The Future Of Music: Integral Studio Partners With Sony For A Data-Driven Approach To Artist Marketing

The digital marketing company behind campaigns for Mac Miller, SZA and 21 Savage branches into content distribution with its Sony partnership.

Digital consumption is on the rise: People are engaging with digital media 30% more since the pandemic started. Sony’s distribution channel, The Orchard, is taking advantage of this this new reality by announcing today that it will be partnering with digital artist services agency Integral Studio to help identify, develop, refine and incubate global acts.

​​​​Since launching five years ago, Integral Studio has filled the need for design innovation in the music industry. The team of creative technologists has architected direct-to-fan solutions that enable artists to engage, analyze and monetize audiences intelligently. ​​Integral’s in-house analytics and advertising software known internally as “Symphony” powers and scales it’s artist campaigns by helping creators to take marketing action in addition to providing insight. Symphony enables the Integral a&r and team to focus on artist development and creative. Described as a CRM for creators, Symphony streamlines the digital fan development process.

“The present and future of music is audience data and understanding how to leverage it for optimum results. The Symphony dashboard is like a pilot’s cockpit or command center to all things on the web pertaining to a specific artist or brand. It’s one thing to have eagle-eye level monitoring but the next step is being able to act on the data within the same workflow, that’s what Symphony is,” says Chuka Chase, cofounder and CEO of Integral Studio.

Integral will work alongside Sony and The Orchard to develop traditionally overlooked talent outside of the U.S. The team says the way it pairs technology and creativity is its “secret sauce.” With this new partnership, Integral will integrate its tools and resources for artists on their own intellectual property. “In music, the point-of-sale is now almost entirely digital; leveraging data and insights to dictate a proper strategy for fan acquisition is key,” Chase says.

Many of the artists that Integral Studio has worked with are part of the Sony family, including  Travis Scott, SZA, 21 Savage and Future. “It’s a natural progression for the company, as we continue to grow with our existing clients and sign new ones in the years to come,” says Vlad Samedi, vice president of Integral Studio.​​

Integral says the main benefit of it’s toolset is to enable artists to approach growing their fan bases like small businesses would grow their customer bases. The Symphony app simplifies marketing tasks such as social audits, running paid social or influencer campaigns and setting up merch drops.  

From augmented reality app experiences alongside Big Sean to being amongst the first agencies to implement the “Merch Bundling” tactic, whereby whereby albums and merchandise are sold together in an attempt to boost sales, Integral is known for staying ahead of trends and strategies to push content across genres. In the past year, Integral Studio added next-gen artists such as Nigerian rap superstar PrettyboyD-O and Indian-American singer-songwriter Aaryan Shah to its roster. This partnership with Sony will enable Integral to enter markets on a global scale. 

​​Chase plans for Integral Studio to continue to merge music and technology and further advance the ecosystem between record labels and independent digital players. 

“This partnership is a major milestone in our mission to make the world smaller and more accessible via culture and technology,” says Chase. 

Sourced From Nigerian Music