Warner Music is partnering with Community, a text messaging platform for direct-to-fan communications.
This marks Community’s first deal with a major music company. “Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks additional opportunities for artists to drive engaging conversations at scale with their fans. Expanded connections with fans ultimately result in increased sales, greater content consumption, deeper artist affinity, and additional opportunities for Warner Music’s roster and brands,” says David Ross, SVP of Growth, Partnerships, and Revenue at Community.
Warner Music artists have been early adopters of Community. Ali Gatie regularly texts with his fans, sending them personal birthday messages and exchanging selfies. Labelmates Junior Varsity are also building up their presence on Community. They’re doing pop-up shows in NYC and Los Angeles with fans RSVPing by texting Junior Varsity’s Community number.
Community launched in 2019 as a way to power direct relationships and one-on-one conversations through text messaging at scale. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It helps pop culture stars, local community organizers, small business owners, and more. Community drives direct relationships with their fans and customers.
Select Warner Music artists will be given the power to personally text with fans via their 10-digit Community number.
These numbers will give fans a way to stay informed of exclusive releases, drops, ticket sales, merch opportunities, and more. Community says its average open rates are around 95% within the first three minutes of receiving a text message. It also has a 59% clickthrough rate for links shared through text.
Warner Music believes direct-to-fan communication helps cut through the social algorithm interference, spam, and other distractions. “Community’s model helps us cut through the noise and give us an authentic, personal and unique way to reach superfans,” says Scott Cherkin, SVP Global Audience Strategy, WEA.
“The direct line helps our artists get to know their fans better and opens up opportunities for them to plug their priorities – whether it be merch, concert tickets, or a new single – knowing they have an engaged and eager audience on the receiving end. Some artists are already promoting their numbers at shows to really great reception and we’re excited to offer Community even more artists in the Warner Music family.”