For well over a year, we have been locked in our homes, stripped of our fundamental rights to party… In the age of this nasty disease, artists are looking for alternatives to share their sweet tunes with others, and as such, listening parties are gaining popularity. In this article, we will discuss how to throw a listening party for your new song, album, or podcast, and get that party started!
There are various ways for conducting listening parties, but there is an app currently in beta called Listening Party that incorporates all aspects required to achieve a successful listening party.
For a listening party to be successful, three things need to be present: a way for listeners to talk, an accessible stream, and links to the song, album, or podcast that the artist is trying to promote.
Messaging
It is imperative to implement a way for listeners to have means to communicate with each other while listening to your music. These so-called chat rooms are essential for communication. There are various messaging services, but the beta app that we mentioned has a Twitter chat room built-in. Users have to log in to their Twitter accounts to participate in the conversation, but the messages will not be considered tweets. Once the real version comes out, more information will be available. Chat rooms are also a nice addition to listening parties because you can get those sweet reviews from your listeners, and also provide them an opportunity to communicate when communication is so scarce in the day of the virus, all we have left to do is wait for it to slowly, very slowly go away.
Stream
The app’s beta version has a built-in feature that allows you to directly stream music from your MP3 player. Anyone who wants to listen simply needs to click play from their device. A simple yet efficient way to allow people all over the world to enjoy your song, album, or podcast. The app also keeps all users in sync regardless of when they arrive so that a mutual discussion can occur without being out of tune. You can check their FAQ for more information about their streaming services.
Promotion
Right below the app’s player, you can link your album pre-order, online store, podcast mailing list, music video, or whatever you might think your listeners might look for. There is a lot of value if you look at the app from a seller’s perspective; you can link all your merchandise in one location for the masses to use. Besides the mentioned, you can also check our article on music marketing and perhaps use one of the mentioned strategies to improve your self-marketing skills further.
When will it launch?
Currently, the app is a self-service platform and does not possess a launch date. It is only available in beta mode. The founder plans to discover new features that might be missing from the product and add them before launching the final version. As such, it is a work in progress. Let’s give props to the creator of this app, because it will create an opportunity for many people all over the world to become a collective and enjoy music without borders.
How can you drive value?
A series of links will allow you to direct users to your products, and the app will generate awareness about your song, album, or podcast. You can link your record as a pre-save or pre-order, for example. A link to your online store may also be a possibility on the app. In the future, the app’s creator promises to include more features to bring more value to users.
How can I get more updates?
For development updates, follow Listening Party on Twitter. For major updates, sign up to the mailing list on listeningparty.com.
Alternatives?
There are various alternative methods for throwing a listening party. If you’re not interested in the mentioned app, you can take a more classical approach to throw a listening party. Following this link, you can learn more about the subject, and if that is not enough, check out this link as well.
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