Hi Josh! Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your journey in the music industry?
I come from a family entrenched in the music industry, from my grandfather who ran UMPG in the UK from inception until his passing through to my father who helped assemble Paul McCartney’s publishing consortium. I was also the frontman of a band for ten years, called Buchanan, that was pretty successful in Australia and exactly nowhere else! My co-founder, Baz Palmer is also a successful musician with his band Hunters & Collectors. Together we sought to overcome the barriers of building a professional network to support one’s creative needs. Historically, the biggest obstacles to making it in the music business were who you knew and where you lived; time and money. Vampr removes these barriers by giving you access to a large and high quality community of music industry professionals spread across the world, all hungry for opportunity. The Vampr user experience was inspired by the swipe functionality more commonly seen in dating apps and applied to a music and professional networking environment. The app is a kind of LinkedIn for music industry professionals.
How did you get the idea to create Vampr?
We wanted to create a place where we could actually amplify the musicians’ experience by helping them find the right connections, make great sound and collaborate, and get out in front of the right audiences, while helping you make a living. It was inspired by our own struggles, and in fact the struggles of every creative ever, in finding that rock star team of people to work with who can change your life and help elevate your talents to that next level. It shouldn’t take five years to build a team – on Vampr, you can now do it in five minutes.
Could you tell us how Vampr works?
Vampr is the number one professional networking app for musicians, bringing together musicians, creatives, and industry professionals. The app enables those who seek introductions or wish to collaborate on projects direct connections to key players in the business, dramatically enhancing career opportunities. Within the platform we offer distribution services and ways for musicians to monetize their output directly. In 2022 Vampr is also moving into the education space with the launch of Vampr Academy – premiere online music lessons helping our community of fledgling creatives learn how to navigate the music business in bite-size classes.
Can all artists use the platform?
Yes, Vampr is free for everyone from bedroom dreamers to stadium pros. It also serves as a great professional ecosystem for producers, A&R professionals, and creatives in adjacent fields like design and marketing. Vampr is a place where artists and professionals can work together. Vampr is the only platform in the world where you can jump on and say “I need a 23 year-old drummer in Connecticut who likes Pink Floyd and Kanye West,” and find exactly what you’re looking for. We embolden and enable creatives with essential tools and connections.
Are there any success stories of artists on Vampr that you could share with us?
My favorite success story is probably that of Rae Khalil. She joined the app in search of a producer to help realize her vision. She quickly met a producer in California, Jared Ruben, who ended up producing her entire debut album. This record caught the attention of labels, managers and ultimately Netflix who cast her on the show Rhythm + Flow where Rae got mentored by the likes of Chance the Rapper and Anderson .Paak.
If you had one piece of advice to give artists today, what would it be?
Never give up. Just keep turning up and eventually you will be playing at the top of your field. You gotta be in this for the long run – I’m talking years, not weeks or months – but if you can build that stamina and learn some resilience along the way I promise you you will be successful.
