Nigerian singer-songwriter Omo Phola has comarketed with fellow musical groups Spred the Dub and Mizdrea. Here’s what he has to say about his experience with artist matching and comarketing at youbloom.

1. Could you tell us a little about your music and where you are from?

I am an afro pop afro dance hall artist, songwriter and performer. Originally, I am from a Nigerian base in South Africa.

2. Have you previously partnered in any way with other artists? If so, could you tell us about that?

I have not partnered with any artist outside of youbloom.

3. What inspired you to match and comarket with other youbloom artists? 

Because of my goal of booking gigs and expanding my brand, matching and comarketing appealed to me.

4. Has comarketing with other artists with youbloom grown your fan base?

Yes.

5. Would you like to perform together with artists with whom you have comarketed? 

Yes, I would love to perform with Mizdrea and Spred the Dub.

6. Would you like to collaborate in song writing with artists with whom you have matched and comarketed?

Yes, I would love to collaborate with the artists I comarketed with.

7. What do you think the future holds for artist partnering in general?

Artist partnering is going to help artists in the future expand their reach and cross platform promotion. 

10. Would you consider giving us an artist matching/comarketing testimonial we can share with other artists and fans?

Yes, I got more recognition through artist matching/comarketing.

Connect with Omo Phola

Facebook • Instagram • Youtube • Twitter 

Play high quality curated shows in new cities, towns and countries. Working together with other emerging, independent music artists and bands, around the world, similar to you in genre, location, etc.

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youbloom Interviews • Makings • Comarketing • Artist Partnering • Music Collaboration

• Virtual tour • Music marketing • Find similar artists • Music collaboration • Emerging 

Will your band make it big in the music industry?… Maybe it’s easier than you think!

“…the kids all dream of making it, whatever that means…” (Arctic Monkeys). 

There is a known fact in the music industry that only a small percentage of artists will ‘make it big.’.  Analytics company, NextBigSound (now a part of Pandora), completed a study back in 2013.  They found that, of the over one million artists they were tracking, over 90% were considered undiscovered.  Further to that, only 1% of the ‘discovered’ acts could be considered to be mainstream artists.  Certainly the odds of megastardom have only decreased in 2021, with the loss of hundreds of grassroots and independent music venues hindering music careers before they even began. 

This could be considered a grim statistic for a musical artist in 2021, whether you are playing in your Mom’s garage or even if you are a regular fixture at a local venue.  It’s like holding a lottery ticket for a promotion in your career and never really knowing if your numbers will come up.

Fortunately there is hope.  Kevin Kelly wrote an essay back in 2008 entitled, 1000 True Fans. This economic theory is essentially a quality-over-quantity approach, suggesting that  a person with a product to sell, a musician for example, can make a successful career by concentrating on marketing to just 1000 fans. He remarks, “it is always easier and better to give your existing customers more, than it is to find new fans.”

This concept has only been perpetuated by the increase of crowdsourcing opportunities and the ability to access a worldwide market via the internet.  At youbloom we champion this idea, offering many opportunities to develop your 1000 true fans. Our recent facility, ‘Artist Matching and Comarketing’ offers an opportunity to market yourself alongside another artist, in a different city, state or country, expanding your reach to other like-minded communities.  There is no limit to the amount of comarketing you can do, for example, if a different artist is comarketed with each  month for five years, it would equate to sixty partnerships in locations all over the world.  This would further increase the chances of developing a solid fan base and thus a successful career in the music industry.  This potential growth is exasperated by another of youbloom’s concepts; Artist Request.  Artists are able to be requested to perform by their fans, creating a touring network across the globe.  Even during these tough times with the pandemic, youbloom has been continuing to connect emerging artists across the world via their Virtual World Tour.

Here at youbloom, we encourage emerging artists to forget playing the lottery with your career, we want to give you the tools to help you grow your fan base and develop them into what Kevin Kelly refers to as “true fans.”   This way everyone has the opportunity to win, not just the 10%…

…Take control of your own career, increase your odds of winning, go to www.youbloom.com for more information on how to be involved.

“I’d rather be working for a paycheck, than waiting to win the lottery” (Bright Eyes).

1. How long would you like to go on tour in the first place? 

While this might seem like a simple question, it is still something that every performer has to keep in the back of their head. Trying to get a tour can be a challenge when you might not know how many places you want to visit in the range of a few weeks to a few months, depending on your preference. It’s very critical for your finances to have a set amount of dates planned, that way you don’t put yourself in a bad situation in case the shows don’t work out properly. With virtual tours during COVID, expenses can be greatly reduced, allowing you to tour longer while still getting to “see” and be “seen” in cities! 

2. Touring with COVID in effect

Working on a tour with COVID-19 restrictions has been a challenge. It means that you’d have to navigate the varying precautions that all the cities and countries have in place. As much as you may want to perform at a favorite site, unable to conduct live performances at all is a worse possibility if things go wrong. No matter how tempting it may be to do something, you have to remember what is safest for everyone involved. With how the health situation is in the world, keeping your fans and your bandmates safe is a number one priority until COVID is under control. 

3. Finding close sites to tour with

Even when there is not a health crisis affecting the world, the cost of travel is still something that all bands have to worry about. If you are still starting out, then it may be best to work with areas in closer proximity to your hometown. Even better, why not work with something that is in your hometown? It could be a good starting and ending spot for a tour if you believe that would fit it best. Regardless, working from home in a tour aspect is always a strategy that makes for a good starting point in your first tours.

4. Working with touring sites and performances

Whenever you go on tours, it is important to try and work with what you want to use in your performance. Would you want a small crowd or a huge crowd? This all plays a part in determining what sites you could use to book a tour. It’s always key to have plenty of sites in mind, and backups as well. There is always a chance that you could get denied a chance at a place of interest, or have a plan change at the last second. Tour changes are part of every musician’s career at some point, whether it’s your own choice or someone else’s. Just be prepared for sudden changes, no matter who it comes from.

5. Go on Virtual tours when available

youbloom is now accepting applications from artists who want to go on virtual tours, as a substitute for in-person tours. Those interested can apply here to get a chance to perform on a virtual world tour.

Thanks to youbloom local CityReps, virtual concert attendees are able to get a taste of local as well as touring artists. Whether it’s in Ottawa, Calgary, Dublin, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds or Lagos (with more cities being added each month), music lovers are able to enjoy the best of emerging music from around the world and are able to request artists to perform for them again virtually and live. During the artist Q&A, there’s a chance to connect with your audience as well.