing along here is my sing along version 😉

Per La Gloria D’Adoravi by Giovanni Bononcini, is from an Italian opera called Griselda.  This is probably the most famous song from the opera and was written for a Tenor called Ernesto.

Widmung (in English ‘Dedication’) by Robert Schumann opens his song cycle Myrthen (Myrtles) which features the setting of a poem in German by Friedrich Ruckert.

Charlotte-Artist-2

To help raise awareness of what I was doing I put a post on Facebook in the evening of 7th February and got 5,391 people to “like” the post. But then I figured out you are supposed to share a “link” so that the two sites could talk to each other.

My first link went on 11th February and achieved a further 3,221 “likes” but the likes don’t convert to votes sadly, so on the 15th February I posted another link to thank everyone for helping me reach #126 with 2251 votes in just one week 😉 . I’ve figured out that as voters can vote more than once, but only once per hour, there are groups of dedicated fans promoting other professional artists who are currently working across the industry; my target was to get into the top 100 which I’ve achieved in just four days which is brilliant. I got a further 2,370 Facebook “likes” too on that post.

Hopefully I have encouraged a few more people not to write off classical/opera but to give it a chance and discover, as I have, the true beauty of the songs and the enchantment that they can create.

What do you think about this idea?   Do you think it is a good platform for a trainee classical/opera singer to promote classical music ?   Does anyone have any ideas for me on how to get my vote out, my own parents can’t vote for me because they don’t have Facebook 🙁   lol otherwise I’d have racked up another 300 votes by now 😉 so they have to persuade my family and friends. Have you got any reservations about the concept?  if so you can leave your comments here, direct message me on twitter or e-mail at enquiries@charlotte-hoather.com.

UPDATE – here is an update on final outcome after just three weeks 🙂

During the competition I received many messages of encouragement from friends both old and new and I was excited to see my position change as I climbed through the chart. By the closing date I managed to make position #25 with over 11,000 votes and over 30,000 individual Facebook likes.

In their classical chart my five songs took the top 5 places and in their overall chart they were all in the top 9 ‘Top Songs’ for the month. So a big thank you to everyone that got behind me  🙂

Overall-Chart
Top Ten Chart From February ( all Genres )
Artist-Chart-Classical
Top Ten Chart from February ( Classical Tracks )

57 thoughts on “Raising Awareness”

  2. I think being on AS is a good idea. It does seem to work, as you are aware the current No1 is a Classical Crossover. You as a Classical artist are doing extremely well. If you remember, only last week you said your aim was top #100 but didn’t thing you would make it soon. Well how wrong were you 🙂 I will share your AS profile and hope for more votes for you

    Reply

    1. Thank you Kevin, I appreciate the help I’ve had from supporters such as yourself, the classical crossover market is a bigger market now and I’ve enjoyed listening to some of the newly composed songs.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  3. Any exposure you can get and inspiration you can give to others is a good thing I think.

    Bravo.

    Although I’m not FB equipped (and never will be) I’ll go to this site and click to listen a number of times if that will help boost your scores.

    There’s a way you can vote innumerable times on FB or other sites who use tracking cookies, but that might be unethical so don’t go purging cookies from you browser before each vote now, ya hear?

    The pics posted here today are absolutely fabulous, btw 🙂

    Best wishes and best luck
    Jim

    Reply

    1. Hi Jim, The only cookies I purge are the orange choc-chip variety from Millie’s Cookies. Glad you liked the pics. I bought the glitter ball dress from Top Shop for my brother’s university graduation and my Mum wouldn’t let me wear it at the ceremony (don’t know why? lol ). I wore it to the meal afterwards though he he.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Hi Dan, my parents have always been wary of Facebook and do not have accounts themselves, we weren’t allowed to have it at school.

      I hope in the future to have a fabulous career in the world of opera but currently as a student this was more about trying to support my studies and my student loans. My initial undergrad degree is four years. Like the majority of English students I’ve taken on a £36,000 tuition fee loan and a further £14,400 accommodation loan, my parents both work full time so they help with my living allowance which I top up by working in the holidays. I’m hoping to go on to a Master program which is a further two years which I must fully fund myself on top of my current loans. The tuition fees in England only rose from £3290 to £9000 pa the year I started lol.

      All the best
      Charlotte

      Reply

  8. How can one resist a lovely smile like that.
    Classical music will always remain. and it is beautiful to listen to. to inspire is what we al aim for and i think you do just that. Keep it up
    And some use there voice to use in bands. The classic voice with a touch of rock somehow does it for me as well.
    keep on singing and keep smiling that lovely smile

    Reply

    1. I read an interesting article by Rupert Christiansen in the Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10609765/Will-cinema-kill-the-opera-star.html
      Where he explores the possible effects of new trends in the opera world, streaming live shows into cinemas, internet opera downloads and he says, ‘the economics of this are insecure’. Mr Christiansen says that ‘the new HD and computer technologies theoretically offer wonderful possibilities for audience expansion, but ironically not in the direction required’.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  14. I wonder if there’s a category at the Grammys for classical music. If there is, I’ve never heard of it, but then, I haven’t watched or followed the Grammy nods in years. As for Facebook, I have a business and personal account. I actually spend less time on Facebook because it’s becoming a sea of ads and filling in personal information no one really needs. Social media, in general, is okay. Still, meeting people face-to-face, singing in front of a live audience..no replacement for that. It’s the best.

