Rising Star is our monthly column in which we meet the industry’s brightest new talents. Here, Lizzie Berchie, audience & engagement coordinator at Parlophone, talks us through her music business journey so far…
How did you get your role at Parlophone?
“I started as an audience engagement intern in 2020 through Creative Access, which is an amazing organisation that helps people of colour into the creative industries. Internships are not easy! There is a lot of work to manage, but the key thing that helped me handle the load was being organised and finding different ways to make certain processes smoother, as well as always remaining calm under pressure. Mistakes are bound to happen, so rather than dwelling on it, move to find a solution. It’s also important to show ways that you are a valuable member of the team by being a part of conversations and not shying away from opportunities to give insight in areas that you are either interested in or have knowledge about. This wasn’t hard to do when I started at Parlophone as the team were very welcoming and are keen on everyone’s input regardless of their job title.”
What’s the biggest music marketing lesson you’ve learned so far?
“Every fan matters. Sometimes it can feel like the impact of a campaign has been small and it’s only natural to equate large numbers with success, but I’ve learned that each fan helps build an audience. It’s the quality of the relationship and how you make that fan feel close to the artist that is all-important.”
You’ve worked campaigns varying from established stars such as Coldplay, to newcomers like Rachel Chinouriri and Gabriels. How do you figure out what will work for each one?
“Coldplay was a baptism of fire. It was my first week at Parlophone, but I guess it’s best to hit the ground running. With mega-sized audiences like Coldplay’s, there are many creative avenues you can freely explore, but I equally love working on our development roster. There’s a lot of trial and error and deep-diving into the culture of different fanbases, but that’s what makes it exciting. It feels all the more worthwhile when you see artists grow, for example both Rachel Chinouriri and Gabriels were longlisted for the BBC Sound Of 2023 poll.”
Where will music fans connect with artists most in 2023 and why? What trends are you looking out for?
“TikTok is definitely not going anywhere and will always be a platform where fans connect with their favourite artists, but as digital grows, people will want to hold onto those valuable real-life experiences. I believe there will also be a surge in IRL events that hold exclusive value. There’s also a growing interest with AI, so I’m sure we’ll begin to see it incorporated in innovative ways within artist campaigns.”
Finally, looking towards the future, how do you think music marketing will change over the next five years?
“Marketing is about having an ever-evolving strategy, and that requires you to always have your ears to the ground. I believe that in five years’ time technology will have developed to higher levels and our job will be to find ways to make music fit into those new norms. We’ll have musicians pushing the boundaries of their art and cultivating new sub-cultures and new consumer behaviour. A recent example of this came when Sault released five new albums – [Untitled] God, 11, Aiir, Earth and Today & Tomorrow – in November and gave fans five days to download them before completely removing them from the internet.”
