lifeofsiri

[lifeofsiri]

IHEARTRADIO SIGNS MAJOR LABEL DEALS TO LAUNCH SPOTIFY RIVAL IN Q1 2017

Tim Ingham (MBW, 2016)

[lifeofsiri]

RECORDED MUSIC SALES UP IN SWEDEN AS STREAMING REVENUE GROWS 10%

Tim Ingham (MBW, 2016)

[lifeofsiri]

APPLE MUSIC HELPS US RECORDED MUSIC MARKET GROW 8.1% IN FIRST HALF OF 2016

Tim Ingham (MBW, 2016)

[lifeofsiri]

[lifeofsiri]

APPLE HAS LONG USED ITS CONTROL OF IOS TO SQUASH COMPETITION IN MUSIC, DRIVING UP THE PRICES OF ITS COMPETITORS, INAPPROPRIATELY FORBIDDING US FROM TELLING OUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT LOWER PRICES, AND GIVING ITSELF UNFAIR ADVANTAGES ACROSS ITS PLATFORM THROUGH EVERYTHING FROM THE LOCK SCREEN TO SIRI. YOU KNOW THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WHEN APPLE MAKES MORE OFF A SPOTIFY SUBSCRIPTION THAN IT DOES OFF AN APPLE MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION AND DOESN’T SHARE ANY OF THAT WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. THEY WANT TO HAVE THEIR CAKE AND EAT EVERYONE ELSE’S TOO.

James Harmon, 2016. 

http://www.edmtunes.com/2016/07/apple-spotify-continue-war/

[lifeofsiri]

Streaming Success

I saw First Aid Kit, a Swedish folk sister-duo, for the first time live in Oslo in 2009. At that point their greatest “hit” was their cover of Fleet Foxes’ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, which generated more than twice as many views (4,592,679) on Youtube than the original (1,777,921). 

Later on they have sold out big venues throughout Scandinavia and the UK and made 3 successful albums.

Other examples of streaming successes are   

Justin Bieber (obviously), Lukas Graham, Shawn Mendes, Meghan Trainor, You?! 

IT IS POSSIBLE!

[lifeofsiri]

While streaming is most definitely the future, the future hasn’t quite gotten here yet

Mark Hogan, Pitchfork (2015)

[lifeofsiri]

ALL MUSICIANS OUT THERE

STOP THINKING OF STREAMING AS AN INCOME SOURCE BUT MORE AS A MARKETING TOOL (no offence to you Thom Yorke...)

SHAPE YOUR PRODUCT WELL AND SUDDENLY YOU’LL GET GREAT ATTENTION ON SPOTIFY, YOUTUBE, SOUNDCLOUD ETC.

ANALYSE WHERE PEOPLE ARE LISTENING AND PLAY A GIG THERE

BOOOOM! Simple as..

[lifeofsiri]

Click on the link to get an overview of what music has hit the Top 200 and Viral charts within Spotify globally or by country the last day or week

Aaaaand

To get a further indication of how many times a song has been played (unless its one of the “popular”) just scroll the arrow over the far right section after the song title (the section underneath the “thumb up” symbol)

[lifeofsiri]

“Spotify provides a greater return than iTunes”

Was expressed by Sony, Norway in 2010. TWO-THOUSAND-AND-TEN!

[lifeofsiri]

The results after consumers spending more than 20 billion hours on Spotify in 2015

Top Five Global Artists

Drake Ed Sheeran The Weeknd Maroon 5 Kanye West

Top Five Global Females

Rihanna Ariana Grande Nicki Minaj Beyoncé Ellie Goulding

Top Five Global Tracks

“Lean On” (feat. MØ & DJ Snake)—Major Lazer “Cheerleader” (Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit)—OMI “Uptown Funk”—Mark Ronson “See You Again” (feat. Charlie Puth)—Wiz Khalifa “Love Me Like You Do” (from Fifty Shades of Grey)—Ellie Goulding

Top Five Global Albums

Beauty Behind the Madness—The Weeknd If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late—Drake Peace Is the Mission—Major Lazer Stories—Avicii Title—Meghan Trainor

Top Five Global Viral Tracks

“Sugar” (feat. Francesco Yates)—Robin Schulz “Hotline Bling”—Drake “Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better)”—Felix Jaehn “Can’t Feel My Face”—The Weeknd “Here”—Alessia Cara

[lifeofsiri]

We’re living in a globalised, streaming-driven world, which is tearing down boundaries and challenging traditional assumptions

Stu Bergen (CEO, international and global commercial services at Warner Music Group)

[lifeofsiri]

“Facebook Messenger has gone and got itself some Spotify integration”

This is awesome! This is just... perfect! 

