By Kevin Cornell
Another month of isolation, another month of headlines from the music world. TuneCore is doing our best to provide helpful, pragmatic, and hopeful content during this pandemic.
While COVID-19 has no doubt impacted the music industry and artists alike, we’re continuing our monthly column of hand-picked articles across the web that you might have missed.
Apple Music Celebrates DIY Artists With New Playlist
TuneCore’s community is no stranger to the DIY music ethos – both in hustle and production. That’s why we’re thrilled to see our friends at Apple have introduced their new INDIY playlist, which encourages artists to share their production process using Logic X Pro and brings DIY releases to a new audience. Read more here.
Spotify Playlist Curators Shine Light On The Ins and Outs of Placement
Speaking of playlists, it’s no secret that between the desire to be placed on one and the ever-evolving best practices around what constitutes a marketing plan in 2020, independent artists can have a hard time placing the right amount of emphasis on them. Good news: Spotify has revealed answers to a TON of artist-submitted questions about their process in a new blog post! Read more here.
TikTok & Believe Ink Distribution/Marketing Deal
TuneCore’s parent company, Believe, is one of the largest independent music companies in the world. Meanwhile, TikTok continues to be one of the most downloaded apps globally. This month, TikTok and Believe entered into a new distribution and marketing agreement, expanding possibilities around coverage and revenue collection. Read more here.
Japan & Germany Slowly Reviving Live Music
You read that correctly. While most parts of the world are still far out from this conversation, our friends at MusicAlly.com have reported on Japanese and German events taking place as restrictions begin to lax in those territories. While it remains to be seen what’s next, it’s hard not to get a little giddy about such a prospect! Read more here.
70K Trending Videos on YouTube Analyzed
Data Scientist Ammar Alyousfi decided to do the legwork for those wondering what goes into the algorithm of that tricky Trending tab on YouTube. What makes popular videos keep resurfacing? What makes a video trend in the first place? And perhaps most importantly, how many of these are music videos? Read more here.
Global Music Subscriptions Hit 394 Million in Q1 2020
Research firm Counterpoint compiled data around the first quarter of 2020’s music streaming subscriptions, noting COVID-19’s impact on acceleration. Some key points: Spotify continues to grow (30%), podcasts impact subscriptions further, and Amazon Music saw a 104% year over year growth! Read more here.
SoFarSounds Shares Data From 100 Live Streamed Shows
SoFarSounds’ model of live events is unique: in cities all over the world, attendees pay to get on the list at less-than-traditional venues to see little-known artists across genres. After the outbreak, they shifted to live-streamed events via their ‘Listening Room’. In July, SoFarSounds showed the world who tuned in, from which countries, and how many donations were received. The numbers might surprise you! Read more here.
How Music Podcasts Continue To Rise
Another gem from MusicAlly.com, this time focusing on how artists can (and should) be incorporating music-driven podcasts into their content marketing strategies. With insight from producers, management firms and labels, this article is a good read for independent artists looking to expand their reach and try out new mediums. Read more here.
Tags: featuring industry music business news