Bring Back The Music Release Plan And Put Streaming Services Last On The List

My custom Genta acousic bass, guarded by Coco.

I’ve worked as an executive in the music industry, played in an indie band with some records out, even built a music streaming company once. And while not working in the music industry, I’ve always kept in touch with people in the industry to observe the shifts happening from close and afar.

The music industry today is more about repertoire presence on the various music services (or as industry people like to call Digital Service Providers, DSPs). The music companies making the most money in this landscape are the ones not only with the recent top hits, but the largest, most diversified repertoire containing the top hits of recorded music history. It’s come to the point where previously independent music distribution companies like The Orchard are now owned by one of the remaining Big Three major labels, as they understand that the long-term strategy is collecting repertoire.

As for new music, it’s a mix of idealist releases and slaves to the needs of the algorithm of the streaming services. New music is released every day, increasing the competition chances for each piece of new music, while the bulk of the revenue, streaming services being by principle a pro-rate revenue share from subscription and ad income, goes to those with the most repertoire.

Artists have been complaining about payout rates from the likes of Spotify for years, while they usually fight a losing battle with those with large repertoires and unfavourable label deals. Most artists would then depend on other sources of income, like live shows, merchandise, and various other fan engagement mediums.

The one thing common between the Big Three and independent musicians (either releasing directly or through distribution companies like Believe) is when there is new music, they immediately release on the streaming services to reach the widest audience possible.

Unfortunately, as described above, there is new music every day, so unless the discoverability is enhanced (for instance, selected for a popular playlist), it’s just a drop in the ocean. So, looking back on what the music industry used to look like, I have a proposal.

How 20th century labels released their music

Let’s look at how a music release was planned back then:

• the labels would strike deals with distributors and retailers about an upcoming release and they would commit to sales shipout numbers based on the artist and the promotion plan. An artist with a good track record of sales can achieve high initial shipout numbers.
• the artist/label would seed a single to the radios for airplay. Sometimes the label would pay for advertising to increase the airplay as well, including media packages like on-air interviews, etc.
• while pushing to increase airplay, the artist would do a media tour to promote the single or album. Magazines, TV, radio, maybe some live shows at key places like a popular club.
• the single/album would then be released on a pre-determined and pre-promoted date, with the expectation that media airplay is already at a peak. This would drive people do record stores to go and buy the album.
• the artist would then continue to promote the album through releasing new singles from the album, doing live shows, interviews, and so on.

The current state of things compresses everything to almost just the day of release, not giving songs enough “marination” time in the public’s mind. Not to mention, when there was a rising song back then, all radios would play it, and you’d hear it in public spaces. Now, with the fragmentation of public spaces especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, public attention is also fragmented since we do not watch the same TV channels and or the same radio stations anymore.

My argument is, maybe we can try this — let’s put streaming services last on the list. For me, they are effectively the bargain bin of music. It’s like the newest CD being placed together with last year’s unsold albums. Algorithms help surface the song to the proper audiences, but it will lose out to old repertoire that people already know they like on the larger scale of things.

Let’s try a new music release plan

Since the 21st century music scene is so much different, we need a new process inspired by the old:

• engage fans to measure their interest for a new release through social media; warm them up to anticipate a release.
• release an “unofficial” video on YouTube for reach. This will not have the final audio track, it can even be a “bootleg” flavor live recording. Alternately, release it on TikTok. Don’t release it anywhere else yet.
• Engage fans further with some live shows at key locations where you have identified fans are gathering. If possible, start doing CRM and a fan-get-fan scheme. This can be a paid, sponsored or even free event. It can even be an online livestream.
• Create a “media tour” equivalent by doing collabs with other artists or even influencers; if possible get some traditional media time as well.
• Measure interest and sentiment around the YouTube video. Encourage fans to upload their own bootleg videos from your live shows to increase presence of the song. If possible, tag each video as your copyright for monetisation.
• Once interest has reached a level you are satisfied with, open up a pre-order for an album/single + merch deal. Sell in limited quantities. Or like some artists, tie the purchase to a live show event.
• Only after you have gone through a few cycles of the above, release the music on the DSPs.

It sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Yes it does. The key here is fan engagement and management — it is your litmus test for success, as they are the ones who will be buying your music and its assorted derivative products. You could even make a paid fan club using KaryaKarsa as an exclusive conduit for news, new content, fan exclusives, and managing your superfans.

I think many [older] musicians have already complained that “we are musicians, not content creators” but the thing is, the audience has shifted, and we need to adapt. Music listeners don’t pay for music anymore, they pay for access to a library of music to stream. So we need to be creative in creating and monetising interest in our music. Naturally, the process I propose above won’t apply if generating some income from your music is not your priority. Which is fine. But wouldn’t it be nice?

Executing the above process is a lot of work — let me know if you need help or if I can guide you to someone who can help you.