    Reply

    1. They do have the Classic Brit Awards so I’m sure there will be something internationally.
      I never know what to call my Facebook page (promotion page; fan site; fan page; business page? any ideas ?) I set it up in July 2013, there’s little interaction because I just don’t have time sadly and nothing is posted on to timelines. People keep asking me to ‘friend’ them but it doesn’t work like that.

      I agree there is nothing better than face-to-face performance with a live audience it really is the best, but to fill the seats you have to promote and help to create a demand especially if you’re not known.

      Best wishes and thanks Eric,
      Charlotte

      Reply

      1. Yes, on Facebook, you don’t have a personal “profile” you have a formal “page” which is usually for businesses, music artists, etc. I Googled your name. You have over 189,000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook; over 7,300 Followers on Twitter; in over 4,000 circles on Google+: over 30,000 views collectively on the Vimeo videos; all outstanding numbers.

        However, I would update your YouTube page and probably your official website (to make it more spiffy looking).

        Other than that, your social media outlets are doing very well. Just keep it up.

        Now, if you dare to take on more social media outlets for to increase exposure, Lord knows there’s certainly no shortage of them. You can add an official page to LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and even MySpace (which is geared for music artists).

        Most music artists, as you know, have Marketing/PR teams. I would suggest having a person or two to manage all these accounts for you to keep them updated and in-sync. I’ll write a post on my blog soon to give more insight. (Sorry for the long reply).

      2. Thanks Eric, if we’re counting you missed my 9494 bloggers 😉 lol.
        Thanks for your generous advice, da management is my parents, they do it for love 😉 most of my concerts are expenses only so I’m muddling along. My Dad was thinking about doing a wordpress website training course on line to bring my blog to date, but he works 50 hours a week so he has to make time at weekends.
        All the best
        Charlotte

  16. Just voted again. I had never heard of this site until you posted about it, but it looks like a good way for you and other artists to gain exposure. 😉

    Reply

    1. Thanks Iris, I got up early for a swim this morning and to get ready for a full study day. Just got back from RCS then back out again for our choir ‘Les Sirenes’ practice.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  18. Hi Charlotte

    I am “that” classical crossover artist who is currently in first place 🙂

    Good to see you’re getting opinions from your fans and friends. My experience has been very positive (even when taking into account some hassle from people who don’t like being outvoted, especially by classical artists) but I planned well for this month and it’s paid off.

    My tips:

    1. Pick a month (in advance) and really go for it. Check with your musical colleagues who have big fan bases to try to go for a month loads of classical artists will also go for, otherwise you won’t benefit as much from core, overlapping voters. Also, if you don’t win maybe don’t try again the next month, but rest your fans for a month or two, regroup, come up with new strategies and come back another month with guns blazing. Hourly voting by your super fans really takes over.

    2. Be careful!
    Artist signal is VERY strict on thing like automation, offering cash incentives to vote and offering rewards that rely on a win. Facebook login allows them to check who is voting for you for ultimate transparency. If they see a flood of voters that can be found via ‘click farms’ or from fiver.com they will disqualify you. Make sure your fans are aware of this too.

    3. Get your OWN fans!
    There are lots of people voting for other artists to ‘trade vote’. This has made Hype come unstuck this month because they were relying on support from other artists to win it this month. I came along with many mobilised superfans and have outvoted them by a long way.

    Good luck!! Oh, and thanks for voting for me this month, my fans have been returning the favour! 🙂

    Rebecca xxx

    Reply

    1. Hi Rebecca

      Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment. I know of you through Scarlett and it is great that you are providing her with some fabulous performing opportunities. I would have been over the moon to have been given such a chance at her age.

      I love to communicate with my friends here on my blog as they have given me so much sound advice and support over the past year. My studies take up the vast majority of my time and being able to call on such a wide and varied pool of experience has been such a benefit to me and I am so grateful to them. I don’t know if I would call them “Fans” as they are more like family friends to me. I originally started my blog to share my experiences whilst training and to give people a better understanding of what goes on during the formative years of an opera singer but in doing so it has introduced me to a lovely group of hugely supportive friends.

      I saw the ArtistSignal site in a Tweet and thought that I may as well give it a go. The prize money would be a great boost but realistically I would have been happy to break into the top 100.

