Why Big Data Has Been (Mostly) Good for Music
May 14th, 2020
Title : Why Big Data Has Been ( Mostly ) Good for Music
Blog#2
Name : Jevon Jerico
Student ID : D0708513
Written by : Allyson MccabeStreaming services has been a saviour for the music industry. 80 percent of industry revenue now comes from streaming, and the number of paid subscriptions has surpassed 60 million. With the current state of technology, Companies like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music can easily get important data from their subscribers. What seems to be a slowly dying industry became revitalised and started growing even bigger. Record labels are scouting new talents again. Every day, millions of bits of data are tracked across multiple streaming platforms. Aggregators such as Chartmetric and Soundcharts provide stakeholders with an overview of an artist’s radio airplay, streaming playlist adds and positions, social media engagement, and geolocated listener demographics.
Analysts claim it’s not only possible to see who’s blowing up now, but more importantly, who’s going to be blowing up next. one of the aggregators, Chartmetric claims that it can shortlist which of the 1.7 million artists it tracks will have a big career break within the next week.For the time being, much of this data is freely available, empowering artists to strategically build their listenership. This is an opportunity that past artists didn't have. Artists from our generation are able to use these data and build their following without a record label. A lot of talented singers are being discovered each and everyday. But with close to 40,000 tracks being uploaded to Spotify every day it still isn’t easy for artists to break through.
To catch the attention of record labels and the public, some young artists are even creating "chart songs" intended to being catch by the algorithms. But unless they can turn these efforts into a record deals and other income streams, it’s often for nothing. The typical American musician only makes about $100 annually from streaming royalties.
Big data can help streaming services make music recommendation specifically for you and offer exclusive content in an effort to expand their market share. It can also help labels partner with artists that are likely to become a house hold name. But if data mining replaces traditional A&R altogether, labels will become even less willing to take chances on artists whose music isn’t engineered to maximize profit. That would mean more of the same thing and less incentive for creativity. It might be great for casual listeners, but for music lovers, it’s the exact opposite.
What a great article! I really interesting about musci!
ReplyDeleteSpotify will require precise analytics to decide which genres are pulling in the most revenue, and how to minimize the costs of licensing music albums. It is all about bridging the gap between sales and marketing for struggling publishing companies. Big Data collected by music publishers can boil down to the number of downloads, which streaming apps they use, and the preferences of their subscribers. On top of that, the industry will benefit from knowing which songs are most likely to become hits this year. They no longer have to rely on solely subjective assumptions from executives about which genres are trending.It is said that big data has changed the overall profit model of the music industry. Many publishers say that instead of attacking advertisers, they aim to create sponsors with larger brands and promote users to follow their social media accounts. Also, big data analytics helps generate information about motivating listeners, so digital marketers can see why a particular artist is more popular than another. It helps companies identify which business models are becoming outdated. The final step is to engage the musician with a streaming app like Spotify. According to Music Business Worldwide, Big Data has seen the music industry represent the best solution with no fan engagement issues. This means that the company can track data that the fan's residence, education or income level, or other personal information cannot be shared with. Large companies are in charge of music licensing, so collaboration between media-based technology companies and publishers introduces a new type of gatekeeping model for advertising music albums. Thank you for sharing this article.