2023-08-20 06:15:00
In Belgium, 75% of the turnover of the music industry comes from streaming. © BelgaImage
“Connect millions of users to thousands of artists”. This was Spotify’s note of intent when it was launched in 2006. Seventeen years later, the world leader in online listening and its competitors (Deezer, Amazon, Apple Music, etc.) have completely changed consumer habits. of music. The strategies of artists and record companies, the latter however resistant to streaming at its launch, are also changing.
An example? While remaining an important stage in a career, the “album” format no longer has the same strategic weight as before. If the “rock”, “classical” and “jazz” genres still rely heavily on “long playing” (a work comprising several compositions), in urban music and, for even longer, in electronic music, some artists definitely pass. On Spotify, listening to albums is still possible, but it is clearly no longer the priority except for blockbusters (Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, etc.). These are the playlists that now dictate their law and impose their choices in a constantly updated global jukebox. Every day, 60,000 new songs are uploaded to the Swedish platform, where some 70 million titles are available. Anytime, anywhere in the world.
More accessible music
In Belgium, streaming generates 75% of the turnover of the music industry. And its growth will not stop. “More and more fans are finding their way to their favorite artists on streaming platforms as the music industry has succeeded over the years in bringing together all of its offerings there in one service, observes Patrick Guns, director of the Association of Music Distributors and Producers in Belgium (BRMA) and of Universal Belgium. We are convinced that this trend will increase further in the years to come.” Artist, founder of the Freaksville label and president of the Federation of French-speaking independent labels (FLIF), Benjamin Schoos confirms. “It is a logical development. She is inexorable. We can’t go once morest that. Even if the economic model of Spotify has its limits, in particular for the remuneration of the artists, it makes music more accessible and becomes a strength for artists.”
As soon as an artist has put his musical creation online, it can “travel” all over the world. It can enter any home. Fall on the ear of a radio programmer in the United States. Be included in a thematic playlist (“dream pop”, “summer vibes”…) to which millions of listeners subscribe. Crack a world-famous DJ, influencer or star artist who is paid by Spotify to compile playlists as “new trend curators”. So many developments that were often impossible, always slower and certainly more expensive to set up with a physical format such as CD or vinyl. “But to reach more people on Spotify, you have to accept the rules of the game, recalls Benjamin Schoos. It’s a choice. Some artists who refuse this system do very well in niche markets. For those who want to expand their audience, there is, on the other hand, meticulous work to be done upstream to have a chance of being listened to.”
Mistakes not to make
Unlike a video on YouTube or TikTok, introducing a song on Spotify is not done with a single click. In the jargon, it’s called “pitch a song” said Benjamin Schoos. “It is necessary to encode a maximum of information beforehand (metadata – editor’s note) to influence the algorithms which will guide the users. For a song in English, we must put a capital letter to each word of the title. In French, it is only a capital on the first word. If we are wrong, the French song will never be directed to a “French song” playlist. To find yourself in the most popular playlists on Spotify, we also recommend putting keywords (“dream pop”, “urban”, “classic rock”) and quoting associated artists.” That is to say artists to whom we feel musically close. “Finally, if the names of authors and composers are misspelled, you should know that their royalties will never arrive at their destination. The reward for all this work is that Spotify allows the artist to know in real time who is listening to them and where they are listening to them. It is a considerable tool for the development of a career.”
The danger of standardization
This metadata system inevitably leads to a formatting with the danger of standardization of the music. Listed on the stock exchange, Spotify is not there to educate the masses regarding good taste but to make money. To have a maximum of subscribers, the Swedish company responds to demand. And it is clear that it is the three-minute mainstream pop songs that are the most listened to and therefore highlighted by Spotify’s intelligent robot. And as they are put forward, they are even more listened to at the expense of others.
According to a study by the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) published at the beginning of the year, 93% of artists registered on Spotify have less than a thousand listeners per month. “It’s not necessarily Spotify’s fault, concluded Benjamin Schoos. There are thousands of playlists of progressive rock, jazz fusion, baroque music, ambient music or other cutting-edge styles. Personally, I discover more new things on Spotify than by listening to Tipik, Classic 21 or NRJ. But you still have to be curious and want to get out of your comfort zone.”
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