Case Study: Inside Vance Joy’s European success

Vance Joy’s single Riptide has charted inside the Top 40 in five European countries, sitting at #7 in Austria and #11 in Germany.

It was early 2013 when Vance Joy aka James Keogh made his music industry debut. Michael Gudinski gathered a selection of journalists in Melbourne for a Mushroom showcase and the singer-songwriter sang a few tracks from his EP God Loves You When You’re Dancing, sans mic.

The EP was released that March and its second single, the now ubiquitous Riptide, reached #6 on the ARIA Chart, #3 on the TMN Hot 100 and #11 in Ireland. The single landed a slew of sync deals including a US TV commercial for personal camera GoPro, and a Medibank commercial here. By the start of 2014, the single had hit #10 in the UK, was certified 3x Platinum in Australia and had topped triple j’s Hottest 100, the largest music poll in the world.

In this week’s official European charts, the single is sitting at #7 in Austria, #11 in Germany, #16 in Ireland, #17 in Slovakia and #35 in Switzerland. Vance Joy is managed worldwide by Unified’s Director and Founder Jaddan Comerford, who is based in New York. Comerford, who is currently in Seattle recording with Vance Joy, spoke to TMN about Riptide’s overseas success.

What were the first signs that Vance Joy was beginning to become successful overseas?
Vance Joy toured the USA three times in 2013 and sold out headline Canadian and UK dates. All off the back of one EP. We saw early on, through simple analytics on YouTube, Shazam, Soundcloud and  Spotify plays, which markets were growing organically and we went there, and we played for those fans. In January 2014 Riptide went to #10 on the UK singles charts, so that’s when things really started to materialise.

Hitting the Top 20 in four European countries in no mean feat, what do you think contributed to his popularity there?
The growth of Vance Joy has been very organic worldwide. Touring and airplay have been the major drivers, especially in markets such as the UK and Germany.

What’s his schedule been like over the past few weeks?
He’s currently recording his album in Seattle and just finished a national USA tour with Young The Giant, playing to between 1000-4000 people a night.