Interview with Jirka Otte, the idea generator: “Music Made in Bochum”, the playlist for music from Bochum

Jirka Otte, well-known in the rap and hip-hop scene and born in Bochum, is with us „Music Made in Bochum“ launched a music playlist on which only music from and from Bochum can be heard.

In the interview he tells what motivated him to this project, how the list networked musicians from Bochum and how the list was received by those interested in music in Bochum, how the list is still growing and how it should continue this year.

How did you get on the “Music Made in Bochum” playlist and what exactly is the project?

I’ve been active on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Co. for a long time. So I was interested in how music is being promoted on social media in Germany. Is there actually a serious playlist promotion for German music? Then I was made aware of a post how one of the most famous Spotify playlists in the hip-hop genre “Modus Mio” is being promoted. The article said how they do it, how many people work for the promotion of the list in Berlin. What work it is to create sharepics, videos, etc. and how important such a promotion can be. And what you can do with it. Evaluations, for example, in which city and which artists are particularly popular. This can then be used to plan a tour with the places where artists should perform best.

And then the idea occurred to me, what is actually happening in Bochum? I just entered “Bochum” in the search on Spotify and then found and collected more artists from day to day and created a playlist from them. There were things in there that I had never heard of before. It was a daily journey of discovery on which I always found new great pieces. So I thought, now you could promote the playlist on social channels in a similar way to Modus Mio.

I and a small team of people who are also enthusiastic about the cross-genre list then started to promote articles about the Bochum artists on our social media channels, with a sharepic in the corporate design and the most important social media Links of the musicians. A network was created very quickly. As a result, artists wrote to us, “We are musicians from Bochum, don’t you want to write about us and add us to the list”. That was a lot of fun.

We then brought Youtube on board. If you want to hear the playlist, you don’t have to register there, it even works on the smart TVs. This makes it easier and quicker for people to get to the music from Bochum. In addition, there are some music videos with moving images on YouTube, which make the whole thing even more interesting.

And then you got in touch with the city’s cultural office and have now also received funding for musicians interviews from there?

The fact that the cultural office of the city of Bochum is now supporting us and seeing us as worthy of funding is incredibly valuable. For the project, we considered conducting video interviews with the musicians represented in the playlist and then publishing them on the “Music Made in Bochum” social media channels. We want to ask why are you in Bochum, in which district are you active, what connects you with the city and its culture, what do you do?

If Corona allows, there should be 15 interviews this year. We want to record four to five interviews at various Bochum cultural locations as a relay. For example, we made contact with KoFabrik, Langendreer train station and X-Vision Ruhr. A season is then created at each location. This also creates synergies for the places where we do the interviews. We want to invite the appropriate artists for the location. To X-Vision Ruhr, the younger talents, in the newly renovated district hall of the KoFabrik, the more well-known ones.

The list is also intended to enable the Bochum musicians to exchange ideas, for example about which producers would be the best for them. What experiences you have made with this and that digital sales. Or also “What does the cultural office actually do? Where can I get funding? Where can you perform? What experiences from other cities could be beneficial for the cultural scene in Bochum? ”Exchanging and networking among Bochum musicians,“ Music Made in Bochum ”can be a platform for this.

Everyone is addressed with the playlist, from almost every perspective. The listeners look into the list to hear things they like, the producers or labels look at what new musicians and talents there are, the musicians see for themselves: Who else is there, with who could we exchange ideas or work together? Or if you are missing, we will then get a suggestion and add it to the list.

Brilliant project. Everyone can gain something from it and contribute something and with it the awareness grows. Are there any other projects besides the interviews?

We are currently trying to create new content on Wednesdays and Sundays, with new bands and information about the Bochum music scene. I am gradually expanding the network and making further contacts. The well-known artists should also be involved even more.

One consideration for the future is to create sub-lists for various genres, for rap, rock, hip-hop, electro. You can then accommodate even more pieces by the individual artists.

We also want to promote female artists more. We have already started a campaign to be able to present more female musicians on the list. After our appeal “Wanted – Female Artist” we got great tips about who else we should include. But there is more.

We still have a lot of ideas and work in store. At the moment, however, the focus is on the interviews, which will take a long time.

Where is the list now? Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Youtube?

You can find the “Music Made in Bochum” playlist on Spotify and on our YouTube channel. In the foreseeable future, an Internet site is also planned as an archive, where people who are against the established social media such as Facebook and Co. can also access it. MiBO.ruhr will then be the domain. But that is a task for the next year.

The list currently offers music for 6 hours and 34 minutes. The playlist contains 100 pieces of music. And all with music from Bochum.

How did your work on this list get you and how did you find inspiration?

For me as an artist, discovering the music of other artists is incredibly valuable. To think outside the box, to free yourself from your own bubble and to trust yourself, that is super interesting and exciting. I can only recommend that to every musician. That inspires a lot. Use the list as a network and exchange ideas, because Bochum is a city where people help each other “where we still count”. I would like to continue promoting that. Good luck for!

Music made in Bochum
Contact: [email protected]
Playlists: http://www.mibo.ruhr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/made.in.bochum
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/madeinbochum
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made.in.bochum

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