What's up everyone, been a month since I've written. Meant to write more often but here we are:
Few updates:
1) I have released a third song Embers. This has not performed as well as the other two songs. I love it, but I believe it hasn't gotten as much traction in part because:
It's a longer song (5 min 30 seconds)
It's my first attempt at singing
I needed to do more to hype it up among my friends
The song does not include your typical formula for another hit single, but I believe in the long run these attempts at branching out will help me find my true style and will showcase my versatility in music.
Some of the people from whom I've sought counseling believe this is the most complete and unique song I've put out. But each song will be different, and I will challenge listeners every time.
2) The mixtape has taken longer than id thought. I did not intend to have Embers come out as a single but as I've received more feedback, the more I've discovered I need to add more into making future songs sound as pleasant as possible. The writing is done, it's just about making this as sonically pleasing to your ear as possible
The mixtape will be in early 2021
3) I hit 10,000 streams combined on Spotify from the 3 songs I've released! (If My Boss Hears, Send to Vegas, Embers).
4) I have 2000 listeners within the last 30 days. This jump in listeners is because I have invested in some Facebook ads based on similar artists. The advertisements cost $100 to reach the potential of 10k people.
Some good and bad from the advertising:
More people have been exposed to my music, especially in Chicago, and I have gained some more followers on Spotify. However, based on artists similar to music, Facebook pushed my music to an older audience than expected.
As a result, the majority of listeners who saw these advertisements were 30+, so this evened out the distribution of age.
Screenshot of age breakdown for my listeners (11/20)
Moving forward:
I am continuing to work on the mixtape. This will not be released until the beginning of 2021. But I am still writing more music, and the next mixtape will be detailed shortly after I release this first one.
I will also look into more targeted ads on snapchat, youtube, and will reach out to more unique people to promote my music (Cooking videos, educational videos, youtube playlist curators)
Spotify update! Spotify is offering a boost in promotion in the algorithm.....but for a price
Spotify released the news a few weeks ago they are giving the artists the option of exchanging a percentage of their income per stream, for boosted promotion on the algorithm.
This is the point where a lot of people believe Spotify has turned evil. All promotion is relative right? The amount your music is recommended to others all depends on who else decides to pay for this service.
This issue will not affect mainstream artists. They already have deals, and their fan bases are solidified. The algorithm will already be churning for them. This is seen as an attack targeted towards aspiring artists.
Theoretically over time, if everyone pays for the boosted recognition, then everyone ends up on the same playing field, exactly how we were a month ago. Except for this time, Spotify gets even a bigger chunk of their cut.
Interestingly, 93% of their income in 2019 came from monthly subscriptions. (The other 7% comes from ads). Google, Amazon, and Youtube are trying to wiggle their way into the streaming business and now everybody has pretty much the same library of songs that Spotify does. This means that Spotify's biggest competitive advantage is now shrinking, and if Spotify makes a huge move to expand into a different avenue, the music labels will hold their music at ransom for a bigger share next time their contracts expire.
Spotify is a publicly-traded company and is under pressure to grow from its shareholders. If Spotify wants to stay at the top, they need to make a move. Enter Joe Rogan.
Spotify wants to become an exclusive sight to listen to the major podcast broadcasters from across the world. But they can't pay every top podcaster a Steph Curry contract. Spotify is stuck in the middle of trying to grow while also resisting increasing the monthly subscription fee.
So potentially, they are asking artists to cut a share of their deserved earnings as a plan to help offset these costs of growing while still pleasing their shareholders, but are also allowing artists to sell merchandise directly from Spotify, and introducing Spotify canvas (The motion gifs that you see when you play a song now). Spotify can ask a cut of merchandise, and they can ask for a cut of the graphic designers who make these canvases.
In my opinion, Spotify will end up being forced to raise subscription prices in the next few years.
Tell me if you agree or not! Peace
EE