Many times I get this question from Artistes: “Why Should I include my songs on iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon and more?”
Inasmuch as I can’t guarantee your success when you do this, but I think its best I answer this basic question in this post as best as possible.
Firstly, what is iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, and the likes?
Tim Cook Apple CEO; Courtesy of digitalmusicnews.com
Well these are simply put online streaming platforms where music from varied genres are aggregated both as a playlist from users or auto generated by the service itself.
Most , if not all could be regarded as on demand Radio Stations (Spotify, Pandora, iHearts Radio) ; where users can either syndicate their playlists by themselves or follow already curated ones by specialists and owners of the so called platforms.
Now to the very basic question I get inundated with all the time- “what do I gain by having my songs on any or even all of these platforms or services”?
The truth is that music is a globally acceptable language and it serves as a tool to communicate and build bridges via sounds and rhythm to the entertainment of the listeners which is rudimentary and overly important at the end of the day.
Yes we know all that, so where is the money?
Okay, below are ten reasons you need to get your music streamed, played, shared or even downloaded
- For more Exposure: Now it is no longer news that services like iTunes have generated over $2 billion in sales and of those numbers, Artistes and content creators have gained quite a substantial sum in form of royalties and sales of their props. Now check out the graph represented below courtesy of statistica.com;
showing Apple’s revenue in billions of which the most was generated via itunes subscriptions and streaming services: Now from the above graph we could see the progression in years. What this simply means is that you could also take a piecemeal of this billion if you add your intellectual property to this service. Especially one with over 800 million active users and paying customers. - Chance to get signed on a critically acclaimed Record Label with a Lucrative Record Deal: It is quite funny and at the same time sad that most artistes for lack of funds kinda disregard this step, thereby deliberately or unknowingly denying themselves a chance at making it big by salvaging their near death and lifeless careers. Now on Spotify , we have something like a playlists, and many top DJs all over the globe could pick out your sound and add it to a playlist. This creates more chances of you getting discovered by top label bosses who are always scouting for new talents to add to their lists of talented acts on their various labels. I know many might be wondering how, but this is the norm peeps; and its either you stay indie and broke, or still be creatively indie (by adding your songs on the varied services) and get signed or at worst noticed.
- Earning from Music sales and Royalties: Artistes work real hard creating sounds and tunes , and these services understand this as a fact. That’s why they put out an arm to protect your intellectual props from copyright and proprietary violations & infringements by end users and other third party contents consumers. Many indie Artistes have stayed financially relevant in the scheme of things just because they saw they need for protecting their works from intellectual property assassins and thieves, and as a safe haven they resort to marketing both themselves and their works via these services. By so doing, they get to earn from billions of dollars generated via streaming activities paid solely via subscriptions by end users.
- Gaining more Fans and Followers: As an indie Artiste, gaining worldwide acclaim is no mean feat if you understand; it entails a lot of horse trading. Endless nights both in the studios and anywhere where you will get more peeps who love your music. Funny enough, these platforms boasts of one of the most user friendly and interactive platforms. Pandora for example presents each user with some sort of on demand user induced creativity and usage. Here, you get to meet more people across the globe with varied music tastes and pop cultures who you won’t even believe love your genre of music. Some of the Artistes I have personally handled their syndication on mostly Spotify and Soundcloud get incredible feedbacks from users and fans who heard their songs and were like “whoa! “. The social media sharing tools and buttons makes it even easier for more interactivity amongst music creators and their fans.
- Taking Your Career to the next Level: I have seen Artistes who are so confused that they don’t even understand the workings of the industry; some are so used to doing things free and assume you are even trying to reap them off by advising them to add their songs for streaming on Spotify. I spend an average of 2 hours daily, slowly and painstakingly explaining this to them, sadly enough, they don’t still understand what you are trying to say. The truth is that most of the Artistes that I personally took their promotional campaigns which includes placing their songs on iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon and more ; kinda noticed how serious most people took them as Artistes. So this is one more reason you need to put that effort in seeing that you got your music pieces added on these places, not just for convenience, but also to place you on a higher pedestal while you grow in leaps and bounds; as well as earn a good sum when your song is streamed, bought or downloaded.
- Chance of getting Noticed by Established Acts: I get to see so many Nigerian Artistes who get the attention of critically acclaimed Stars like P diddy, DJ Khaled, Beyonce, Jay Z and more dancing to their songs. Davido’s song- IF, got the attention of R Kelly when the latter heard the track streaming on probably iTunes or Spotify; he got so engrossed in the sweet Afro rhythmics the song tru;y boast of, that he went for the cover; and today the same track is now the most streamed track on Shazam. That’s the beauty of making your artistic pieces globally accessible. It opens you for more exposure and attention.
- Becoming an Authority in your Chosen genre: whether you pay attention to this or not; most hot music trends casually originated from mostly indie and relatively unknown artistes. With traditional promotional methods becoming almost obsolete, the internet brought with it newer and easier ways of syndicating contents to a wider and more receptive audience. What I’m invariably trying to say here is that the pacesetters are those who follow new trends as they drop, and you get to find them on them streaming platforms. The kpon kpon sound became legendary and widespread only because of the availability of sounds created with it on the varied music stores. So you can set your own precedence and let it flourish.
