We were set the challenge by innovative classical music streaming service Primephonic to gain the attention of the streaming giants, attract investors and increase subscribers / downloads.

We knew to attract the attention of investors we would have to execute a long-term strategy that built authentic interest in Primephonic. This would take the form of a mixture of press events / trips, tech reviews, one-to-one briefings and forensic press office outreach.

In 2019, we hijacked the news agenda around fair music streaming and artists royalties – focussing on the fact that classical music was being crowded out of the streaming space. We set up dedicated one-to-one briefings with Primephonic CEO Thomas Steffens in London. We also flew a group of VIP press to the company’s HQ in Amsterdam to meet the team of classical music experts. Other press trips with the CEO included Glyndebourne and Bregenz – two prestigious classical music spectacles to use as the backdrop for conversations with the CEO. Elsewhere, we hammered the phones and booked in a smorgasbord of tech reviews to boost downloads plus contacted the arts and music feature writers at the nationals to book in large splashes.

In 2020, we changed tact due to the global pandemic and went virtual. Tech reviews and press office outreach was full steam ahead, but we pivoted and set up virtual one-to-one briefings with the CEO plus hosted 23 key UK press via a virtual classical music roundtable and genre crash course with Primephonic’s head of curation. Both the events and sustained press office activity meant journalists remained engaged with the brand whilst working remotely.

Boom

In August, 2021, Primephonic announced it had been acquired by Apple Music.

Little Red Rooster is proud of the part it played in getting Primephonic to this pivotal moment in its evolution. During the two years we worked with the team, we saw over 199 pieces of coverage ink, including 26 large splashes from the likes of BBC Radio 3, The Sunday Times Culture, Metro, Financial Times, WIRED, The Guardian and Esquire. The OTS figure stood at a mammoth 998 million! 

Our ‘classical music is being crowded out of the streaming space’ angle certainly attracted the attention of the streaming giants, plus sustained national, tech and lifestyle coverage resulted in hundreds of thousands of additional app downloads. Mission accomplished!