Published 20 October, 2020

We’re excited to announce Round 17 of our Experts in Residence program will offer Victorian music managers and self-managed artists the exclusive opportunity to participate in a global music release strategy course.

As part of the Experts in Residence program, the Victorian Music Development Office and Association of Artist Managers have teamed up with music strategist Amber Horsburgh to offer 15 Victorian artist managers/self-managed artists the opportunity to participate in the School of Deep Cuts online marketing course.

The School of Deep Cuts is an online course and community teaching the ins and outs of record marketing for day-to-day managers. It’s the label playbook for artist managers. Now, during COVID, more than ever the internet is the primary connection point with artists. There's a real opportunity to maximise your online audience, however, most get stuck in the minutia and miss the tactics that make a real impact. During the course you’ll build a blueprint for your releases that grows your audience, increases streams and makes most efficient use of marketing dollars.

The course was developed by Downtown Records’ former SVP Strategy, Amber Horsburgh, based on 10+ years’ experience working with labels, brands and artists. In addition to her work with artists, Amber Horsburgh started Deep Cuts - a newsletter that breaks down marketing strategies and insights used by over 7,000 music industry professionals.

In the course you’ll learn:
• Planning: develop a solid release strategy
• Social media & content strategy: create insatiable content unique to artists’ personality
• Digital advertising: reach the right audience with ads
• Data: Create KPIs for artists at every stage of their career
• Budgeting: build a functional & actional marketing budget

This program is best suited to day-to-day artist managers or self-managed artists who are responsible for release strategies and audience development. As a participant, you’ll be joining a cohort of music industry professionals from around the globe to learn about what marketing strategies translate when it comes to finding worldwide fans, wherever they are. Please note the course dates below before submitting your EOI, as these funded spots (valued at $USD 350 per person) are for participants who are able to complete the program in the 4-week period.

Applications are now open. We encourage applicants to check out the free launch webinar on 27th October, all about the 5 Keys to Win Release Day.

Key dates:
Free launch webinar: Tuesday 27 October 9.00am AEDT
Applications close: Friday 30 October, 5.00pm AEDT
Course information: The course is go-at-your-own pace online via school.deepcuts.co. Each Tuesday for 4 weeks, Amber will be conducting live sessions with guests, Q&As and troubleshooting. These sessions start Tuesday 10 November at 9.00am AEDT.

Facilitator Bio

Amber Horsburgh

Amber Horsburgh is a music strategist who's spent the best part of the last decade working in music in NY and LA. As former SVP Strategy at Downtown Records she helped artists build brands including Mura Masa, Smino, Tommy Genesis, Chet Faker/Nick Murphy, SOFI TUKKER, and Cold War Kids.  On the flip side, she’s helped brands like YouTube Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, Sonos, Samsung and Google Play connect with audiences through music. She runs Deep Cuts - a music strategy newsletter for artists and marketers breaking down strategy, insights and tactics for artist marketing. It is read by 7,000+ music industry professionals globally.