From the benefits of playing online with fans to the crossover opportunities of music and gaming, William Breslau explains how artists have leveraged their love of video games to reach new audiences.
William Breslau leads gaming strategy at Atlantic Records, where he helps artists merge gaming into their overall music campaigns. On Breslau’s episode of our Co.Lab Sessions podcast, he shares specific examples of how artists like Kenny Beats, Post Malone, and Tee Grizzley have successfully leveraged their love of gaming to build personal connections with listeners. He also digs into why gaming can introduce artists to new audiences and shares actionable ways artists can use gaming platforms for their music releases.
Click here to listen to the full episode, and read on for some of the key takeaways.
Use Gaming to Connect With Fans on a Deeper Level
“There are a lot of examples that come to mind when I think of artists who have leveraged their love for gaming in a very successful way. All the way from big artists like Post Malone, who's done a lot in the space, to developing artists. Two come to mind when I'm thinking of great success stories. The first is Tee Grizzley – he's done a great job [with livestreaming]. He communicates all the time when he's going live. He has a weekly, consistent streaming schedule. He's always interacting with fans. He's doing things that fans really want him to do while he's on stream.”
“Another one that I think is doing a great job is Melv. He's an upcoming DJ / producer [who uses] his love for Super Smash Bros specifically as a catalyst to go live at certain points. He also uses it as a talking point for his own music, what he's been working on lately to connect with other producers in the space, and to connect with his fans on a more personal level.”
“Kenny Beats is another great example. He integrates himself across live-streaming platforms and other outlets that are generally considered more gaming-focused, whether it's Discord or other communication platforms.”
Create Immersive and Engaging Music Releases With Gaming
“Very similar to how albums were received back in the vinyl days, where you kind of would read cover to cover and see everything that was happening. Whether it was a handwritten note from the band, personal stories from writing – whatever it might've been back in the day – I think that's really going to transmit itself very well to the digital age.”
“There are a few artists that are currently working on this. Chillpill is an artist that had a great example. They had a music video, and if you downloaded an app, they overlayed it over the music video itself. and a little AR game showed up on screen. People absolutely lost their minds for it and loved it. And so I think these digital, immersive experiences and being able to play along while they're listening to an album, while they listened to an individual track, is something that fans are really going to crave in the next five to 10 years if they're not already craving it right now.”
Build a Bigger Audience by Tapping into Gaming
“I don't think it's any secret that gaming is huge across the world. Something like 2.6 billion people identify themselves as gamers. I believe one-third of the world's population plays for over an hour a day. So the fanbase is there. It's massive. You're going to be speaking to a whole breadth of audiences that you haven't spoken to before, bringing people in through your gameplay, but then also have that opportunity to speak about your music. So implementing a gaming strategy is definitely unique and it's definitely something that will help you introduce yourself to new fans and help build that fanbase.”
To hear more from William Breslau, listen to his episode of our Co.Lab Sessions podcast below, and click here to browse more episodes from the series.