Ayo Beatz performs at SoundOn Sessions: “SoundOn is putting power in artists’ hands”

UK artist and producer Ayo Beatz has hailed the TikTok’s music distribution platform SoundOn for its ability to “put power back in the hands of artist”, making the comments ahead of his headline performance at the debut SoundOn Session at The Pioneer Club in St. Albans.

The London-based star headlined the first SoundOn Session last month, marking an exciting partnership with Headliner Spaces aimed at spotlighting the UK’s best up-and-coming artists.

For the uninitiated, SoundOn is an integrated platform for global music distribution and TikTok music marketing, enabling artists to distribute their music on TikTok and across major streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, and others, while maintaining full ownership and artist-friendly royalties without administrative fees.

What’s more, SoundOn also offers unique promotional tools designed to assist artists in marketing their new releases through TikTok's creator marketing and subsequently reaching a wider audience.

For Ayo, the transformative impact TikTok is having on the dynamics of the music industry is profound. His top 10 single with Wes Nelson, See Nobody, he explains, benefitted significantly from the traction it gained on the platform. Nelson too will be performing a special headline show at the next SoundOn Session at The Pioneer Club on Thursday, November 16. Tickets and details are available here.

“Obviously TikTok has been a big influence on my career,” he tells Headliner. “TikTok had a huge impact on a hit like See Nobody and it moved us about 20 places up the charts. What it’s also doing is giving the public a chance to be involved in a record by making their own videos, which are also going viral. TikTok is changing the way the game is.”

Having recently left a major label record deal, Ayo says that he is intending to use the SoundOn platform going forward on account of its capacity to empower music creators.

“I’m just coming off the back of being on a major label and I think this is an ideal way to move forward and putting the power back in the artists hands,” he adds.

Headliner recently spoke to TikTok head of artist services UK, Nichal Sethi, about the ways in which SoundOn can benefit artists. You can read the interview in full here.

The success of See Nobody and his collaboration with Nelson has seen Ayo navigate a two-pronged career as both an artist and a producer, something he has been doing since he first started out in music.

“I started with a group – it was me and a producer,” he recalls. “I started rapping and we were a duo. Luckily, he also showed me how to produce, so when we parted I started to produce for myself. That took me on another journey exploring music. And people kept asking me who produced my music, and I would tell them it was me. That eventually led to me producing music for other artists and making music with other people.

“I also did a music production and sound engineering course at college, and that got me into recording people and engineering. And I was still doing my own stuff, so I’d use those skills as a way to get access into other studios. As I started releasing music and videos I started collaborating with Wes Nelson, and that got me my first top 10 record. Things started to happen off the back of that and then I was signed as an artist. Now, I’m producing and releasing as an artist… watch this space!”

Ayo also paid tribute to the vital importance of initiatives like SoundOn Sessions, adding: "Nights and venues like this are so important for people like me to come in and look at new talent coming through. Its very difficult to navigate through the up and coming spaces, so soemthunbg like this is quite fresh. It’s amazing to me."

As well as Ayo's headline set at the opening SoundOn Session, another significant part of the night’s success was The Pioneer Club’s sound system, which is made up of eight JBL SRX910 line arrays, four SRX928S ground-stacked subs and four JBL PRX908 floor monitors.

A pair of PRX915 DJ monitors also feature, along with a Soundcraft Ui24 mixer. Two JBL PRX912s are also positioned on the VIP balcony as delays.

The reach of JBL systems also extends into the Pioneer’s bar and mini performance area – The Suet Yard. Reimagined from its initial iteration as a communal canteen area, it is now a social, DJ and performance space that sits alongside the main venue area, complete with a bar powered by Signature Brew and a JBL-powered PA system that can accommodate everything from DJ sets and stripped back and acoustic sessions for up to 200 people.

The full PA system consists of a selection of speakers from JBL’s PRX Series, including PRX915XLF subwoofers, PRX908 and IRX108BT loudspeakers, as well as a Soundcraft Ui24R mixer.

Furthermore, a comprehensive Martin Lighting rig works to spotlight the artists and sets the mood on stage and throughout the venue, which includes compact beam moving heads, bright single-lens LED moving heads, bright single-lens LED PAR cans, bright single-lens colour LED PAR can light fixtures, ultra-bright quad LED blinder fixtures and a JEM ZR35 fog machine.

The next SoundOn Sessions event takes place on Thursday, November 16th at The Pioneer Club. Also in partnership with MOBO UnSung, it will feature a special headline performance from Wes Nelson. Tickets and details are available here.