Streaming services currently account for nearly 75% of all global music sales revenue. With hundreds of millions of paid subscribers, it goes without saying that music has found its new home in a variety of streaming platforms. Musicians today often release their work on a few of these outlets and promote it on personal social media. However, This tactic only scratches the surface of the immense opportunities available at every artist’s fingertips. Let’s take a look at three different streaming platforms and the unique advantages that come with each.
Soundcloud
Soundcloud is a widely popular platform that is free to use, whether uploading music or simply listening. It is a perfect first stop for gaining clout and can serve effectively as a test site for new work. This platform is ideal for releasing experimental projects and observing listener reactions. If a song receives high engagement through plays and shares, it is a good candidate for more prominent outlets such as Spotify. Like most other services, Soundcloud provides analytics, which can be useful in the early stages of an artists career. Gathering data on song performance and audience will help market their new music. Even for well known artists, Soundcloud is a great place for experimental releases.
The platform has recently evolved from a free and casual environment to one more dedicated to artists’ success. Soundcloud inevitably needed to compete with the streaming giants Spotify, Apple Music, and many more. So, as well as introducing track monetization and rebranding paid subscriptions on Soundcloud Go+, they took things a step further. Soundcloud now offers Soundcloud Premier Distribution. This feature allows any paid artist account (Pro and Pro Unlimited) to directly distribute tracks to Spotify, Apple Music, and most other major streaming platforms. All for free.
Soundcloud has always focused on being the “first stop” for musicians. Over the past few years, despite financial scares, it has proven to be just that. It continues to add features helping artists start their careers. Anyone can upload their music to Soundcloud and view plays, likes, comments, re-posts, and analytics. And now, they can generate revenue through plays, and if eligible, distribute tracks to major streaming services at no extra cost. Artists have a plethora of opportunity in Soundcloud. When the ball gets rolling, it’s time for artists to use that distribution feature and project to bigger crowds.
Spotify
Spotify is the most popular streaming service to date by average sessions per month, resting at 61 per user, while competitors such as Apple Music sit as low as 12. 217 million people use the service every month, and out of these, 100 million pay for subscriptions. This is where musicians want their best work. When thinking of Spotify, think “official releases”. The two main goals of an artist on Spotify are to get songs on playlists and generate revenue through streams. Obviously, the former directly effects the latter. Once a song gets placed on a Spotify playlist, the potential for growing revenue and fans is limitless.
There are three types of playlists on Spotify: Algorithmic (made by Spotify algorithms), Editorial (made by playlist curators), and Listener Generated (made by users). Artists can increase their chances to land on any of these playlists by accumulating more streams and followers. However, there is a much more direct way to earn a playlist spot. Artists can submit songs to Spotify specialists to be considered for playlists. And the process couldn’t be any easier.
By following a few guidelines, any song from any Spotify artist can be considered for one of the thousands of editorial playlists. When a song is selected, Spotify puts it on the artists’ followers’ Release Radar playlist. In addition, they provide the artist with a unique URL that displays their song at the top of the playlist when clicked on. These are just a few ways Spotify works to serve the artist.
YouTube
As if it wasn’t already a home-base for musicians incorporating visuals into their work, YouTube just got a whole lot more musician-friendly. Lately, Google has been heavily investing in YouTube. It has replaced Google Play Music with YouTube Music, which will be pre-installed on every android device in 2020. If that isn’t enough motivation for artists to cultivate a YouTube following, then these other new features will make them hit the ground running.
YouTube has created official artist channels that organize content, increase discoverability in search, offer promotional tools, and encourage subscriber engagement under one single channel. An artist must have three “official releases” on YouTube through a music distribution partner to be eligible. Once the account is acquired, musicians can use it as the hub of all their audio/visual content.
A new feature called “Artist on the Rise” is similar to getting on a Spotify playlist. YouTube picks three artists per week and displays their music video on the Trending page for 24 hours each. In addition to this jackpot for exposure, official artists can now gain profit by more than just subscribers and streams. YouTube lets artists showcase merchandise and promote tour dates on shelves right under their videos, allowing users to buy merch and show tickets with the click of a button. These incredible new additions are helping artists centralize their business models.
Takeaways
It is a lonely, intimidating world for a musician starting a career on their own. But streaming platforms are evolving to help artists succeed in any way they can. Musicians can say goodbye to releasing music with a hope that the right person will stumble upon it. They can say goodbye to making streamline music for plays, too. With the boundless free resources available in everyone’s pocket, artists can take their genuine craft to new heights.
The paramount takeaway from this post is digital diversity. This will only help artists make financial and social strides. Streaming platforms do not pay much per stream, but if artists generate revenue from a few different sources, they can earn what their work deserves. It is crucial to understand that different platforms call for different content, and those platforms are willing to pay. Being a multi-talented artist is like holding a master’s degree in today’s world.
Lastly, artists should be aware that brands and companies are in one day and out the next, so relying on a single source for content could put their careers in jeopardy. For example, Soundcloud almost went bankrupt in 2017 and continues to lose money, so depending on it as the only source of distribution could be risky. Likewise, Spotify is a similar service in that it is a single financial entity. While Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Play are all backed by leading world corporations, Spotify stands alone in its financial battle.
With all that in mind, It’s never too late to get ahead of the game. So, I’m calling on all musicians to go out and start using the tools that were built for your success.
Share this post with musicians that could benefit from these platforms and their resources!
Bravo Mr. Capuson! Power to the people