Bright Light Bright Light - Choreography
“It’s very easy to compare yourself to other artists, but each case is different, so don’t confuse yourself by worrying what other people have achieved.” - Rod Thomas, Bright Light Bright Light
Bright Light Bright Light is the moniker of Wales-born, NYC-based electronic pop musician Rod Thomas, whose third album Choreography was released in July, featuring contributions from Elton John, Alan Cumming and Scissor Sisters. It reached No. 12 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Album Chart in the US and No. 1 on the Independent Album Breakers chart in the UK. The album was made available on double vinyl, CD and cassette, alongside merch items including posters, postcards sets, notebooks, stickers and badges, through a custom store built in to the Wix-powered brightlightx2.com. As an independent artist, self-managed and releasing records via his own label Self Raising Records, we were keen to pick Rod’s brain about building a fan base, balancing the creative and business sides of being an independent musician, and more: read our Q&A here.
“We were linking everyone to thelumineers.com and wanted to make sure the store was visible on the site and folks knew they had the option to purchase directly from us. It seems more conversational when folks purchase directly from your store.” - Grant Hathaway, Onto Entertainment
After a two month preorder campaign, The Lumineers’ new album Cleopatra was released on April 8th via Dualtone Records and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The band are committed to direct-to-fan and regularly give fans exclusive opportunities and VIP experiences through their Big Parade fan club, including first access to presale tickets for their world tour and being in the audience for the video for lead single Ophelia. They used Topspin to power direct-to-fan sales for the album through their website, with orders fulfilled by our Topspin Fulfillment warehouse in Kentucky, offering a range of bundles up to the Cleopatra Ultimate Package, which included deluxe vinyl, an album cover t-shirt, and a 100-page deluxe hardback lyric book including never before seen photos of the band during the recording process. Read our case study on how the band and their team used social media to drive sales of the album here.
Flume’s self-titled debut album topped the charts in his native Australia in 2012 and saw him go on to remix the likes of Lorde, Sam Smith, Arcade Fire and Disclosure. His sophomore album Skin was released in May this year and features guest appearances from Beck, Raekwon, Vince Staples, Little Dragon and AlunaGeorge, amongst others. He recently capped off a successful campaign by scoring two Grammy nominations- for Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronic Album. The album preorder through US label Mom & Pop included a beautiful, limited edition, marbled purple vinyl.
“That’s been the most coherent and successful D2C that we’ve done- Field Music- as a kind of longstanding project, building it up and getting fans. Saying- this is going to be worthwhile being part of this mailing list, because you’re going to know about stuff and there is going to be stuff on their website that is very particularly directed at you and special for you.” - Ollie Jacob, Memphis Industries
Former Mercury nominees Field Music, from Sunderland in the north-east of England, are one of the biggest acts on the excellent Memphis Industries label. They released their 6th album Commontime this year following a preorder campaign offering packages that included a signed, limited edition print alongside tickets for their UK tour. The album drew praise from the likes of Mojo and Pitchfork and became the band’s first release to make the Top 40 in the UK. Read our recent Q&A with Memphis Industries on running a label, managing Field Music, finding new artists and more over here.
Two Door Cinema Club - Gameshow
Indie-rock band Two Door Cinema Club, from County Down, Ireland, released their third album Gameshow in October. They teamed up once again with producer Jacknife Lee, whose previous credits include the likes of Weezer, The Cars and R.E.M, to make the record in LA. The band put together a deluxe vinyl package including double heavyweight colored vinyl, lyric booklet and an exclusive 7" vinyl single of Gasoline and Suckers, all housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve featuring alternate artwork to the standard formats. US fans who preordered the album direct from the band also received exclusive presale access for their US tour dates.
At the Drive-In - Live At The Fonda Theatre
At the Drive-In returned this year, bringing their first new music since 2001. Their world tour kicked off at The Fonda Theatre in LA with a benefit show for Smile Pediatric, “a developmental therapy center in LA that improves the lives of children through speech, feeding and occupational therapy”. We were pleased to work them to sell presale tickets direct to fans for the show (which, as expected, sold out in just a few minutes) as well as signed posters and t-shirts to help the cause.
Slightly Stoopid - Danny Way Skate Decks + EP
Another campaign for a good cause, San Diego fusion band Slightly Stoopid teamed up with skateboarder Danny Way in November to raise awareness for Grind For Life and The Sheckler Foundation, generating funds to provide financial assistance to cancer patients and their families and to educate and inspire patients and families concerning cancer survival and recovery. To that end, they put together 400 limited edition custom Plan B decks bundled with a new EP. The decks quickly sold out, with a new batch coming in the new year.
The Temper Trap - Thick As Thieves
Australian quartet The Temper Trap put out their third album, Thick As Thieves, this year, released in June by Glassnote. The album had been 3 years in the making and features production from Ben Allen, Pascal Gabriel and Malay. We built them a custom splash page through which the band sold some great preorder packages including t-shirts, white vinyl, and album artwork lithos.
A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation
Canadian DJ collective A Tribe Called Red have made a significant cultural and social impact in Canada alongside a renewed Aboriginal rights movement called Idle No More (read more about their activism here). They released their third album We Are The Halluci Nation in September, hitting number 7 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart; the album also scored an 8.1 review on Pitchfork, who called it ‘critical listening for everyone’. The group offered fans a variety of D2F packages including a Halluci Nation t-shirt, totebag and patch, sold through their Spinshop neatly embedded into their website at ATribeCalledRed.com.
Before You Exit - All The Lights EP
Orlando pop trio Before You Exit returned this year with their All The Lights EP, their first extended release since 2013. They offered four different packages at different tiers including a signed poster, t-shirt and hoodie based on the EP artwork. We embedded Topspin buy buttons to create a custom offer page on their homepage hosted by Squarespace. You can find instructions on how to integrate Topspin directly into your website in our knowledgebase here (contact our Artist Support team if you run into any problems!).
If you haven’t seem ‘em yet, pre-order merch bundles are available at https://t.co/bKSg9AFVu5 pic.twitter.com/skT6eLuvr5
— Before You Exit⇞ (@beforeyouexit)March 12, 2016