If you find a great song on Spotify and really wanna share it with your partner, friend and/or family on Facebook, you follow these simple steps:

1. In the chat-room, press the ‘More’ button - the one with 3 dots  

2. Scroll down until you find the Spotify symbol

3. Press the symbol

4. Find the song you want to send, you can either browse or find it in your playlist

5. Click on the song and press ‘Send’

DONE! SIMPLE AS!

(the giver and receiver *hoho, wordplay there* needs to have Spotify installed on their phone)

http://goo.gl/pvmfUO

[lifeofsiri]

Spotify has never gone in profit

Chris Cooke, 2016, CMU http://goo.gl/T8FnSi

[lifeofsiri]

The music streaming exclusivity war is “fundamentally a bad idea," (Anthony Bay, CEO at Rdio)

These days some A-list artists such as Kanye West, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Radiohead choose to distribute their music on one specific streaming service such as Apple or Tidal, leaving some fans desperate. The idea is that they will convert and subscribe to the chosen service: 

“As major streaming services battle for market share and subscribers, exclusive music seems like a smart way to increase trial to paid conversions, retain customers, and gain new subscribers” (Timothy, April 2016 - http://goo.gl/9S1Wh2)

When Kanye W released his album, Life of Pablo, exclusively on Tidal it doubled the service’s subscription base. Sooo....

In business terms, it is a great way of gaining market-share and monetary funds, however..

As a consumer, I would argue that this is the current climate of streaming’s greatest flaw!

[lifeofsiri]

MONEY MONEY MONEY

Spotify’s royalty payments has been a highly discussed topic since its launch in 2009. They claim that

“An artist’s royalty payments depend on the following variables, among others: 

• In which country people are streaming an artist’s music 

• Spotify’s # of paid users as a % of total users; higher % paid, higher “per stream” rate 

• Relative premium pricing and currency value in different countries 

• An artist’s royalty rate”

which has resulted in an average “per stream” payout to rights holders of between $0.006 and $0.0084.--> https://goo.gl/nXMM3j

“Zoë is known for both her use of technology - which she uses to sample her cello onstage - and for her DIY approach, releasing her music online without the help of a record label.” 

Still Zoe only received $0.00369 per stream???!!! Suspicious.. 

These numbers confuses me... 

Universal, Warner, Sony etc. have great stakes in the company, I know that, but can that be the reason??

Who knows.. 

[lifeofsiri]

As an artist on Spotify I’d advise you to :

1. Have a thoroughly updated profile with all your newest material, gig/tour-dates, merchandise etc.

2. Write a capturing biography to gain the listeners attention to you as a person. Psssst! It doesn't fail to have a #RemarkableStory...

3. I can not count the amount of times I have discovered a new artist through clicking on someone in the “Related Artist” section. Unfortunately this section is impossible to manage individually as these are determined by algorithms which analyse what people listen to alongside your music. 

“You can start to affect it [the list] by creating a sharing playlists of your music with other music you think is more related. This will increase your streams and the bands you want to be associated with, increasing the chance of them becoming related artists.” http://goo.gl/PKvobX

4. Be active on analysing your data, which will show you where in the world people are listening, how they are listening (phone, laptop, mp3 player...), if people click play once or if they come back, your tracks development, and other interesting facts. This will help determine how to develop further and where to place your next gig.

5. Share your Spotify on ALL social media platforms and websites at your disposal. To increase your following keep referring to your new releases and playlists by providing your audience, and new potential listeners, with a simple Play Button, Follow Button or a link.

Also it could be an idea to encourage your fans to share your link in order to win free gig tickets or merchandise or “meet and greet” or or..

!!!! However, to thoroughly play the real game of Spotify you need a “Verified Account”. To apply for this you have to have a minimum of 250 followers.. Simples! (http://goo.gl/iJ94hr)

Check this page to read more --> http://www.spotifyartists.com/guides/