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Shack Santima performs at SoundOn Sessions: “These nights are vital for artists”

London-based Gospel artist Shack Santima recently delivered a standout performance at the first ever SoundOn Session at The Pioneer Club in St. Albans, taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the role of such initiatives, as well as the SoundOn platform.

SoundOn is the global music distribution and TikTok music marketing platform, allowing 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.

Furthermore, SoundOn offers a raft of promotional tools designed to assist artists in marketing their new releases through TikTok's creator marketing and subsequently reaching a wider audience.

Recently, SoundOn entered into a new partnership with Headliner Spaces to launch SoundOn Sessions. The initiative is designed to champion the very best new talent the UK has to offer by giving them the chance to perform at one of the most exciting grassroots venues and creative hubs in the country – the reimagined, supercharged Pioneer Club in St. Albans.

The first SoundOn Session focused on the MOBO UnSung Class of 2023, which is a relatively new talent contest driven by SoundOn and TikTok. Among the artists performing on the night was Santima, whose unique brand of gospel rap provided one of the evening’s most powerful standout sets.

Prior to taking the stage, Santima was keen to highlight the vital importance of events like SoundOn Sessions in helping artists in their development as performers.

“I believe there is great importance in events and venues like this,” he told Headliner. “They help to build up confidence. I used to avoid doing shows at all costs because of my anxiety and how nervous I’d get, but events like this really help me to build my confidence and come out of my shell. It’s a new audience and a new environment, so it’s really good training for live performance.”

SoundOn and TikTok are vital tools in building connections. Shack Santima

Santima also went on to hail the SoundOn distribution platform and the power of TikTok in today’s music market.

SoundOn and TikTok have been absolutely amazing,” he beamed. “I’ve been building a relationship with them even outside of the music. I’ve been having one-to-one mentoring sessions and I had the chance to go to the TikTok HQ, which was amazing.

SoundOn is platform that capitalises and maximises on what TikTok is already doing. It’s been a vital tool in building connections.”

In a recent interview, Headliner 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 next SoundOn Session at The Pioneer Club takes place on Thursday, November 16, when UK artist Wes Nelson will perform a special headliner set, with five MOBO UnSung Class of 2023 artists also taking to the stage on the night. Tickets and details are available here.

There is great importance in initiatives like SoundOn Sessions. Shack Santima

The Pioneer Club is powered by a sound system 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.