Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
I am Emma, I am CMO and one of the few but very proud ladies in tech at a Manchester based tech start-up called Rormix. We’ve just made an app for iOS and Android and my main roles involve liaising with artists, app marketing and social media promotion.
How would you describe Rormix?
Rormix is the app for people who want to discover quality emerging music videos. YouTube has become so saturated with music videos that searching for one that is to your personal taste and of decent quality is almost impossible. The Rormix app acts as an aggregator – supplying the user with high quality, unsigned/independent music videos in the palm of their hands. Something we are proud of is our ‘Discovery’ feature, this is where the user can type in an artist they already know and love, e.g. The Arctic Monkeys and Rormix suggests music that you may also like. They can find tomorrow’s music today AND it’s tailored to them. Users can also find out what’s trending, what’s new and search for music by selecting one of our 26 genres.
Where did the idea for Rormix come from and what need does it fulfil?
The idea came from our Founder, Amman Ahmed whose previous business (roundwaves.com) involved working with artists in developing countries and creating music with a solution. For example, sleep music, concentration music, even music for dogs! This business ticks over nicely so an entrepreneurial brain can only rest for so long.
Amman decided to steer his second business in the direction of ‘normal’ music, still working with artists worldwide giving them a platform on which they can be seen! We started with YouTube channels and now we have the app. I believe what Amman saw was the fact that unsigned or independent artists are growing in popularity and still some of the Music giants are ignoring them. Anyone can produce a great music video but how do they promote it in an already inundated location such as YouTube. There was no platform for curated emerging music videos…and so Rormix was born.
What has the reception been like to your Rormix app?
The reception has been positive overall. We have received a lot of feedback such as, ‘This is something I’ve been looking for for a while now!’ which obviously supports our movement even more. Of course we are always looking for user feedback and testing is an on-going process that leads to improvement. For example I recently reached out to Android users on Reddit and received some amazing user feedback, which heavily influenced our development of the android app. But overall we have been overwhelmed with the reception we have received.
If bands and artists are reading this, how can they get their music on Rormix?
Really simple, all a band or artist needs to do is tweet us @rormix or contact us on Facebook. Our emails are there at the ready! We welcome any artist with a music video to get in touch. We have numerous genres so all are welcome!
Can you recommend any of your favourite new music discoveries found on Rormix?
I’d love to! OK so a very exciting band we work with on Rormix is Hurricane Love. A Swedish indie pop band with some of the most sensational acoustic sessions I have ever heard. This band is meant for big things and we are proud to be helping them and following them with Rormix. They’ve been featured on Hollyoaks and played some great festivals. Another band The Daydream Club have been used in a Burberry campaign. A band, which I personally have a bit of a soft spot for due not only to their Mancunion roots but their amazing songs, is The Cold One Hundred. Very cool band with some major song writing skills. There are so many more but I’d like to leave the discovery to the users on Rormix as that’s such a key part of the journey.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXHKQar4OTM[/youtube]
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY1e0102epA[/youtube]
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwCvXcP_B_0[/youtube]
Are their plans to further develop the app and service?
At the moment we are focussing on now but we have some exciting ideas floating around for the future. We want to give the user more control and also reward them for interacting. So the more they share or like, the more reward they will receive.
Just how important is video for a new artist to promote themselves?
A video is something that gives the artist another angle. The mobile video market is growing rapidly and to give you an example, VEVO received 44 billion views in 2012, half of which were mobile views. This is a huge opportunity for artists to become seen. Browsing music videos is the norm for people with a smartphone so why narrow your chances of being seen? Create a video. It also gives fans further insight to an artist and makes everything more personal.
Do you have a favourite music video (all-time favourite, not necessarily from a new artist)
Such a tough question but to give you a quick answer a couple of my favourite videos include Beyoncé – All the Single Ladies just because she has such a presence that the norm for a dance heavy video would involve a crazy set, lights etc. but she and two other dancers keep you mesmerised with no frills. But also I love the Radiohead video to ‘Just’…if you’ve seen it…why is he lying on the floor?????
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_qMagfZtv8[/youtube]
Download Rormix from the Apple app store
