WHY ATOMIC IS THE BEST MUSIC BRAND FOR INDEPENDENT REGIONAL AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS

Atomic has established a fierce reputation for being unapologetically pro-Australian independent artists, through honest journalism and by paying unrelenting attention to detail on news and new releases. Over the past 12 months, the regional music magazine furthered its ability to meet artist’s needs by transitioning into a one-stop online music platform and digital publisher. Now the company is doubling down by opening up its first creative visual/media studio’s in the hub of the regional Australian music industry, Albury Wodonga.

In June 2019 a decision was made, unbeknownst to the musicians and fans it would ultimately affect. The trademarks and mastheads of regional music publishing firm ‘Atomic Albury’, were transferred to the Ice Entertainment private media group. The focus of the acquisition was to transform that which was a local passion project with substantial value to its music community, into a service that would be transplantable into the heart of every Australian music community from Broome to Warnnambool.

Today the Atomic name serves almost a dozen music communities, distributing music, collecting royalties, conducting promotion and reporting on almost two hundred, independent Australian artists, with plenty more room for growth. The key strategy of the product relies on the capacity for replication. Firstly, the Atomic top-twenty music charts are produced every week. The charts are broadcast on FM stations in Albury/Wodonga, Bacchus Marsh, Barnawartha, Chiltern, Colac, Coonamble, Holbrook, Seymour, Tangambalanga and Yackandandah. Combined, the service reaches a listener base of well over 500,000 audience members of the regional community radio network across rural Australia. It is a sizeable market for any upcoming or established regional artists, but the real arsenal under the belt of Ice Entertainment is the companies growing capabilities in their technology division.

In November 2019 the newly rebranded ‘Atomic Media’ unveiled a timely expansion into the music streaming market. The Atomic ‘Stream Space’ (http://stream.atomicmusic.space) features a growing online library of independent Australian music from rural and regional artists. Furthermore, listening preferences on the online streaming service are crunched by big data analysis to assemble the rankings on the weekly music charts, as well as prioritizing track rotation on the 24/7 digital radio station, simply called ‘Atomic’, which was launched in January of 2020. It is this digital meritocracy of music that makes the charts and radio station truly attuned to the listening preferences of Atomic listeners and fans.

In July 2020, after a stellar uptake in the streaming service and a solid expansion of FM audiences, the Ice Entertainment’s executive management made the decision to step away from the traditional publisher model they had inherited and slashed the distribution commission from Atomics online streaming platform. This move elevated the attractiveness of the online platform to a status equivalent to other large distribution services such as Bandcamp and Soundcloud. In fact, after permanently reducing commissions, the Atomics Stream.Space service is now more affordable for musicians than its competitor Bandcamp.

Like other technology businesses, the Covid-19 lockdowns have netted a good result for Atomic Media, its online entertainment avenues have all seen a markedly uptick in usage. The management are now pre-empting the post-pandemic business environment and have placed a significant investment into new multi-media studios. Located in the Albury/Wodonga business district, the new facilities boast a digital broadcast station / video set, equipped with caller talkback and direct-to-digital streaming capabilities; a suite of new programs have been developed to meet the demand for the station which will also be produced on-site at the multimedia studios. The onsite location also features a video and photoshoot facility with green screen capabilities as well as housing the Atomic regional office HQ.

In the space of just 8 months and 4 short months of lock down, the acquisition of Atomic music by Ice Entertainment has seen sweeping changes to a magazines business model. These have positioned the company to compete with established online music streaming services, as well as megalithic Australian radio establishments. The product offering to artists however is solid, rivalling the best and the social benefit for regional Australian communities is also evident. Time will be the judge of how the Atomic offering stands up to a number of entrenched industries and institutions.