ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Emerging musicians open for popular acts in Wix Music's YouTube campaign

Wix Music is putting a mobile spin on the idea of an opening act with pre-roll ads on YouTube appearing before the music videos of top musicians and featuring its users.

The Web site developer is tapping into independent artists who use Wix to sell their music through links back to their content from well-known musician?s music videos. Fans of the big name artists looking to view music videos on the popular video platform will first watch a preroll ad of new artists? videos which they can click on to view, giving the musician?s a leg up and Wix bigger promotion. 

"Whenever you are trying to reach a digital audience, mobile is a critical component and we are excited to see the impact of this campaign across devices," said Liat Karepel Gurwicz, head of strategic marketing at Wix.com. 

"The key factor for us was the fact that it really reflected the mission of the product, to empower musicians to take control over their future," she said. 

Wix's user-generated content
Before the age of the internet, for musicians to be discovered many of them would serve as opening acts for popular bands to get their name out and recognized. YouTube has allowed countless artists to be discovered simply by sharing videos of their own performances, but now Wix is hoping to give them the chance to take this one step further. 


Wix is launching out a preroll campaign named Opening Act for Indie artists to gain a following through popular music videos as a part of Wix Music sector, hoping the facet of the business will gain greater traction. The campaigns allow for artists who do not have substantial funds from studios providing them with marketing capabilities to get a leg up on the competition and for the developer to tap into their potential. 

Musicians such as Karmin, Mike Tompkins, Lil Dicky and Sisters will have snippets of their videos as shorts advertisements prior to other music videos that fit into their musical category. The campaign allows for users to discover music they would not normally hear and for these artists to appeal to a much broader audience. 

A large part of the success of a musician is based on getting their sound out there, and the campaign will be bringing their songs to a very large audience who can seamlessly click to view their content. Wix is allowing these artists control over their own music, careers and marketing capabilities. 


The developer also providing multiple video sessions in which musician Macklemore and Ryan Lewis give advice on how to make it as an independent artist.  

YouTube importance 
While Facebook has typically been the go-to social network for second-screen experiences during television viewing, YouTube is rapidly gaining steam as a top platform with which TV fans interact, according to a Ring Digital report (see more). 

Toys R Us also ramped up for the high-traffic winter shopping period by introducing its newest marketing campaign, which places mobile at the forefront via exclusive content on the brand?s social media channels and playlists on YouTube featuring behind-the-scenes content (see more). 

"The campaign brought 100M impressions to over 3000 artists that would normally never have access to this type of exposure," Ms. Gurwicz said. "The campaign, and WixMusic itself, is about bringing something unique to the table to help incredibly talented musicians reach new heights."

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer