Once upon a time record labels relied on mostly sales information. As of 2017, a lot of things have changed. With a decline in record sales and an increase in streaming, marketers and music industry executives get an in-depth look into artist’s audiences. What does it all mean?
Sales & Radio Data
Record labels once focused on the data they received from record sales. They were able to understand what geographical areas were listening to a specific artist and work marketing efforts in and around those areas. They were also able to forecast singles and album sales for following projects. Radio spins were also a way to determine what artists were more popular and learn more about the audience. The data, however, wasn’t as detail as it would become once the music industry entered the world of online sales, streaming and social media.
Streaming & Online Sales
In the early 2000’s, services like Last.fm and Pandora, launched. Although there was an attempt at music streaming in 1993 by a company called Internet Underground Music, it wasn’t until the 2000’s that this became popular. These services allow users to create stations that are specific to their listening needs. They were able to like or dislike songs that appeared on the station and this made it easier for the services to understand the listening behavior of the consumer. Services like iTunes & Apple Music are able to collect a significant amount of data because they have access to the entire library of the user. They know what the users are listening to and have begun using association analysis within the services to recommend other artists, singles, albums, etc. Streaming has become so important that in 2016, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), began distributing awards certifications based on streaming. It has also allowed artists to better plan out touring. Jay-z arranged the locations for his United Kingdom tour based on data collected by Spotify. Ticket sales have become a major source of income in light of the declining record sales. This is why artists, executives, and promoters should utilize data.
Social Media
Social media has definitely changed the game. It is uncommon for an artist to not have some form of social media. You can even find an artist or two with accounts that have no posts, like Kendrick Lamar, who has an Instagram with no posts. Jay Z had an active twitter account and posted maybe 3 times. All 3 times he was received an astounding amount of engagement. Let’s face it that’s Jay Z we are talking about. Independent artists, however, have to spend a lot of time building social media presence. Likes, shares, and comments, go a long way whether remaining independent or trying to get signed by a label. These metrics help to understand how the audience is receiving the artist and if they will be marketable or convert to sales. Again, with a decline in physical sales and an increase in digital, streaming, digital performance royalties and show sales, social media data is key in understanding the audience and making strides towards success.
The Future
With
their currently being a flood of data and information coming from the music industry,
the future can again look bright. It is a lot easier to forecast what songs
will be popular or even deciding when an artist should go on tour. As for
talent scouting, a scout will have a better understanding on what and who should
be someone they invest their time into. Companies like MusicMetric and Next Big
Sound have found their niche by being services that are specific to music
analytics. We can imagine that more companies will arise as it has become so necessary
to examine social data. And while the music industry will still need to remain focused
on content, data analysis is opening up opportunities for them to better
promote themselves. Algorithms have become popular in several industries so who
knows how long before they give a try in the music industry. Who’s to say an
algorithm can’t talent scout?
Really interesting, good read!
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