Friday, June 19, 2015

What Apple Music Means To Artists

Here's a nice infographic from TakeLessons.com shows the potential of Apple Music. It's just a little outdated in that Spotify's numbers are now much larger (75 million subscribers of which 20 million are paid).

Also keep in mind that the royalty rates at the bottom of the page can be a bit deceiving in that they're only averages. It's difficult to determine the exactly rate per stream because it's different in each country, is different for different tiers, and in some cases, even based upon the marketshare that the artist has.

Apple Music Streaming Service Infographic



Thursday, June 18, 2015

Your YouTube Channel Checklist

YouTube channel image
If you have a YouTube channel (and if you don't you really should create one right now) you can optimize it by utilizing its features to the fullest. Here's an excerpt from my Social Media Promotion for Musicians book that outlines the things that you should be sure are taken care of.

"☐ Branded Channel Art

The channel art is the banner at the top of the page where you can display a customized graphic. YouTube suggests this graphic be 2560 x1440 pixels so that it works on all types of televisions, tablets, smartphones and computers, but what YouTube will show on most computer browsers is 1546 x 423. This is known as the “safe area” and is where you should place any critical graphics information since anything outside that area might not show up on a device with a smaller screen. The graphic can be up to 2MB and in either a JPG or PNG format. The Channel Art upload section is accessed by clicking on the pen icon on the top right of graphics box. You can access a template for the channel art, as well as a design tutorial, by clicking on “How to create channel art” at the bottom of the upload pop up box.
☐ Channel Description

You access your channel description from the About tab underneath your channel name. After the About box pops up, select the pen icon on the upper right to edit. From here you can enter or edit the description. Be sure to include all the information about your channel in the description, such as what to expect from the video content as well as who’s involved (like the members of a band).
☐ Website link

The website and social medial links are accessed in the same manner as above; through the pen icon on the top right of the box. Here you can add links to websites, blogs and social networks. The first weblink you entered will appear on the lower right side above your channel art, as will the social network icons. The others will appear in the About box.
☐ Social Media Links
Make sure that you connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts to your YouTube channel.

☐ Channel Icon (picture)

The avatar is either a picture of you, your band, or product that appears on the upper left of your channel page. The avatar can be up to 800 x 800 (you’re able to crop it) and 1MB in size, although the smaller the file size the better, since it will load faster. The picture is stored with your Google+ account, and you can also access any pictures stored there to use as your avatar.
☐ Featured Video or Trailer

Another thing that you can do is feature a particular video or trailer at the top of the page when someone who is unsubscribed visits your channel. Simply select the pen icon on the top right of the box, select a video, then hit save. You can see what both subscribers and non-subscribers see by toggling Unsubscribed trailer and Subscriber view next to the edit icon.
☐ Playlists

YouTube allows you to create multiple playlists, which can have a great influence in how your fans consume your content. If you have a fair number of videos, you might want to create different playlists for different parts of your fan base, since each may have a different desire of what to watch. While your superfans will want to see everything you upload, your casual fans may be more selective. You can select the order and layout of these playlists, or create a new one, by selecting the edit icon on the top right of the playlist box."
It's easy enough to have a YouTube channel without using many of the above features, but it will be so much more powerful if you do as it connects with the rest of your online presence.


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Facebook Changing Its News Feed Algorithm Again

Facebook algorithm image
Just when you thought that Facebook couldn't get any worse in distributing your posts to your friends and followers News Feeds, it goes and changes its algorithm yet once again.

Right now your News Feed is determined by how much a post is liked, commented on, or shared.

The company will now measure how long that you look at posts, photos and comments in your feed to determine your interest in certain content as well. The thinking is that the more time you spend on a post, the more likely your friends will like to see it as well.

Of course, the main problem with its current algorithm is that it's cut down on the number of followers that you can reach with any one post. 5 years ago a post would be seen by all of your friends and followers. 2 years ago that was down to just 15%. This year it's around 2%.

Of course, you can still reach all of your friends and followers by promoting a post (meaning, paying for distribution), which is what Facebook really wants.

It's probably too early to tell whether this will be a positive or negative, but my bet is that for most artists, it will fall on the negative side. Of course, the best way around it is to post really compelling information that people spend a lot of time reading.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Music Matters - A Movie About The Payola Law

payola image
Payola, which occurs when a record label pays to have a song played on the radio, was outlawed in 1960, but a new documentary called Music Matters tries to make a point that the law was created for the wrong reason.

The film states that it was actually a racist backlash against Elvis Presley, since he was singing a white version of songs made by black artists. The film also states that if payola was still in force, market forces would self-regulate the industry, so a bad song wouldn't play long on a station no matter how much the label paid since it would hurt the station's ratings.

Whether you agree or not with the premise of the film, it's still worth watching below.




Monday, June 15, 2015

A Look At The Streaming Revenue Pie

Here's an interesting infographic from Statista that shows exactly what the online digital revenue pie looks like as compared to 2008.

At the end of 2014 there was about 28 million paid streaming music subscribers, which has now topped 41 million so the numbers are quite a bit larger in 2015.

As you can see, downloads still owns 52% of the market, and while that will undoubtedly decrease in 2015, it will still remain a substantial piece of the puzzle for at least a few more years.

What is growing is the number of people that are adopting streaming, either via the free tier or paid subscription, and this looks to really take off now that Apple Music has launched.

What's interesting is that 15% of the market is still made up of ring tones, ring backs and various other technologies that we don't even consider these days, but are still generating significant income.

Infographic: Why Everyone Wants a Piece of the Streaming Pie | Statista
You will find more statistics at Statista


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