Meet two indie artists with over 10 million streams & the playlist pluggers behind them

Sophie Simmons and Nyxen are two artists from two continents who are killing it with millions of streams on Spotify.

In a field flooded with opinions, Simmons and Nyxen stand out as creators who march to the beat of their own drum and are proud to shine as their unique selves.

And we must say, that authenticity is working pretty well for them.

TMN spoke to both acts and their playlist plugging agency Playlist Pump PR to find out how they have succeeded in the playlisting space and what’s next for each of these two indie acts with millions of streams between them.

Meet Sophie Simmons

Here are some quick stats on the Playlist Pump PR campaign:

• Sophie’s Spotify was a blank canvas when we started.
• We worked on five of her releases in 2018.
• ‘Black Mirror‘ was the first single our team worked on, garnering 1.6 million streams from 0.
• We accumulated over nine million streams for the five singles we serviced.
• Her highest streamed record, ‘Paper Cut‘, is one of our bigger campaigns with 7.8 million streams and counting.
• We did a combination of Phase 1, Phase 2 and World Editorials campaigns to achieve these results.

A little backstory… 

The daughter of Gene Simmons from KISS and star of A&E network reality tv show Family Jewels, Sophie is undeniably one of the most exciting artists Playlist Pump PR have the pleasure of working with.

Since the release of her debut track ‘Black Mirror’, Sophie has accumulated well over 10 million streams on Spotify alone — with five of those records serviced by us! Check out this exclusive interview Playlist Pump PR did with Sophie on how she’s handling her career like a CEO.

Our Chat With Sophie Simmons on ‘Black Mirror’

Q: What is the story behind ‘Black Mirror’?

I wrote the song with HOOPS and The Gifted in Los Angeles. I was inspired by the television show ‘Black Mirror’ and how every episode is about technology affecting people’s relationships. I thought it would be interesting to have a love song but instead of being about another person, making it more about the validation we get from our phones.

Q: What is your biggest piece of advice for other female artists and producers?

Learn how to produce yourself. So many women are at the mercy of male producers because it’s such a male-dominated field. The best way to get more opportunities is to create them yourself.

Q: What was the most difficult obstacle you had to overcome as an artist recently?

I’m in a strange place as an artist. I’m too “known” to be on small features and collabs and not “big enough” to have a hit on my own or to be signed by a label (not my words). Luckily, songwriting is where my heart is and I don’t need to be an artist to excel there.

Q: What’s next for you creatively? 

Writing for other artists has really taken off and I love doing it. It’s always a nice challenge in the session to get it right. I’m working on placing more songs for 2020.

Meet Nyxen

What sets an artist up for a successful playlisting campaign? We look for artists who already have a solid foundation laid in other areas of their career, such as fan base, radio, digital media support, touring, and social media.

Nyxen is an excellent example of this. Launching a playlist campaign on top of the years’ of groundwork Nyxen and her team at Unkown Records had already intentionally set into motion maximized the overall success of the campaign. From her support from triple j, to her extensive touring and fan base building, made the job easier.

Here are some quick stats on thePlaylist Pump PR campaign:

• ‘Chains‘ had 31,000 streams when we started the campaign. Now it’s at 2.4 million streams and counting.
• We pitched to Spotify editorials and also worked our mammoth four-month Phase 3 campaign.
• We pitched across multiple networks, from compilation lists, mood base lists, third party tastemaker lists, and branded networks such as Topsify, Filtr and Digster and Spotify Editorials.
• Monthly listeners doubled in numbers in that four-month period from 244k+ to 443k+ monthly listeners.

A little backstory… 

Nyxen had been playing guitar for 10 years when she discovered the synth-pop movement of the 2000s. This opened her eyes to the world of electronic music, where she became infatuated by artists like Ou Est le Swimming Pool and MGMT.

Incorporating influences by Tycho, Miike Snow and Bag Raiders, Nyxen’s music creates a high-energy, feel-good vibe for listeners from the start of each track.

Nyxen’s catalogue is impressive. On Spotify alone, each and every track is sitting over the one million play mark. ‘Chains’ has helped hit a massive milestone of 10 million streams cumulatively across the Spotify platform.

Our Chat With Nyxen On ‘Chains’

Q: What is the story behind ‘Chains’? 

This song started a little differently to most of my tracks. I only had the intro down when I started recording vocals.

Usually, I start with the track so the mood is right, and then I write the story or lyrics. I grabbed my mic and legitimately the first thing I said was, ‘What’s your name, I found you at the back of a secondhand store’. That gave me the foundation to think up the rest of the concept.

I wanted ‘Chains’ to be this twisted tale of infatuation. Like when you’re in a relationship but you see the person more like a prize than something authentic.

Q: What is your biggest piece of advice for other artists? 

I always try to stay as true to myself as possible with what I create. Some days I write songs that sound suited to a band, and sometimes it’s more synthy and electronic. I was worried this contrast might be a bit confusing, but eventually realised if I wrote it, it’s me, and if it’s good (subjective haha), it deserves its space in the world.

I want to be unpredictable as an artist, always growing and maturing my sound. So I think staying true to you as much as possible is a good slice of advice.

Q: What was the most difficult obstacle you had to overcome as an artist and producer recently?

My biggest obstacle has always been, and will forevermore be, myself. I always doubt myself, I doubt if I’m good enough, if I deserve to be where I am or if I’m doing enough.

Q: What’s next for you creatively? 

I’m working on an album!!! I’m super excited about it because it means I get to go all hermit and write songs which is my favourite thing to do. I already have a bunch of songs ready to go, so watch this space.

About Playlist Pump PR Agency

Playlist Pump PR Agency launched with the vision to help artists authentically grow their fanbase. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in the world of playlist promotion, and the team recognised the need for a playlisting agency artists and labels could trust.

They’ve worked tirelessly to cultivate relationships with curators who have millions of followers across Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal – connecting the dots between curators and artists to get them the exposure and streaming numbers they need.

Artists and labels can submit tracks HERE. Mention #TMN2019 in the comments to get a 10% discount off of the entry-level plus campaign.

This article originally appeared on PlaylistPumpPR.agency and has been republished with permission.