What does it take for an artist to be
successful in the music industry today? What are some of the different ways
that artists have promoted themselves and their work? And do artists still need
the backing of a major record label in order to succeed? Limit: 8 responses
The music industry is something interesting to talk about, especially right now. With the media being a huge influence as to how artists nowadays are discovered, it has become easier to get yourself out there. But since it has become easier to put your content online, it has also become a competitive field. This is just an opinion, but to me, lately it seems as though now if an artist is physically attractive and has a mediocre voice, they are more likely to become famous in comparison to someone with a jaw dropping voice but not as attractive according to society's standards.
ReplyDeleteWith the uprising of technology and social media, artists now have plenty of ways to promote their content. Many artists use social media to promote themselves. YouTube is a widely known video source website in which many artists were discovered on such as Justin Bieber, 5 Seconds of Summer, Alessia Cara, Troye Sivan, etc. Other sites that people have used to promote their music is through soundcloud, instagram, vine, etc. Basically any social media site was a way to advertise themselves. Apps and websites like Vine used hashtags in order to start a trend. It had a hashtag #6SecondCovers where artists would use these 6 seconds to try and impress the internet. According to Business Insider, “Now, Instagram influencers know how to use the internet to their advantage, making big bucks off of sponsored posts and plugged "OOTDs". And there are also lots of up-and-coming stars using the internet to their advantage. Whether it's via Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or the now-defunct Vine and MySpace, people have found all sorts of ways to become famous. ” Jason Pham continues to list the many celebrities that were discovered through social media. Shortly before the internet existed, artists would promote themselves through the radio stations, television shows, public gigs, etc.
(cont.)
DeleteWith the easy access of the internet, I feel like artists don’t necessarily need record labels in order to succeed, but it would be nice to be a part of one to have easy access to other artists and the tools such as a recording studio. In an article by Hollywood Reporter, when asked about the health of the music industry in 2018, top music lawyers answered, “The digital business has been changing how artists develop their careers ever since Napster. Now we are seeing acts aim for releasing attention-grabbing singles without as much focus on the album, especially for up-and-coming acts. Everyone knows that streaming is here to stay and younger artists are really doing a great job of harnessing its power.” and “I think it depends on the artist. Most artists still start small, playing at smaller local venues and potentially gaining ground by touring and establishing a social media following. Social media has certainly helped bolster the profiles of many talented artists, and it’s something the labels would likely look at as artists develop their careers.” These two lawyers begin to explain how since music is shifting digitally, it helps with sales and such. A lot of what I did at my time at Awesomeness was talent scouting. Basically I would browse social media to see who would be a good fit for Awesomeness then through that, basically pitch it to my boss. What I would tend to look at was their social media content, engagement, and consistency. Billboard wrote an article that talked about smaller record labels versus larger and how to stay sustainable. In the article, they say, “ Artists are discovered based on songs' reactions and signed on a rapid- fire basis. Small labels are starting to win by offering profit split deals with a low product delivery commitment, which brings a lower production, marketing and promotion commitment. Labels can pop up with little money, find a hit and run with it. The larger labels are adopting this model as well, with labels like Sony EU and the re-launched Priority, among others, offering similar deals. All this makes the major label long-term commitment deals more expensive. But the majors can afford it, pulling into a winning streak with the gobs of money being earned by streaming services (and only 14-20 percent of which is paid through to recouped artists). And then, of course, you have the artists (like Major Lazer and Chance the Rapper) who find great success doing it all themselves.” This paragraph alone basically explains that artists do not really need a record label if they know how to market themselves, but some artists do need a bit of help in this area. It really depends on the artist. I would say that for an up and coming artist, it is good to work with a smaller label company where you are prioritized in comparison to a large company where you are just money to them.
