Founded in 2013, CloudKid launched as a YouTube channel for music discovery that focused on unique curation with a more artistic and visual focus. Now with over 2.1 billion total views on their channel, 5 million loyal subscribers, and 60 million average monthly views, CloudKid is a proven brand online and has built a valuable platform for developing artists within the electronic influenced alt-pop and rocktronic sphere. The company has now evolved into a full-service independent label headquartered in Berlin, with an international presence around the world.
This week the Lakeside Entertainment Group blog shares an interview with CloudKid’s COO & Head of Label, Yiannis Karavassilis.
LEG: Can you talk about the overall mission behind the founding of CloudKid back in 2013?
CloudKid has always had the same goal since day one: provide the platform to take an up and coming artist from zero to one hundred and ultimately turn their passion into something they can do full time. Every extension of the company we build out is just a piece of that puzzle.
LEG: What sets CloudKid apart from traditional music companies?
First and foremost, CloudKid is made by artists for artists. We truly understand what an artist needs from a creative, administrative and deal structure side, because we have been in their shoes at some point of our careers. We focus on so much more than just music, we excel at building experiences and universes. As hands on as we are, we also know every artist needs the space to express themselves and pursue their vision without limitations, something which most record labels fail to understand. Everything is driven by the artist, we are just there to ultimately help them put the pieces together and give guidance when necessary.
LEG: What’s the key to building a large digital audience? What advice would you give a new music curator looking to have the same success you’ve been able to achieve?
Some core elements that made CloudKid achieve its growth were, to first and foremost, focus on branding. You’re trying to give the end user an unforgettable experience, and in such a crowded market with no barriers to entry, if you can’t stand out from the crowd you will be forgotten very easily. Second most important element is, there's no such thing as ‘industry standard’. It’s an overused phrase in the music industry and we found ourselves using it a lot when we first started. Ultimately the market place is changing every day and artists are looking for fresh creative perspectives. Stop doing what everyone else is doing, don’t be afraid to shake things up a bit.
LEG: As a company that focuses on up-and-coming independent talent, how do you find the artists that you partner with? What qualities does a new artist or band need to have in order for you to sign them?
A lot of talent is sourced from submissions to the channel. But of course a big part is managers and artists we work with who recommend or introduce us to other talented up-comers. The primary qualities we look for, outside of the music being good of course, is vision and culture fit. We always ask our artists from the start what their vision for their brand is and who/how do they hope to inspire. We also want to try and make sure there is a good connection with us and a new artist. Ultimately everything we do, on both sides, stems from love and passion. It’s pointless to commit so much time and emotion into something if you both don’t get along.
LEG: In your recent new strategic partnership with Lakeside Management Group you now have an extended team working on your behalf in the States. How important is it to have a presence in the US and how did you decide to team up with Lakeside?
We’ve never really associated with a certain territory, our whole team has international backgrounds, our artists are located all over the world and our audience is also spread all over the world. That said we’ve always been positioned as a German Label and Company, just because of the politics of the music industry. The U.S culture closely aligns with the international mindset we have adopted as a company, but ultimately also is where the largest percentage of our and our artists’ audience is located. We felt like the partnership with Lakeside was paramount to help continue to establish our presence outside of just digital platforms and social media. We need the help and expertise to get our artists exposure in more local focused and traditional outlets where a large percentage of the population still consumes music and wants to discover new talent.
LEG: You’ve got some big music releases coming up this summer! Can you give us a few words on Neoni, Updog, and Confetti?
Neoni have the most amazing bubbly personality yet sing about the darkest stuff, an intriguing dichotomy. They’re super prolific singer/songwriters and they’re sisters, how cool is that?! The power of their vocals is next level. We’re dropping their debut LP ‘Wars in a Wonderland’ on August 20, and we couldn’t be more excited. Updog has been with us since his first single and it’s been an awesome journey seeing him evolve as a songwriter and vocalist but also as a brand in general. He’s been moving to a more alt-pop sound lately compared to his first 2 EPs which were very Rock Electronic heavy. We’re excited to see how people react to his new sound and branding with his next EP ‘skellies’ coming out October 1st. The Confetti brothers are just on a whole other dimension in terms of talent and creativity. We launched one of their first singles ‘Ghost’ which has gone super viral this last year and we’re excited to continue to ride that wave with them on their next EP which really taps into that Pop/Punk nostalgia we’ve all lived through in the 00’s.
LEG: How do you decide what songs and artists to support on your playlists? What one song are you supporting right now that fans should go run and check out?
On this note, it’s actually pretty simple, we just need to love the song. Doesn’t matter what genre it is, who it’s from, the song just needs to be undeniably good and connect with us. It always helps to push an artist that we have supported in the past of course, but we’re always supporting new talent. Recently the Tik Tok star ‘Bella Poarch’ dropped a song called ‘Build a Bitch’ which was produced by Sub Urban, an artist who went Viral on our channel a couple years ago. It’s her first song, but we’ve been quite obsessed with it!
LEG: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an independent label over the past few years and how did you overcome it?
The challenge is always monetary, especially when competing with Majors. Ultimately if a major can offer an artist a couple hundred grand for a record deal, no amount of work we put in can ever really live up to something like that. That amount of money can change any person’s life. That said we’ve strived to be able to over-deliver on marketing and admin services to become more competitive. Being able to pay an artist every month, along with any of their collaborators directly, on the exact same day is a game-changer. It can help them feel achieve a more comfortable and secure living situation and not have the stress of having to account themselves to any collaborators. We also always strive to keep recoupable costs for artists as low as possible so they can see the streams have a quick and direct return.
LEG: What are your goals as a company coming out of the post-pandemic era (hopefully) for the next year or two? What can we expect on the horizon from Cloudkid?
Beyond continuing to grow the label and building out more artists with Lakeside, I would say it will really be about adding Merchandise to our business model. We know a lot of fans are aching to get their hands on some CloudKid hoodies and t-shirts again, but also want to extend that service to our artists. We know how much more revenue Merchandise can generate for an artist, but we also know what a head-ache and risky investment it can be. We’re trying to structure a model for all our artists where they can quickly and efficiently create merch and not worry about all the admin work behind it.