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Well, lets also not forget that Spotify has been slowly steering itself from a pure "music playback tool" to a "music discovery tool", and a trusted one at that

by hbosch 9y ago

Well, lets also not forget that Spotify has been slowly steering itself from a pure "music playback tool" to a "music discovery tool", and a trusted one at that. They are heavily promoting things like Discover Weekly, Podcasts, playlists like RapCaviar and their various "n+Moods" and "n+Vibes" playlists. There was a great article[0] posted here some time ago, I think, that likened the algorithmic discovery "products" of Spotify plus the effortless access to individual songs as creating a sort of thin spread of musical diversity (the auther's e.g. Muzak), generic and accessible enough to be replicated by almost anybody. A great example of this, today, is Cardi B[1] – this is a person who honed her personality through social media and reality TV, linked up with a music camp, and is now the third person in history with her first 3 commercial songs in the Billboard Top 10[2]. Her biggest hit, Bodak Yellow, uses a flow lifted from another rapper named Kodak Black (and she has done this multiple times[3]). The thing is, though, she was groomed to be a hit. Once Spotify achieves a critical mass of listeners that trust their algorithms, and rely on their tastemakers to deliver fresh music, Spotify could easily slot in musicians that they themselves hold the contracts for. Their pockets are just as deep as a record label, and their listener data is far richer. I have no difficulty imagining that Spotify could replicate a Cardi B-esque pop zeitgeist. "Tastemaking", even if the word makes you cringe, is what will define the winners and losers of the streaming wars. It's why Apple hired away Zane Lowe – an relatively bland DJ personality, but an incredibly gifted ear and a cache of trust – and why Spotify relies more on Playlists and Discovery every day. Remember, they didn't even have the Beatles until Christmas 2016! That shows a decent picture of how much the majority cares about back catalogues. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Spotify themselves couldn't produce a top 10 rapper, or a top 10 country singer, or a popular podcast, just based on the level of engagement in their playlists. 0. https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-muzak-pelly https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-muzak-pelly 1. https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/evpbxj/cardi-bs-bodak-yellow-defeats-taylor-swift-hits-number-one-on-hot-100 https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/evpbxj/cardi-bs-bodak-... 2. https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/bjyvad/cardi-b-makes-history-again-with-three-singles-in-the-billboard-top-10?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/bjyvad/cardi-b-makes-h... 3. https://genius.com/a/how-kodak-black-influenced-cardi-b-s-bodak-yellow https://genius.com/a/how-kodak-black-influenced-cardi-b-s-bo...

bogomipz 9y ago
>"Once Spotify achieves a critical mass of listeners that trust their algorithms, and rely on their tastemakers to deliver fresh music, Spotify could easily slot in musicians that they themselves hold the contracts for." You mean become a competitor to the 3 labels for whom they depend on for their business? Not a chance. If the labels see them as competitors instead of customers they will pull their card and not renew their licenses.
- hbosch 9y ago
  I don't see the scales to be tipped as heavily as you're suggesting. Spotify alone can make or break an artist, even a "Big 3" one. If you want listenership, you absolutely need to be on Youtube, Apple or Spotify (or a platform like Soundcloud). There are zero relevant distribution channels for today's young listeners that are not streaming services. Chance The Rapper is one of the biggest names in hip hop, and a relatively big personality in pop culture as a whole. He's fully independent. He signed an "exclusive" 2-week-long distribution deal with Apple for his last album, Coloring Book. Apple got exclusive streaming rights (for 2 weeks), and the artist got $500,000 cash – not an advance – as well as free marketing via Apple. This is the type of deal and the type of artist that will start changing things for the better. There is a great report published by stat trackers BuzzAngle Music[0] from the past year. Here are some important numbers: • Song Consumption for 2017 YTD was up 29.5% over 2016 YTD (1.5 billion song project units in 2017 YTD vs. 1.2 billion song project units in 2016 YTD). • Audio streams reached 179.8 billion, up 58.5% over 2016 YTD. • Subscription streams grew 69.3% and accounted for 78.6% of total audio streams in 2017 YTD, up from 73.6% in 2016 YTD. • Overall album sales were down 13.9% compared to 2016 YTD (74.0 million in 2017 YTD vs. 86.0 million in 2016 YTD). • Digital album sales in 2017 YTD were down 24.3% over the previous year (34.5 million in 2017 YTD vs. 45.6 million in 2016 YTD). • Song sales (downloads) in 2017 YTD were down 23.8% compared to 2016 YTD (313.3 million in 2017 YTD vs. 410.9 million in 2016 YTD). So now say you're a Sony exec and you're looking at these numbers. Can you afford to have ANY of your top talent pulled from Spotify? Consumption and streaming are rising and pure sales are falling. Megastars like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran are immune from these trends, basically, but if you want to stay culturally significant you will soon need streaming more than streaming needs you. That's my opinion. 0. http://www.buzzanglemusic.com/us-2017-ytd-report/ http://www.buzzanglemusic.com/us-2017-ytd-report/

by hbosch 9y ago

bogomipz 9y ago

>"Once Spotify achieves a critical mass of listeners that trust their algorithms, and rely on their tastemakers to deliver fresh music, Spotify could easily slot in musicians that they themselves hold the contracts for." You mean become a competitor to the 3 labels for whom they depend on for their business? Not a chance. If the labels see them as competitors instead of customers they will pull their card and not renew their licenses.

hbosch 9y ago
I don't see the scales to be tipped as heavily as you're suggesting. Spotify alone can make or break an artist, even a "Big 3" one. If you want listenership, you absolutely need to be on Youtube, Apple or Spotify (or a platform like Soundcloud). There are zero relevant distribution channels for today's young listeners that are not streaming services. Chance The Rapper is one of the biggest names in hip hop, and a relatively big personality in pop culture as a whole. He's fully independent. He signed an "exclusive" 2-week-long distribution deal with Apple for his last album, Coloring Book. Apple got exclusive streaming rights (for 2 weeks), and the artist got $500,000 cash – not an advance – as well as free marketing via Apple. This is the type of deal and the type of artist that will start changing things for the better. There is a great report published by stat trackers BuzzAngle Music[0] from the past year. Here are some important numbers: • Song Consumption for 2017 YTD was up 29.5% over 2016 YTD (1.5 billion song project units in 2017 YTD vs. 1.2 billion song project units in 2016 YTD). • Audio streams reached 179.8 billion, up 58.5% over 2016 YTD. • Subscription streams grew 69.3% and accounted for 78.6% of total audio streams in 2017 YTD, up from 73.6% in 2016 YTD. • Overall album sales were down 13.9% compared to 2016 YTD (74.0 million in 2017 YTD vs. 86.0 million in 2016 YTD). • Digital album sales in 2017 YTD were down 24.3% over the previous year (34.5 million in 2017 YTD vs. 45.6 million in 2016 YTD). • Song sales (downloads) in 2017 YTD were down 23.8% compared to 2016 YTD (313.3 million in 2017 YTD vs. 410.9 million in 2016 YTD). So now say you're a Sony exec and you're looking at these numbers. Can you afford to have ANY of your top talent pulled from Spotify? Consumption and streaming are rising and pure sales are falling. Megastars like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran are immune from these trends, basically, but if you want to stay culturally significant you will soon need streaming more than streaming needs you. That's my opinion. 0. http://www.buzzanglemusic.com/us-2017-ytd-report/ http://www.buzzanglemusic.com/us-2017-ytd-report/