Pham, Jason. “10 celebrities you forgot were discovered on social media.” Business Insider. 21 Aug. 2017. http://www.businessinsider.com/10-celebrities-you-forgot-were-discovered-on-social-media-2017-8
Cullins, Ashley. “Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry.” Hollywood Reporter. 27 Jan. 2018. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-experts-discuss-why-internet-is-saving-recording-industry-1078058
Bromley, Jordan. “The Future of the Streaming Economy: 5 Things to Watch (Guest Column)” Billboard. 23 Jan. 2018. https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/8095808/the-future-of-the-streaming-economy-5-things-to-watch-guest
The music industry has been evolving lately. Nowadays, you don’t need to necessarily have an amazing voice to get a record deal; labels are starting to care more about peoples’ image and their personality, and society is feeding into it. There are so many truly talented artists on YouTube and Spotify, but labels haven’t picked them up because their image doesn’t stand out and doesn’t promise publicity.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Swift has become the queen of promotion with her latest album Reputation. This album is a complete 180 from her previous albums, which always subtly called out her exes in her songs and hidden messages on her album books. This time around, Taylor has embraced all of the things her haters have said about her; including embracing her image as a snake. Instead of promoting the album through interviews and performances, she chose to strictly use social media to drop small hints as to what her album cover was called and would look like. She even deleted all of her other posts and only posted about the upcoming album, which is completely genius if you ask me. The hype leading up to the release for her Look What You Made Me Do video was crazy among her fans. The video was full of jabs at other celebrities and people who had done her wrong. I’m not even a Taylor Swift fan anymore and I was impressed by all of her hints. (Cohen, 2017)
In contrast to Swift, Kendrick Lamar hasn’t been as open about his life as Swift has been in interviews, but his music is a biography about his life. Lamar has also made a name for himself by his performances that are relevant with politics and social matters that are happening in the world, making himself and his music relatable for many people. Lamar also doesn’t try to fit into a specific box with his music and his fans have learned to just deal with that because at the end of the day it’s his music. (Barker, 2017)
I do believe it is important to work with a known record label when first starting out in the industry. A few people I went to high school with, who are very talented, are working with lesser known labels and while their music is on Spotify and Apple Music, their chances of truly breaking out in the industry are very slim because they don’t have the same backing that known labels can offer. (McIntyre, 2017)
Works Cited:
Barker, A. (2017, November 21). How Kendrick Lamar Became the Defining Hip-Hop Artist of His Generation. Retrieved April 03, 2018, from http://variety.com/2017/music/features/kendrick-lamar-career-damn-to-pimp-a-butterfly-1202619725/
Cohen, J. (2017, November 07). How Taylor Swift's 1989 Promo Differs From Reputation. Retrieved April 03, 2018, from http://www.eonline.com/news/892275/how-taylor-swift-s-non-stop-1989-promo-differs-from-her-reputation-blackout
McIntyre, H. (2017, February 16). How to Get Noticed by Record Labels. Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.careersinmusic.com/how-to-get-noticed-record-labels/
Given that the music industry has immensely changed over the last 10 years, streaming services have provided a way for artists to get their music out to the public in an easier way than was done before. Yes, it is still difficult to receive the one in a million chance of fame but creating and sharing music through streaming services is convenient, easy, and affordable. In the past before streaming services when people would buy CDs, people would have to buy the entire album instead of being able to just purchase one song from the album which is also a reason why being successful is now easier than before because all it takes is one hit, and that could make an artist successful. “With new music discovery coming from playlisting, more and more artists are dismissing the album format and releasing their music on a song-by-song basis. Releasing the “single” is a more flexible way to market and promote an act. Instead of releasing 10 songs at once, losing nice to the whirlwind of attention-deficit disorder musical consumption…” (Bromley). Being able to release singles rather than an entire album at once allows artists to be able to constantly promote themselves rather than promoting for a certain period of time for one album.
ReplyDeleteNot only is streaming services making it easier for artists to develop and share their music but the digital world today has made it less necessary to create work through a major record label especially for young artists who may be more tech savvy compared to older generations, the digital world we live in today gives artists resources in order to fully create music without the help of a record label. Now, it’s about how many plays an artist receives not how many albums are sold which is also better for the artist because people are more likely to listen to a song to see if they like it rather than buying an entire album. “This is the most profound change in the music business in its history. Back when the music business started, it was based on the idea that you sell a record and you get money. It didn’t matter if someone played it once or a thousand times. Now it matters a lot. The more plays, the bigger piece of pie I’m going to get” (Cullins).
Artists are now able to promote themselves in many ways and one way being through social media. Social media is personal and engaging and gives artists the chance to interact with fans rather than just advertising their music on a billboard. Facebook is the number 1 social media platform used for artists to promote their music and that is because there are over 1.65 billion active users. (Occhino). Personally my favorite social media platform is Instagram so I follow a lot of my favorite artists on there. Because Instagram is so visual artists are able to post engaging photos and videos to share with their fans conveniently! (Occhino).
Works Cited:
Bromley, Jordan. "The Future of the Streaming Economy: 5 Things to Watch," Billboard 23 Jan. 2018. Web.
Cullins, Ashley. "Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry," The Hollywood Reporter 27 Jan. 2018. Web.
