One of YouTube's biggest and most well known EDM music channels is known as Proximity. Proximity formerly known as Pandoric currently garners more than 395,000 subscribers and over 56,000 facebook fans. We recently had the chance to talk with the founder Blake Coppelson and ask him about how YouTube has changed, how he chooses music and a little bit more about Proximity.
Right now you own one of the biggest YouTube channels for new music. How did it all get started for you?
It all started a little over two years ago. I started uploading my own mashups to YouTube and then I realized I had a small subscriber base of 100 people. At that time, it was a lot of people for me, enough to start posting tracks I liked for them to listen to. Slowly but surely I started to grow and I would be getting contacted by artists themselves to promote their music. It's just been an amazing ride ever since.
When does your passion for EDM date back to?
My passion for EDM started when I was 15 years old listening to Basshunter. One of my friends introduced me to them and I was hooked; but the duo that really got me into EDM was The Bloody Beetroots. Cornelious, Butter, and We Are From Venice and my pioneering tracks.
Who are some of your favorite artists right now?
Ahh soo many great artists to choose from. Krewella absolutely blew my mind with their latest E.P. I'd also have to say Bauuer; he fucking kills it live. And I can't stop playing the new Martin Garrix & Jay Hardway track called “Wizard”. Too good. My favorites are always changing every week.
How do you find music to post on your channel?
Most of the music I find is sent to me by the artists themselves, the labels / management, or my demo submissions e-mail. Love giving the underground spotlight. Frequently though, I'll go on some of my favorite blogs like EDM Sauce 😉 Hype Machine, and a few others and find a really unique song and reach out to the artist/label to upload.
Why don't you cover many remixes?
Remixes are very tricky just in terms of copyright. There's a lot of legal issues that come with uploading music to YouTube; and being a channel that attracts attention I have to be cautious with what I post. I tend to stay away from remixes but if there is one I really like, I try to leverage that with the Record Label who owns the original mix.
How have you seen YouTube change throughout the years?
Since I began posting on YouTube it's been a pretty weird ride. It has definitely been more engaging not with my own channel but throughout. More people are just watching YouTube videos and I really lucked out in making this channel when I did. Every YouTube update has been progressively more shitty though.
Is this a full-time or part-time Job for you? When do you find time during the day/week to do this?
Proximity is definitely a part time job; school is my full time job. Right when I end class (and sometimes during), I just put my Headphones on and just start sorting through music. I always upload at 11am and I often see myself up at 5am the night of struggling to find a song to post. Everything is very last minute with me but hey, I'm just a college student. I usually put in at least 3-4 hours a day every day of the week with just upkeep, listening to music, etc for the channel.
With so many other music channels out there, how do you differentiate yourself?
Yeah there definitely has been many music channels created since I started.. I find little things here and there to differentiate myself; whether it be updating the visuals for each upload, or giving out music packs, I do as much as I can to stand outside. I'll also have to admit that since I started early on, I really lucked out with growing as fast as I did. It wouldn't have been as easy if I started now. It helps to know people in the industry and get content before anyone else to post.
What are your plans for the future and where do you want to expand to?
Festivals. I want to hold my own festival once that becomes realistic enough to pursue; but I would want it to be unique. I don't know really know how I'll do it but I will.
I saw you just opened your own store, tell us what you plan on selling in there?
Currently we just have minimal Clothing, but we're hoping to start selling posters, keychains, and other nifty things we can create with the logo!
Make sure to subscribe to Proximity on YouTube and check out their brand new online store here!
