Everything you need to know:
✓ Music marketing platform un:hurd has raised strategic funding to expand its suite of AI-powered promotion tools
✓ The platform uses machine learning to generate customized marketing strategies based on song/artist analytics
✓ New features include fan data collection, AI marketing assistance, and benchmarking to help artists effectively promote across platforms
Want more fans but hate music promotion?
For many independent artists, marketing their music and building an audience can feel like a full-time job on top of the creative work. Where do you even start with promotion across numerous social platforms and streaming services? How do you know which efforts are actually effective? A UK-based startup called un:hurd wants to take the guesswork out of artist marketing with AI-powered promotion tools.
According to the company, over 70,000 artists from 129 countries now use un:hurd’s suite of music marketing features. Some established names on the platform include Nigerian superstar Mr Eazi and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Tayla Parx. Clearly, the tools are resonating beyond just independent artists. With a recent round of strategic funding, un:hurd plans to expand their offerings to provide an even more comprehensive marketing support system.
Founded by Alex Brees, un:hurd analyzes metadata around songs and social profiles to generate customized marketing strategies. The platform helps artists run automated social ads, tracks results, and suggests next steps based on what’s worked well for similar artists. This data-driven approach aims to take much of the guesswork out of promotion.
“We’ve spent a lot of time speaking to our 70,000-strong community of artists from 129 countries, and this suite of new features has been created to provide even more power to artists.”
Founder Alex Brees
Some of un:hurd’s new capabilities in development include:
- A fan hub to collect email addresses and first-party data on followers for better relationship-building and communication. Un:hurd says: “From using AI to create a marketing strategy or content ideas to running automated ads on TikTok or collecting fan data via your fan hub, we can now be your virtual marketing team, facilitating and enhancing the most important marketing activities for artists.”
- AI marketing assistant that utilizes machine learning models trained on metadata to generate tailored promotional suggestions and content ideas.
- Benchmarking tools to see how your metrics stack up against musical peers in order to find new growth opportunities.
- Global expansion through a new web platform in addition to the existing mobile app. This should unlock access for more international artists and management teams.
Singer-songwriter Tayla Parx had this to say about un:hurd in a recent interview:
“It makes what can often be an overwhelming process feel so manageable. I love that I can promote myself on a consistent basis without feeling like it’s a second job.”
Artist Tayla Parx
For overwhelmed independent artists, un:hurd aims to essentially act as their marketing department through guided promotion powered by AI.
Transparency and ownership of fan data also seem to be core values for un:hurd. Collecting emails and analytics directly through their platform ensures artists aren’t solely reliant on third parties like Facebook and Instagram. Building direct relationships over the long-term is vital for career sustainability, and un:hurd’s tools facilitate that process at scale.
With the new round of funding led by Ahdritz & Co, un:hurd can accelerate development of these AI-powered features to support hardworking indie artists.
“I wanted to step up on my commitment to un:hurd to support the new developments that can potentially change the game for independent artists in the marketplace.”
Willard Ahdritz, Founder of Kobalt Music
Their vision is to level the playing field between solo acts and major label machines with strategic, data-driven marketing automation.
For artists, the dream of success often starts out as a solitary fight. If un:hurd delivers on its full promise, independent creators may finally have the support system they need to turn promotion from a stressful side-job into just another step of the creative process. With AI as their marketing muscle, hopefully more talent will have the opportunity to simply focus on the art.
