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A Labour of (We) Love...
On an island where change is a vital element in the fight for survival of the fittest, to remain at the top of your game after ten years definitely requires some serious strategic groundwork, a hefty dose of forward thinking marketing genius, and a serious passion for what you do.
Having recently revamped their website (www.welove-music.com) to become more user friendly, interactive, and to be constantly delivering new and innovative content means We Love… have the power to reach a global audience – no longer merely clubbers who have picked up their flyers, seen the billboards or flicked over an advertisement on the pages of one of the increasingly fewer dance music publications.
"Increasing our online content to include direct elements from the parties themselves via our web TV and radio weekly specials has shown to us just how far reaching We Love... can be," says Mark Broadbent, one third of the promoter team that puts together the weekly event. "It’s fantastic to think that due to the hard work of everybody involved we now have fans in such far flung places as Japan, China and Colchester logging on each week to catch the action from the week before. Feedback has been great and this in turn has shown us that the Internet is far more than a tool with which to watch free porn."
The content that is primarily attracting hits these days comes in the form of downloadable podcasts and videocasts, allowing the user to see and hear just what they missed at the club the previous week. From DJ interviews, excerpts from live sets, new music online, club footage, island scenery and much more, each episode and edition is compiled, produced, edited and uploaded in Ibiza. Put simply, a whole lot more than just the marketing and communication tools they were initially intended to be.
"Experiencing We Love... is completely different from reading about it in a newspaper, seeing a picture of it, or watching a colour video," explains We Love… TV producer Ruairi Dunne. "However, television is perhaps the most significant of the electric media because of its ability to invoke multiple senses. The weekly films are a direct extension of the human network within the party. As central nervous systems combine within the walls of Space on a Sunday in Ibiza, the growth can continue outwards to the global village."
In other words, the phrase "You had to be there" really no longer has a purpose for this party.
Tom Brown, host and producer of the We Love… Radio podcasts agrees. "The podcast gives the listener the ability to create his or her own image of We Love… It’s a good thing to leave something to the imagination I think and it means every listener has a more personalised experience of We Love on Sundays."
A true labour of love, both the TV and Radio concepts were born in 2007, a fresh idea and a bold new venture in Ibiza for a business which had always relied on other medium as a form of advertising and marketing. The power of the internet however, was a force not to be reckoned with and in just two short years, the amount of downloads of the programs have gone from just 200 in the first week to over 2.2 million around the globe.
Putting together a passionate and dedicated team has been paramount to We Love’s online success. Considering the club is open for 14.5 hours every Sunday - much more than a day’s work in most people’s books – and taking into account the tight turnaround, a high pressure working environment that most people wouldn’t expect in Ibiza, and deadline times in order to present content to the world before even holidaymaker’s snapshots or home videos make it to Facebook or Youtube, means little to no sleep for the teams involved for 24 hours, intense concentration and a vision that is parallel to that of Darren Hughes, We Love… founder and pioneer of the electronic medium for the party.
Darren has this to say: "Our Podcasts – both TV and radio – have become for myself as important, thrilling and integral to We Love… as the actual events themselves. Why? Because even though my partner Mark Broadbent and I are still entrenched within our historical old school marketing styles, relying on flyers and posters, I feel we have now metamorphosed the actual product that we jointly deliver. We can now stand outside of ourselves and see and listen to exactly what we are, without any marketing bullshit whatsoever. I really believe with our radio and TV allies, we can only show ourselves in the most honest light possible - how great is that?"
He finishes with a nod to his team. "We have a fantastic team involved with this project, who I am very happy to have found over the last few years and even happier to find out that they like us and want to stay with us!"
And let’s be clear on that note. This team does not consist of just another club promoter toting an MP3 recorder or hand held camcorder. "My background is in broadcast radio," says Tom, who also uses a team of reporters and sound engineers in the club on the night, "so I wanted the Podcasts to have the same quality thresholds and attention to detail as any shows on say the BBC. In effect, a full quality radio show, available online and put together with sharp editorial slant and quality broadcast equipment."
This attention to detail puts proof in the pudding by the number of downloads recorded. "The great thing about Podcasting is that you really know that people are listening and even how long they are listening for - not something that can be said for real radio in fact. Plus we also know where they are listening. We have listeners in unlikely places like Sudan, Mongolia, Iran and Kazakhstan."
Ruairi, who holds a degree in film and multi media, explains his own deeper motivations. "My reasons for conducting these films and exposing We Love... to a wider audience than is possible in Ibiza alone are straightforward. I find the social ritual involved in dance and electronic music an intensely primitive, even primal experience - which is surprising for an art-form which relies so heavily on modern-day technology. Television, as well as future technologies, has the ability to re-tribalize, that is, to re-create the sensory unification characteristic of tribal society. Or, as Marshall McLuhan would have said: 'The medium is the message.'"
It’s not just the teams however that make these well-oiled machines tick – it is the participation of the DJs; from first timers to jet-setting global superstars, getting behind the scenes, finding out more than what they like to drop at peak time on the dance floor. It is a more personal approach – what has shaped their character, their backgrounds, inspirations and opinions on not just We Love… but Ibiza as a destination itself. After all, the more interaction a viewer or listener experiences, the more endeared they become to the artist and thus are more likely to continue to buy their music.
"The We Love… TV and Radio Podcasts have helped me to make people aware of my music from all corners of the globe. It has immediate effect," says We Love… resident DJ Jem Haynes, who has featured in numerous editions of the programs, including the monthly winter editions. "Every time I am involved in one of the broadcasts something positive comes from it, whether that’s new fans that weren’t aware of my music before or bookings from new promoters in distant places."
International artist Claude Von Stroke agrees. "We Love… is the only party that really features the artists in a good way that isn't so Vegas or garish like a lot of other island promotions tend to be. The video Podcast is a nice way to see that all these DJs playing are real people and not any kind of Gods... just music lovers."
Next stop in the technology stakes for We Love? Developing and launching their very own iTunes application, showcasing the website to bring you all the latest news and competitions, the latest in-depth video interviews, and view into Ibiza life on We Love… TV, live DJ sets and interviews on We Love… Radio, plus direct links to social networking sites, delivered directly to your iPhone. Stay tuned...
 Tom Brown selects his top three
We Love... Radio broadcasts
1. 9th September 2007 – Jeff Mills’ first radio interview in 10 years.
2. 10th August 2008 - interview with Chemical Brothers, who rarely give interviews.
3. 5th July 2009 – live set recording of Layo and Bushwacka on the covered terrace. One of the best performances and crowd reactions I've heard.
Find them on itunes with below:
iTunes We Love... TV
iTunes We Love... Radio
Win a trip to We Love... RA at Space
RA are offering readers the chance to win flights, accommodation and tickets for our mammoth party at Space, Ibiza on September 6th.
Competition closes 10 Aug 2009
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Published / Monday, 03 August 2009
Photo credits /
Green smiley - Phrank
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