Sandbox Issue 244: How to Make a Big Artist Comeback
January 23, 2020
Lead: Don’t call it a comeback. Actually, DO call it a comeback. Fans today not only expect all the music in the world to be instantly available, they also expect every pop star to be available at all times. But musicians...
Welcome to the first Sandbox of 2020. Lead: It is now 10 years since we published the very first edition of Sandbox, so to start a new decade we speak to marketers from around the world about the tools and trends that shaped...
Sandbox Issue 242: The Year’s Best Music Marketing Campaigns. 2019
December 12, 2019
It is that time again when we highlight the best music marketing campaigns of the year. We genuinely were flooded with entries this year and therefore had to increase the number that made the final cut to 50 simply because...
Sandbox Issue 241: Music Merchandising Moves On
November 28, 2019
Lead: Billboard has just announced new chart rules around merchandise and album bundles in the US (effective from January 2020), seeking to close some of the loopholes that have been exploited here in recent years. This could...
Sandbox Issue 240: Music Marketing’s Wellness and Fitness Drive
November 13, 2019
Lead: Wellness and health have never been more culturally central than now – which is clearly a good thing. And within this, music is playing its part as acts soundtrack meditation apps and playlists power gym workouts....
Sandbox Issue 239: Music and Advertising’s tense union
November 4, 2019
Lead: The old rules of advertising are long gone – as is a lot of the inherent guesswork around advertising’s effectiveness. In its place has come greater tracking of ad spend and ad impact, but the entire process itself...
Sandbox Issue 238: Remixes Hit Saturation Point
October 17, 2019
Lead: Lil Nas X might have broken on TikTok but it was his deft use of multiple remixes (and collaborations) that kept ‘Old Town Road’ in the air throughout most of 2019. He claims he has 25 remixes of follow-up track...
Sandbox Issue 237: VIEWTUBE. When Music Video Plays Get Juiced
October 3, 2019
Lead: Sony Music India artist Badshah claimed to have broken the 24-hour record on YouTube for 75m plays of his track ‘Paagal’ in July. Then people started asking questions. It eventually emerged that the track’s success...
Sandbox Issue 236: Power Plays. THE NEXT STEP FOR PLAYLISTS
September 23, 2019
Lead: Playlists are still enormously important for breaking acts and for building careers – but they are increasingly a moving target that gets harder and harder to hit. As they change what they are, how they work and what...
Sandbox Issue 235: Talking TikTok Triumphs
September 5, 2019
Lead: TikTok is an essential consideration for artist marketing in 2019, particularly for pop acts. But for all the strategies and careful coordination, the best things on the app are often those that blindside everyone....
Sandbox Issue 234: The New Era Of Music Videos
August 8, 2019
Lead: In the 1970s, “pop promos” (as they were called) were the preserve of the mega-star act, but after the launch of MTV in 1981 they became standard practice across the industry. The arrival of YouTube in 2005 may...
Lead: Working with D2C experts is one part of the business, but changes in how social media sites are structuring themselves can offer acts new ways to sell products to fans of all stripes. We look at where social platforms...