Occhino, Christine. “The Top 8 Social Media Outlets to Promote Your Music (And How to Best Use Them).” Music Career Advice and Gigs, Sonic Bids Blog, 7 June 2016. Web
Let’s rewind to December 13,2013. I was a senior in high school just about to go to bed. All of the sudden:Boom, Beyonce drops an album dead in the night. Not only was it a traditional album, It was an album that visually aided each and every song on the album. That was something that was done rarely done by artists that were considered legends, like Michael Jackson when he released “History”. What beyonce did changed how every artist managed to put their music out and the quality of it as well.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s media landscape, for an artist to be successful they must create a strong fan base when it comes to the root of their success. Besides Beyonce, several other artists have done that in different music genres. In addition to that, artists are only successful because of how mainstream America reacts to their music as well. That factors where the music is being heard and how is it being accessed to.
When discussing a fan base, an artist is only big as its fan base. That is mostly where they are getting their money from especially if they do not have a major label to support them. So, now artists are taking the time to focus on their fans and make sure they are still in touch with the artist in some type of way. A great example of this is Taylor swift. The multi-faceted and polarizing popstar has managed time to solely focus on her fan base during the release of her album “1989”. She would normally “dedicate the time she normally would spend doing interviews and performances to meeting her Swifties and securing them exclusive behind-the-scenes access, more personal than ever before.” (Cohen/E!News) This shows that music artist are taking less of an para-social approach in order to engage with fans to gain more success with album releases. Increasing fan interaction makes the artist look much more approachable and encourages fans to support their album whether it be attending the tour, streaming the album, and/or buying the album.
When it comes down to a song becoming viral and the artist skyrocketing to success, you can’t help,but think about how did it happen? For example, Kendrick Lamar is one of hip-hop’s biggest stars now. As an artist who was originally big in the underground hip hop scene, he has manage to change society modern connotation of rap and hip-hop. It reverted back to the original thought that this type of music can be socially conscious and not only be about sex and drugs.
In an article written for “Variety”, Kendrick talks about how songs that are considered a hit depends on what type of people recieve it. When a song garners more buzz that equates to more people listening to it. And with more people listening to it, it creates an increase in buying and/or streaming the content. Head of Interscope Records, John Janick is quoted saying “I think the more people talk about it, the more it becomes fascinating, and you can have a debate about it,” he says. “It’s all healthy because it’s talking about the music. As long as I keep knowing how much to give, giving just enough, and being able to pull back and leave the audience to interpret it, I think [the music] will stay intact.” (Barker/Variety) From music discussion boards to real actual conversations, conversations about the content generates buying numbers.
I still believe that an artist still needs not only major labels, but needs major streaming companies to further their success. When beyonce released her self titled album, she had an “a week-long exclusive on the album, before a retail release…”(Hampps & Lipschutz/Billboard) with Itunes. Which lead people to buy the whole album before it was properly released to the masses. Therefore, an artist needs all the support they can get to secure success.
Barker, Andrew. "How Kendrick Lamar Became the Defining Hip-Hop Artist of His Generation," Variety 22 Nov. 2017. Web.
DeleteMorgan. Richard. "Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation’ Tour Shaping Up To Be a Disaster," New York Post 1 Jan. 2018. Web.
Hampps, Andrew, and Jason Lipshutz. “Beyonce Unexpectedly Releases New Self-Titled 'Visual Album' on ITunes.” Billboard, 13 Dec. 2013, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5827398/beyonce-unexpectedly-releases-new-self-titled-visual-album-on.
To make it big in the music industry today an artist must not only be appealing to their listeners, but also have a marketable personality. There are millions of people with great voices, instrumental skills, and musical creativity, but only those who find a way to stand out from the crowd of talent tend to get any mainstream attention. For example, shows like American Idol and The X Factor produce good ratings as reality contests, but scarcely produce household names. This is because these shows simply measure an artist’s ability to perform, and not their ability to promote themselves.
ReplyDeleteMany artists have found ways to promote themselves to specific demographics by employing different online music sharing services like SoundCloud and Spotify. Through these channels artists may bypass traditional recording studios and record labels and distribute their music directly to consumers. Mainstream and mass-appeal musicians still tend to rake in the most cash; Coldplay, for example produced the highest grossing world tour in 2017, but music sharing services and even video sharing services like Youtube have made music-making and promotion more accessible than ever for independent artists (Tilchen).
