“Releasing music as an independent artist has never been easier”. This phrase is tossed around way too frequently for my liking.

Whilst the statement in itself is true, the fact that you’ve unleashed your song on the world doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to get to where it should. Precisely because everyone can make music these days, reaching new fans, journalists and bloggers has become that much more difficult.

Luckily, there is no shortage of innovative music start-ups opening new avenues for unsigned artists. Groover Australia is one of them. And as an emerging act, Treehouse Letters are getting ahead of the game by using this tool to gain broader exposure.

PART 95 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE

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Treehouse Letters is a project started by Dominic Pinzone (guitar and vocals) and Ethan Butler (tambourine and vocals) in Brisbane in 2017. Their music is influenced by artists like Bob Dylan, Paul Kelly and Tallest Man on Earth. So far, the songwriting duo have released an EP (in 2019), a couple of singles (in 2021) and, just recently, a debut album Measure Once, Cut Twice.

Nkechi Anele, the host of Triple J’s Roots N All, said this of one of the duo’s songs called “Misconceived”: “Listening to the intro of this tune makes me want to learn how to play the guitar. All the fun things about folk music are jammed into this tune, it’s playful and heartfelt, really lovely.” Her words are an on-point summary of the Treehouse Letters’ vibe in general.

The first single from their debut record is “Fall to the Ground”. According to the musos, it’s “an angry song, slightly passive-aggressive”. Despite its calm, acoustic vibe, that uneasy feeling is probably best represented in the lyrics:

“Don’t blame me if I was holding back on you because

You think that I’m behind you, but when you turn around I

Always fall to the ground.”

In the end, the message is well-balanced by this fun, animated video.

With the debut album, Treehouse Letters have not only properly introduced themselves to the music industry Down Under. They’ve also generously vowed to donate 10% of all proceeds from any vinyl, CD or poster sold to Beyond Blue – an organisation running mental wellbeing programs in Australia.

So why am I telling you all this? Because I would have never found out about any of it if the Brisbane act hadn’t pitched their music to me on Groover. You can, too.

Groover is a French music start-up that was established in October 2018. The platform aims to “fix” the broken connection between artists and influencers: media outlets, radios or record labels. It’s been quite successful on the European market already. And it’s very committed to repeating that success in Australia. 1478 music influencers who have provided feedback (i.e. by sharing the track with their audience) 1,049,975 times are currently active on the platform.

The good thing about it is that it lets emerging artists approach the influencers through their profiles directly on the platform, without frantically having to look for email addresses or phone numbers. It’s like sending a press release without the hassle of “copy-paste-personalise”. You can attach a bio, photos, videos, the actual press note and any other thing you’d like to share to the pitch as well. Any musician or artist manager who has ever run a promo campaign will surely appreciate that.

As in the case of any other pitch, there is, obviously, no guarantee that it will be accepted. At the end of the day, factors beyond artists’ control also come into play.

The influencers set their preferences on Groover’s platform, including genres they’re interested in receiving and countries they operate in. So if you’ve targeted them correctly based on those indications, but they haven’t picked up your track, it’s not the end of the world. They’ll still share their feedback with you. And they might like the next track you’ll share if you act on any action points that feedback addresses.

If they do accept your pitch, however, it’s a chance for your music to be heard, professionally reviewed or included on the influencer-curated playlist. Maybe they’ll even offer you a full-on feature or interview.

Treehouse Letters were the first ones to engage me on the platform. So, aside from the music I vibe with, this post is a little homage to their research and efforts. Check out their new album here:

I’m also keen on getting many more pitches from other emerging Aussie acts in the future.

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