Spotify’s Streaming Impact on Artists
The constant arguments of Spotify and other streaming platforms not taking care of artists are of course a concern when it comes to those who have always grossed a lot of money when it comes to album and single sales but I would argue that Spotify and others have benefited those genres who traditionally never benefited from a large amount of music sales and would have to rely on live performances to spread their music and sell merch which would include sales of their music.
Those who most benefited are most definitely subgenres of dance music such as drum & bass, and dubstep and other genres such as punk, and underground hip hop. What Spotify did for these genres is allow the discovery of new music for the fans of this music through recommendations, and playlists curated by the platforms and users of their platforms. So with this, I believe these artists are truly benefiting who wouldn’t normally be able to sell their music through the traditional methods which was relying on distribution which was hard to come by if you were an unsigned artist or just an artist on a smaller label as they were not set up with mass distribution channels. Even for those who were making decent money by live shows only a small amount of music sales were made at these shows as actual distribution would put the music in front of the general fan base of the music genre, and the days of Sam Goody and Tower Records, etc this is how music was found. Things indeed changed once Napster, and Limewire came to be but with the use of Spotify and getting on the popular playlists as an artist there is even more of a chance where a not-so-popular artist can be picked up on a larger label by their A&R. So this is a win/win here. The lesser artist of sorts can make an income from these platforms and the greater chance of discovery just brings that much more opportunity to get on larger labels, getting more people to live shows, and having a fighting chance to make this what takes care of their livelihood.
When I do my A&R duties I go straight to Spotify and YouTube, and there is a ton of discovery through these platforms. SoundCloud also has this through Repost Chains (if you are unfamiliar do Google about this). So with these platforms, there is immense opportunity for these underdogs, both by genres and artists. It just makes the manager’s and artist’s job that much more important to build the needed relationships to get onto these playlists and chains so you have the upper hand in this crazy world of the entertainment business.
Since I mention it in every post I might as well provide it here at CGA Consult we can assist to get your tunes on these popular playlists as we have relationships with managers who know these curators. We also hold relationships with many labels that if you get with them then getting you onto these playlists and chains we discussed above would be a more organic accomplishment. If you aren’t there yet we can help with your artist management by providing step-by-step guidance based on where you are at in your career. We have been in this scene for 23 years to date so we know the right people to approach if we can’t drive you forward where you need to be. Get in touch by going to https://www.cybergrooveam.com/consult and fill out the form and we’ll be in touch with you to go over your specific needs to bring you to the next steps in your career or to check the much-needed box that needs to be checked.