A quick look at Complex Magazine’s Who’s Who of SoundCloud Rap makes one particular theme blatantly obvious, nearly all of them have an outrageous name, look, or personality that makes them stand out in comparison to mainstream rappers (and for whatever reason, they are all “Lil”) (Holmes). Lil Pump, Lil Peep, and Trippie Redd have bright dyed hair, tattooed up faces, and wear designer facemasks, respectively. Without comment on the quality of their music, as that is left to the ear of the beholder, these rappers clearly found ways to bypass the traditional recording studio and generate large audiences by establishing entertaining personalities.
That is not to say that there is not tremendous opportunity for musical artists to achieve stardom through the traditional recording studio, mainstream artists represented by recording studious have used the tools at their disposal to go from stars to megastars. Take Kendrick Lamar, for example, who is among the most popular contemporary rappers in the world thanks to the quality of both his music and his marketing.
Andrew Barker of Variety explains, “He’s an intensely relatable artist who makes scant use of social media and reveals little about his personal life. He notched his first No. 1 with ‘To Pimp a Butterfly,’ an intentionally alienating, jazz-infused concept album about racism and isolation in Obama-era America. He’s a spiritual seeker and an intellectual with a monastic demeanor, whose perspective nonetheless never strays too far from that of the quiet kid born Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who grew up in Section 8 housing in Compton, where he witnessed his first murder at age 5.”
In the contemporary media environment, there are a variety of ways for artists to establish musical careers both within the traditional recording studio and outside of it.
Works Cited
Tilchen, Jordyn. "10 of the Highest-Grossing Concert Tours of the Past Year," 27 Dec. 2017. Web.
Holmes, Charles. “The Who's Who Of SoundCloud Rap.” Complex, Complex, 31 Aug. 2017, www.complex.com/music/2017/08/soundcloud-rappers-you-should-know/.
Barker, Andrew. "How Kendrick Lamar Became the Defining Hip-Hop Artist of His Generation," Variety 22 Nov. 2017. Web.
The music industry has been such a hard industry for artist and bands. But, a lot of artist have been able to become successful through out the music industry. For an artist to become successful in the music industry, you not only need to have the talent, but you have a good way of putting yourself out there. A lot of the music industry is timing.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways for artist to promote themselves and their work. Social media is one of the top ways for artist to show their talent. “But if used correctly, platforms like Twitter, and Facebook can allow you to show, not just tell, your talent. Show your talent to the world, by the way. Show your talent to people around the world who otherwise would never have heard of you; people who can help you” (Zimmerman). People think social media isn’t a good way to put your talent out there but it is the way many artists now and days have become the artist they are today. “Together, Facebook and UMG are creating a dynamic new model for collaboration between music companies and social platforms to advance the interests of recording artists and songwriters while enhancing the social experience of music for their fans,” said Universal Music EVP Michael Nash in a statement” (Burch). Social media platforms have come together with music companies to help find them artist.
A great example of someone who became an artist from social media is Justin Bieber. He started posting videos of himself singing on YouTube and he started to get noticed by famous artist. “Bieber signed with Usher and The Island Def Jam Music Group, Billboard reports” (Kircher). He has inspired many people to show their talent over social media and that they can get noticed from social media. Besides social media, other ways artist can promote their talent is at open mic nights. There have been many artists who have used open mic nights at different places and have been seen by different producers and different record companies.
In my opinion, artist still need to have major labels helping them out. Major labels know how to get your name out into the music world and get your music to become popular. They know what people want to listen to and they know how to make your music good. Even though there are outlets to become popular on your own, it is a better way to have a music label behind you to lead you in the right direction.
Work Cited:
Zimmerman, Carlota. “How Artist Can Use Social Media to Discover and Promote Their Voice.” HuffPost. 12 April 2014. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carlota-zimmerman/how-artists-can-use-socia_b_4756824.html
Burch, Sean. “Facebook and Universal Music Group Ink Deal, Bringing Song Catalog to Social Network.” 21 December 2017. https://www.thewrap.com/facebook-universal-music-group-deal/
Kircher, Madison. “9 major stars who got their start on YouTube, Vine, and even Myspace.” Business Insider. 25 August 2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/9-major-stars-who-were-discovered-online-2015-8
Similar to many other industries, the music industry is in an ongoing going battle to adapt to the needs of the consumer. In a post physical format era where music is at the tip of your fingers, musicians are forced to adopt new method of reaching people with their art. In a saturated market artists need to wow audiences in a much more short period of time. As opposed to the past, the time it takes to change from song to song is minimal. Streaming has made millions of albums available to stream from most smart devices. In an article on “The Hollywood Reporter,” RIAA strategic data analysis svp Josh Friedlander says, “More than 80 percent of music’s revenues are derived from digital sources like streaming and downloads. Which, I’ll do a shameless plug, is more than any other major media industry. Music is leading the transition to digital” (Cullins). Music heavily depended on physical sales and modern technologies have in many ways made these mediums obsolete. Artists can now reach higher levels of success with exposure on social media.
