r
gg
Sep 2017 - p.9
seriously ask yourself is ‘are people regularly
going to iTunes and downloading your songs?’
If they aren't then you aren't making money
from them Do you even share iTunes links of
your release to your followers on social media?
There is a generation of digital natives sharing
media by choice; if consumers like something a
lot they tend to share it with others to show off
what they just heard saw or enjoyed If your
music's good then it's worth sharing right? For
those of you who already use a Spotify account
have you ever tried listening to or searching for
the bands you gig and work with in the real
world? Spotify gives you the option to follow a
band that you enjoy in the same way as you
would follow a bands page on Facebook iPhone
users when logging on to their Spotify account
discover a list of concerts near to them on their
home page mainly consisting of the bands they
stream what you listen to creates the data
That means Spotify is automatically
encouraging users to see bands they listen to
live
If all the bands in the Midlands supported each
others music then it would be a beautiful thing
You may not be instantly dominating the global
Spotify charts but if you're new to Spotify you
can begin to grow your presence considerably
by following and sharing all the artists you
know of and them likewise returning the
favour Many of your friends will likely have a
Spotify App Ask them to follow your band Plus
its healthy to see what other musicians you
know are doing and discover what they sound
like on record Many bands who've played live
shows together haven't actually heard each
others recorded music the results may surprise
or inspire you
WHODOYOUKNOW?
YOURBAND ISABRAND
reasoning is why many independent bands
don't see Spotify as important but consider this;
million people use Spotify and obviously
listen to music with it so if your music isn't on
there then technically your music doesn't exist
to those
million people
Let's say that your band will not generate much
money from Spotify if you have a song on there
to stream what happens if that tune became a
little popular? Think about that If you have a
brilliant song and it gets played a lot on Spotify
say gets added to loads of playlists too then
that could mean users streaming your tune
regularly if they like it That would indicate that
they're a fan of your band right? Your band is a
brand so if your music is good enough for
people to stream then you have a fan base
potentially growing What do fans of bands
often do? They go to live shows sing your
lyrics watch music videos buy merchandise etc
You may not be able to match the same in
record sales that the major artists do but a tool
like Spotify could be the vessel for your music
becoming well known Some of the musicians
reading this already have music on Spotify and
don't even realise it possibly because they don't
use it themselves
When a band negotiates getting their music
online with a distributor it's expected to have
songs uploaded to Amazon and iTunes but in
recent years as we all know Spotify has
become a popular destination It's not too
unusual for someone to have a Spotify App on
their phone you can even text people a Spotify
link to your tune Bands frequently use social
media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to
post updates about their music but many have
never once posted a sharable link to a song of
theirs that can be streamed by their followers
You might not use Spotify but your fans might
One argument I hear for bands not sharing
Spotify song links is that they want folks
downloading material from iTunes to make
them money the question you need to
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