      I have only got about an hour a day that I spend in keeping up with my social media and I doubt that I could realistically devote enough time to manage a campaign as you describe. I definitely could not ask any of my friends to do it for me as it would be a huge commitment and I am sure that they have enough on their plates 🙂

      I can’t offer any incentives as I have already given my tracks for free and I have no spare cash to provide incentives, even if they were allowed. I didn’t realise the process was so complicated and required the planning that you have described, which is a little naive of me I know. But it has been a very exciting experience and I am glad that I did it.

      I have been really humbled by the number of my friends both old and new who have given up their time to drop by my page and vote for me. I know what a commitment that is and I am really grateful to them but I don’t know if I could ask them to keep doing so.

      Whatever the result it has been a real blast and I wish you every success in your future career.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  19. It’s absolutely a wonderful idea. Any media that still respects you as an artist (or musician) that can help you get your voice out or support the music you love is worth using to your advantage. All those likes are going into the right direction, so encourage sharing.

    The folks I talk to on my blogging community (especially since I don’t post regularly!) are very different from my Facebook friends and different from my family, so I understand the cross-over issues if you want to push to get something out. But each platform is a different community that you could reach, and so it’s good to try multiple communities, even if it’s hard to get them to talk between each other. At least some are more enabled, like how WordPress can post to facebook, and whatnot, but you have to remember to post links to others. When it’s so meaningful like this is to you, people will start to share and disseminate the good things. Even with a bit of old fashioned word of mouth for networking. My father isn’t on Facebook, but I found out through him that my cousin and a close family friend were on there and would share anything – two whole different networks of friends!

    Like Jim wrote, we’ll all write “Help my friend Charlotte, please.” and amaze our friends with your beautiful voice.

    Reply

    1. You are so right about each platform having it’s own audience. I was asked to start a Facebook page by some visitors to my website as they said they did not have the time to follow my blog but wanted to keep up with my progress. I post links to blog posts their and small articles that I think may interest the Facebook users. I have done the same with Google+ and Twitter as other visitors have asked me to post there too 🙂

      But my blog is my first love and the place I always come back to as the friends that I have met here can always be relied on to provide sound advice and a real boost when i need one.

      Thanks for joining in and I hope to see you back here again soon.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  21. Wow!!!! What a fantastic idea, ,Charlotte! 🙂 Listening to your beautiful voice right now. I’ll now go and see where/how I can vote. By the way, you look stunning in that sparkly dress!! You know I always seem to ask, lol: where did you get this one? 😉

    Reply

  23. I checked it right now…I think you will definitely be among top 50. 🙂 Share the same post in your page multiple times, people are online at different times of the day, it’s a marketing technique 😉 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Gaurab, I’m not sure how to do that, my Facebook page is a ‘business’ page not a personal page so you can’t communicate the same with it :/
      Some of my family thought they’d voted by clicking the like button under my picture and lots of people don’t like signing up before they vote.
      Hope you’re having a fun weekend.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

      1. Last time I saw you were 29. I think you will definitely win it in the next month. 🙂 😀 You should post the link multiple times in all your social networks. 😉 It is already a good result considering you joined late. 🙂

      2. Thanks Gaurab, but I think I’m driving people nuts going on about Artist Signal AS on my Facebook 😉 and I’m also neglecting my blogging so although it’s been an interesting experience I’m pulling out at the end of February. Maybe if I had an album to promote or a big concert to shout about but I’ve got to concentrate on my German this trimester.
        It’s been frustrating that I’ve managed to attract over 15,000 likes on AS but they don’t count for anything not even one vote each, so there must be some reluctance or misunderstanding of the voting process by my friends.
        It’s also a big ask of friends to vote more than once and even every hour! I think my brothers and Nan will disown me if I do it again lol. My Mum sends them regular reminders to vote if she doesn’t see their numbers going up ha ha ha.
        I have seen lots of my blog friends supporting me and I am truly humbled and grateful for the support.
        Thanks for your continued support, best wishes
        Charlotte 😉

  24. This is really cool. Congrats on doing well. Obviously you already have tons of exposure and you leveraged that SUPER effectively. One strategy is you could probably get a well-known musician who blogs or is active on Facebook to give you a shoutout, which would expose you to all of their friends for potential votes.

    Seriously tho, I think classical crossover is going to be the next big thing. All the electronic guys are going to burn out and there is going to be TONS of well-educated classical musicians needing to find a way to make a career happen.

    Reply

    1. I’ve been trying to get a final boost of votes tonight for the last three days of the competition (have you got a Facebook 😉 )

      I have made several good contacts from the experience, an offer of a concert that I’m not sure I can fit in yet because of another commitment and some great advice.

      My Dad and our friends Terry and Les, who work in sales, have come up with some ideas but we’re putting them on ice for now 😉

      I’ve worked with lots of new composers and I think there is a market for new compositions of contemporary classical music for the new century.

      I’m interviewing a conductor friend for a blog article this week and I’ll ask him what he thinks the future holds for his generation of composers and conductors.

      All the best
      Charlotte

      Reply

  25. Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before
    but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
    Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!

    Reply

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