ReplyDeleteIn a “Billboard” article by Dan Rys, he says, “Tha Lights Global was in the midst of a social-media-driven meme ¬campaign that helped Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall's "Juju on That Beat" reach No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2016. The company is helmed by a tight-knit seven-person team whose members’ average age is in the mid-20s” (Rys). One hit wonders will always be a phenomena that plagues many musicians. with social media pushing new artists on the consumer daily, it is easy to see how many people can be overnight celebrities.
The ease of the music industry has also changed the structure of music labels. It is now very possible to be a very successful musician in the modern world without having a major record deal. Chance the rapper is a good example of this new trend in music. In a collectively published article on “Complex,” the complex staff said, “When Chance the Rapper appeared on the cover of Complex’s October/November 2013 issue, it was the first time the Chicago MC had fronted a major magazine cover, an accolade most unsigned artists only dream of. Almost four years later, Complex’s print incarnation has transformed into a video series called The Complex Cover and Chance remains unsigned. But he’s won a few Grammys—no big deal.” (Complex et al). To win music’s most prestigious award without the aid of a major record label will become an ever more possible in the music industry.
Callahan-Bever, Noah. “Chance the Rapper Talks His Grammy Wins, His Daughter, and Upcoming Album.” Complex, Complex, 24 July 2017, www.complex.com/music/2017/03/chance-the-rapper-interview-2017-cover-story.
Cullins, Ashley. "Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry," The Hollywood Reporter 27 Jan. 2018. Web.
Rys, Dan. "How Warner Bros., Tha Lights Global & a Gang of Influencers Catapulted Lil Pump to Stardom," Billboard 30 Nov. 2017. Web.
The music industry is forever going through a transformation. Obviously, new artists and new genres aid in the revolution but what the music industry has gone through in the past 10 years is contributed to multiple digital formats, streaming services and social media. This shift has caused artists and their teams to find new ways to promote themselves in the modern music industry. The way artists used to promote in the past has drastically changed. Fans used to wait for their favorite artists’ new song to drop by seeing them on TRL or they would hear a song for the first time on the radio. That’s all changed now, we have YouTube, and apple music, Spotifiy, Pandora, it’s all about quick access to songs. This has lead artists and their team to find innovative strategies to be successful in the music industry.
ReplyDeleteToday’s industry has created a new type of listener and a new type of performer. According to the Huffington Post there is a formula that artists need to follow in order to be successful in the 21st century music industry, like “timing, demand, talent, image/brand, experience, work ethic, finances/ resources, mentors/advisors, fan connection, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, record sales and radio play, flexibility, industry terms and processes” (Hess 2017).
The transformation that the music industry has gone through has forced a new style of advertising and branding. For example, in just three years Taylor Swift completely changed the way she promoted for her album releases. “T.Swift has been using social media to promote the album, while in comparison, during the months leading up to the 2014 release of her album, 1989, Swift was everywhere, doing multiple interviews, performances and discussing her album on TV shows” (Cohen 2017). In 2017 compared to 2014, Taylor Swift decided that she wasn’t going to go too public with her album but instead “she erased all of her social media existence, only returning to tease the album and later announcing its name and release date on social media.”
While record deals are still an important aspect to the music industry, it is no longer needed by artists in order to succeed. Now singers can post on multiple social media platforms to get their songs heard and gain a following. Artists nowadays have the biggest tools to their success right at their fingertips. The Internet. “The Internet killed the music industry in the 2000s but now appears to be bringing it back to life. After a period of decline for physical sales, the past few years have seen streaming music services pump billions back into circulation”(Cullins 2018).
ReplyDeleteHess, Patrick. “The Music Industry Formula for Success Does Exist.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-hess/the-music-industry-formul_b_5783810.html.
Cohen, Jess. “How Taylor Swift's 1989 Promo Differs From Reputation.” E! Online, E! News, 7 Nov. 2017, www.eonline.com/news/892275/how-taylor-swift-s-non-stop-1989-promo-differs-from-her-reputation-blackout.
Cullins, Ashley. “Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2018, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-experts-discuss-why-internet-is-saving-recording-industry-1078058.