Hanita Bhambri is an up and coming Indie singer-songwriter from Delhi. Her latest release of her single 'Let Me Go' has garnered almost a million views over Youtube in a month and gotten attention from publications like Rolling Stone Magazine, RSJ, Score magazine and many more. We speak to her about her amazing Music Video Launch and what steps she took to achieve this 'Overnight Success.'
I have a background in marketing and brand management. I started out with specializing in marketing from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and did my masters in brand management from MICA, Ahmedabad. All my life I was a closet-songwriter till I finally found the courage to share my music in early adulthood. Even then a
Tell us about your background and how you got started with your career in Music.
I have a background in marketing and brand management. I started out with specializing in marketing from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and did my masters in brand management from MICA, Ahmedabad. All my life I was a closet-songwriter till I finally found the courage to share my music in early adulthood. Even then a Career in music seemed like a distant dream. Slowly, I felt I was drifting farther and farther away when even in a stellar internship that I had, I was unhappy. Because what I wanted was to write music and share it with the world. I opted out of placements and decided to do "something" in music, having no idea where I wanted to head. I spent almost a year learning music with Adhiraj Mustafi as my mentor and after a lot of soul searching and fighting tonnes of self doubt, traveling across different cities in India I got here
.
How did you plan the release? What was your budget and what went into it?
I wanted to launch myself with a powerful video, telling my story to show people that I have arrived. I worked closely with my director, Ishani Das to tell my story. Even though I have studied marketing, yet it was ironical that I found it insanely difficult to market myself. Maybe because I'm extremely attached to my work. I had a very humble budget for marketing as I had spent a lot on recording the song and shooting the video. So I reached out to people who saw me sacrifice everything for my dream - my community at MICA. All current students, my batchmates, juniors and seniors, the faculty - everyone. They all backed me, and within 1.5 days we reached what was my month's target - 10K views on YouTube. People were sharing everywhere, the streams and views kept on stacking. I invested in digital marketing to reach out to newer audiences. I reached out to multiple influencers across different fields whose work I liked and connected to. I wrote a lot of emails, and soon enough influencers started sharing, and my community expanded overnight.
Share with us the step by step sequence that you followed.
- Set goals
- Find a producer and bandmates. Try finding a manager too.
- Travel to different cities and build a fan base.
- Rehearse a lot - exchange feedback with your producer always.
- Choose a recording studio.
- Record - keep pushing, feed everyone, make sure everyone is relaxed and track your progress while recording.
- Plan the release - list out stuff you need to get done.
- Artwork - decide how you want to brand yourself - colors, logo, positioning.
- Photoshoot.
- Decide your distributor.
- Find a director for the video.
- Marketing plan - get all content in place and write to influencers who can share your music, get you on the radio.
- Release day - Share, share, share!
Share with us a story about the most difficult thing during this process and how you dealt with it.
My eight month old puppy passed away a couple of days before the shoot of 'Let me go'. To find the strength to work through that pain was the most difficult thing. I don't think I dealt with it that well. He taught me how to be brave even when you're afraid and in pain, so I soldiered through it all because I wanted to make him proud.
What were the outcomes of your promotion?
The release was a success in many ways but foremost in reaching out and getting attention from the industry as a whole.
YouTube: 85k + views (As of August 31st, 2018)
Streams on Apple Music: 15k+ streams
Got Featured on multiple playlists and radio channels on Apple Music, and on 'Indie-an Rock' on Spotify.
Influencers from the field of music, fashion, art, photography shared and appreciated my work.
Social Media Followers doubled within 10 days.
Industry maestros and honchos got impressed with my work.
I have been featured and had reviews in Rolling Stone Magazine, RSJ, Score magazine, OK listen, Kerosene Digital and A humming heart.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ngM9qJeREU[/embed]
What advice for would you give to the Musicians that are just starting out?
Just this - Be kind to yourself and don't be afraid to ask for help.
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Music Release Done Right With Hanita Bhambri
Hanita Bhambri is an up and coming Indie singer-songwriter from Delhi. Her latest release of her single 'Let Me....
September 04, 2018