- Staying Relevant: Rising to the top of the food chain is one achievement, but maintaining relevance and acceptability through the years as you run the gamut of your career is yet another kettle of fish. But having your songs in say Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, Google play music libraries; makes you always relevant especially if you have a large number of fans who follow you on these services, who gets notified of new pieces from you as they drop. You could be a struggling upstart, but you can strut it out with the big guys in your genre, giving you a chance at relevancy becuase of the dynamism the streaming services are known for. This is why old school playlist seem to be the norm these days. Remember, you have an audience who grows an stays old with you- don’t keep them away by letting your music die away with the tide of modernity and trends.
- Awards, Shows, Sponsorships, Endorsements could come Knocking: Yes content creators love making use of music contents to create their works. Advertising companies might find your work relevant to their product and services and decide to use your music to create their brands awareness campaigns. Show Promoters might also get to feel your sound and place you on their watchlist for their next big road trip. Endorsement deals might arise and so many other things could be on your radar specifically. However, if you understand how things like this work, then you can jolly well take advantage of what these services (especially iTunes & Spotify); have in stock, then make it work for you. Well I can go on and on, however the most important thing here is getting yourself acquainted with how you can make the most of your career by becoming a globally recognized music practitioner.
- It is your right to be heard: As a member of the global community and free world, it is your entitlement to make yourself heard. Now how do you do that? Well you guess is as good as mine.
showing Apple’s revenue in billions of which the most was generated via itunes subscriptions and streaming services: Now from the above graph we could see the progression in years. What this simply means is that you could also take a piecemeal of this billion if you add your intellectual property to this service. Especially one with over 800 million active users and paying customers.
disregard this step, thereby deliberately or unknowingly denying themselves a chance at making it big by salvaging their near death and lifeless careers. Now on Spotify , we have something like a playlists, and many top DJs all over the globe could pick out your sound and add it to a playlist. This creates more chances of you getting discovered by top label bosses who are always scouting for new talents to add to their lists of talented acts on their various labels. I know many might be wondering how, but this is the norm peeps; and its either you stay indie and broke, or still be creatively indie (by adding your songs on the varied services) and get signed or at worst noticed.
your intellectual props from copyright and proprietary violations & infringements by end users and other third party contents consumers. Many indie Artistes have stayed financially relevant in the scheme of things just because they saw they need for protecting their works from intellectual property assassins and thieves, and as a safe haven they resort to marketing both themselves and their works via these services. By so doing, they get to earn from billions of dollars generated via streaming activities paid solely via subscriptions by end users.
and anywhere where you will get more peeps who love your music. Funny enough, these platforms boasts of one of the most user friendly and interactive platforms. Pandora for example presents each user with some sort of on demand user induced creativity and usage. Here, you get to meet more people across the globe with varied music tastes and pop cultures who you won’t even believe love your genre of music. Some of the Artistes I have personally handled their syndication on mostly Spotify and Soundcloud get incredible feedbacks from users and fans who heard their songs and were like “whoa! “. The social media sharing tools and buttons makes it even easier for more interactivity amongst music creators and their fans.
and assume you are even trying to reap them off by advising them to add their songs for streaming on Spotify. I spend an average of 2 hours daily, slowly and painstakingly explaining this to them, sadly enough, they don’t still understand what you are trying to say. The truth is that most of the Artistes that I personally took their promotional campaigns which includes placing their songs on iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon and more ; kinda noticed how serious most people took them as Artistes. So this is one more reason you need to put that effort in seeing that you got your music pieces added on these places, not just for convenience, but also to place you on a higher pedestal while you grow in leaps and bounds; as well as earn a good sum when your song is streamed, bought or downloaded.
and more dancing to their songs. Davido’s song- IF, got the attention of R Kelly when the latter heard the track streaming on probably iTunes or Spotify; he got so engrossed in the sweet Afro rhythmics the song tru;y boast of, that he went for the cover; and today the same track is now the most streamed track on Shazam. That’s the beauty of making your artistic pieces globally accessible. It opens you for more exposure and attention.
With traditional promotional methods becoming almost obsolete, the internet brought with it newer and easier ways of syndicating contents to a wider and more receptive audience. What I’m invariably trying to say here is that the pacesetters are those who follow new trends as they drop, and you get to find them on them streaming platforms. The kpon kpon sound became legendary and widespread only because of the availability of sounds created with it on the varied music stores. So you can set your own precedence and let it flourish.
another kettle of fish. But having your songs in say Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, Google play music libraries; makes you always relevant especially if you have a large number of fans who follow you on these services, who gets notified of new pieces from you as they drop. You could be a struggling upstart, but you can strut it out with the big guys in your genre, giving you a chance at relevancy becuase of the dynamism the streaming services are known for. This is why old school playlist seem to be the norm these days. Remember, you have an audience who grows an stays old with you- don’t keep them away by letting your music die away with the tide of modernity and trends.
find your work relevant to their product and services and decide to use your music to create their brands awareness campaigns. Show Promoters might also get to feel your sound and place you on their watchlist for their next big road trip. Endorsement deals might arise and so many other things could be on your radar specifically. However, if you understand how things like this work, then you can jolly well take advantage of what these services (especially iTunes & Spotify); have in stock, then make it work for you. Well I can go on and on, however the most important thing here is getting yourself acquainted with how you can make the most of your career by becoming a globally recognized music practitioner.
as mine.Now you know, and I trust you must have been clear of all the doubts, so stop putting unnecessary holds and pit-stops to you career, and at gbedustreet we handle all your music placement, syndication and promotional needs. Just talk to us now, let us help you become a citizen of the ever large and growing comity of nations of sound creators and influencers.
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