By Dwight Brown
Digital music stores are making changes that are turning the heat up this summer.
They’re growing, changing affiliations, adding territories and introducing new features that will affect artists who want their music downloaded and streamed—everywhere.
According to Music Business Worldwide, these days YouTube is the #1 music streaming platform in the UK and US and its market share is getting bigger and bigger and bigger… There may be a debate about whether YouTube is paying music rights-holders enough dough. But what isn’t in question is that the 10-year-old video-sharing website is living larger than Spotify and the rest of its competitors. With that kind of mojo, YouTube Music Key is an increasingly viable way for artists to make money.
If you’re a TuneCore Artist whose music has been featured on 8tracks’ playlists through SoundCloud links, listen up. That duo has broken up. As of July 24th, no tracks can be added from SoundCloud. And an 8Tracks Blog article reports that starting September 30th SoundCloud tracks can no longer be streamed from existing 8tracks playlists. There are more details, but what’s important to you is that if you want your music to be added to 8Tracks playlists, so your tunes can be discovered, add your singles and albums to the 8Tracks store. With 8 million monthly internet radio listeners—one of the biggest audiences for independent music on the web—your songs should be on their playlists that are known for featuring no fewer than “8” tracks.
7digital, an international downloading and streaming service that has made inroads in Europe, North America, India, Australia and Latin America, is expanding its global reach to 40 countries in Africa through a deal with the South African collection society CAPASSO. Nigeria loves rap and hip-hop, and soul acts like Janelle Monáe and John Legend or in the top twenty on Nigeria iTunes Top 20 Songs list. Shazam Charts list former TuneCore Artist Silentó’s hit “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” in the top ten in South Africa. BuzzKenya.com says gospel music is the #1 genre in Kenya and rap music is closing in. The #1 hit on the Botswana iTunes Top 20 Songs is singer/songwriter James Bay’s Hold Back the River, followed by tunes from Jordan Sparks and country singer Kenny Rogers. Safe to say all kinds of music is getting downloaded and streamed in Africa these days. Yours can be too if you make sure you add your music to the 7Digital store.
Spotify says its new Discover Weekly is the ultimate personalized playlist. These Monday morning, two-hour playlists are based on listeners’ personal tastes blended with music enjoyed by like-minded music fans. Deep cuts are played alongside a lot of discoveries, which means emerging TuneCore Artists have a new chance to get their music in front of a whole new audience. Back in the day friends passed mixtapes around. Discover Weekly mimics that feel, and is easy to access and listen to across all platforms and devices. It’s even available offline for that wish-I-didn’t-have-to-do-it, where-did-the-weekend-go Monday morning commute. “It’s just another manic Monday?” Not any more!
This summer, change is in the air! Take advantage.
If you’re a TuneCore Artist, go to your Store Manager Page to add stores or for more convenience add Store Automator and every time we add a new store we will add it to the releases you selected.
If you are not distributing your music through TuneCore yet, this summer is the perfect time to start.
Tags: 7digital 8tracks digital music distribution featuring indie spotify tunecore YouTube