“Music is spiritual. The music business is not.” – Van Morrison Though analyzing the beauty of music is the main purpose of this blog, it is important to reflect on the ways in which artists can best put out their work. Even though the music businesses often viewed as a detriment to the art of music, it is, in many ways, a necessary evil, especially if an artist wants to have a level of freedom from having to do other work to support themselves while they make their art. SoundCloud is well known for providing a platform for multiple artists before they found fame. Artists such as Billie Eilish, Tyler the Creator, Lizzo, Post Malone, and Chance the Rapper all had their starts on the platform. In an effort to help more creators, SoundCloud has a new artist acceleration program. It’s a part of their ‘First on SoundCloud’ campaign that began in 2018. The nine artists on the 2021 roster are Kid Quill, Lourdes, Ella Minus, Otis Kane, Payday, Pa Salieu, Sofia Mills, Charmaine, and SoFaygo. SoundCloud says that, through the program, they will be working “closely with artists to produce memorable, authentic, career-making moments, culminating in an original collaborative project.” Each artist will receive introductory profiles, originally produced content, a feature on the playlist “First on SoundCloud,” and “a live event bringing together First on SoundCloud artists and the SoundCloud community to celebrate their music and creative journey.” (Photo of SoundCloud Logo, from https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/soundcloud-is-about-to-revolutionize-streaming-payouts-launching-user-centric-royalties-for-100000-indie-artists/) The program is part of SoundCloud’s continuing effort to become more user friendly and hone its image as a premier platform for new artists. At the beginning of March, they announced that they’ll be changing the way that royalties are distributed to artists. The subscription fee from each user will be divided amongst the artists that they listen to rather than royalties being given to artists based on the percentage of overall listens they receive.
Their efforts to make themselves more accessible and necessary as a music publishing platform among indie artists are commendable to say the least. The possibilities for many artists have opened up through the platform. However, it also raises the question of how effective using the service for music promotion is now. With 25 million creators using the platform, it may be more difficult to get noticed. Even with all of the improvements to SoundCloud’s business model, artists in the modern age still have to market themselves well through social media and others. However, good music is the best form of marketing. Having a good song that cuts through the coldness of the business will, at the end of the day, be what it is all about. In the end, the heart of music isn’t something that can be fabricated by business: it’s about creating a raw emotional connection with others. And that’s what good music does.
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AuthorHi y’all! I’m Morganne: a college student living life in the South. I love listening to, creating, and analyzing music from many genres and across all time periods. ArchivesCategories |