The end of another year comes with a lot of reflecting. 2017 was absolutely wonderful. I reached new highs and lows in my life, but I learned a lot about myself and am ready for 2018!
Check out the playlist below to see which songs helped me get through the year. All of these are 2017 releases that I picked because of two reasons: they are the best of the year and they need to be shared with the world (especially those that were completely overlooked). Enjoy!
As I was catching up with Twitter, I stumbled upon this tweet:
REALLY? I have so many thoughts on this that I decided to retweet to see what my friends think. One of them claims that this is a move based on the fact that a lot of people are streaming music nowadays. Very basic understanding of the music industry since there’s more to it, but she is correct. I thought about this being the possible explanation for this madness. Additionally, it is Apple. It is a very competitive company that has always looked for opportunities to stay ahead of the competition in various industries.
So, with all of this in mind, I still decided to scream from the top of my lungs. This is a very dumb idea, whether it is true or not. Here’s why I think it will not happen (at least by 2019):
I hope this is something that is considered later on in time. As of right now, the focus should be continuing the creation of innovative marketing strategies for album releases. Keep bringing fans one step closer to their favorite artists.
WOW! I’ve been gone for a long time. It’s crazy how time flies by! During this time, I’ve continued to develop my knowledge and skills. While I was away, all of this happened:
• I graduated from St. Edward’s University with a Marketing degree. I am very proud of this achievement. I am the first one in my family to graduate from college, meaning I had to work harder to turn dreams into reality. I had no one in my family telling me about internships, managing my financial aid, understanding the stress I went through or encouraging me to create connections. For all of this, I want to thank them. They allowed me to follow my dreams, they allowed me to learn on my own, but most importantly, they allowed me to realize that I am capable of anything! THANK YOU!
• I started and completed an internship at PopUp Play, a tech startup that has appeared on Shark Tank. Very rewarding experience! I got to be more of a leader than ever before by managing my role within the company. I oversaw all customer service duties and provided recommendations for the future of the department. One of my favorite projects was developing and executing improvements to the ways customer service was handled to meet the demands of an upcoming partnership with a major lifestyle brand. Additionally, after expressing my desire to be more involved, I helped with the development of the company by assisting the Head of Sales and Partnerships in conducting research, developing new product development concepts, and networking to increase the company’s exposure. It was incredible learning to understand the image, products, and goals of brands because it allowed me to think outside of the box and share innovative ideas that could start powerful partnerships.
So what is going on now? I am still looking for opportunities in the music industry. I want to keep the momentum going. Music is like a long-time friend that has never disappointed me. A friend that I care deeply about. So, while I wait for the perfect opportunity, I’ll keep staying up-to-date with the entertainment industry by using the following sources:
Headline Planet – Perfect for updates on music, TV, and sales (domestic and international).
Idolator – All about pop culture!!!!
Billboard – Truthfully speaking, I enjoy Tuesdays because I love checking out their weekly charts. THESE ARE IMPORTANT PEOPLE!
RIAA Gold & Platinum – Again, I’m a curious guy. “This artist has how many certifications? When was this certification awarded?”
HitsDailyDouble – News on the business side of music. It is critical to know who are the leaders changing the industry!
BuzzAngle Music Chart – Their charts are out of this world! One can search popular singles and albums in specific locations for FREE. Thanks, technology!
Interscope Promo – I love being able to see what labels plan.
Deadline – News about films, TV, agencies, and politics, believe it or not.
Variety – Want to be well-rounded? Here you go!
YouTube – I’m a YouTube addict. I love watching all types of videos – music videos, performances, vine fails, fan reactions, bloopers, and all the other funny stuff!
An album is released, singles are promoted on the radio, and an extensive tour starts and ends. After all the chaos comes time for the artist(s) to rest, recharge, and reinvent themselves. They want to be better than they were before. They want to release the new music that shares the new experiences, influences, and inspirations they have found.
Time is absolutely crucial in the industry for everyone. If you are the artist, you’re trying to please your fans by releasing new music. If you are the person at the record label, you’re trying to keep the momentum of releases going. If you are a concert promoter, you’re focusing on all the events that are planned and could be planned. Everyone works hard and it all becomes a cycle, but what happens to an artist’s career when their time away from the scene is too long?
I want to highlight a word I used in my introduction: REINVENT. Artists are always releasing content that is different from their previous efforts. Some explore outside of their comfort zone. Some use new tactics to market themselves. Some have unexpected releases to create impactful surprises. Having time to work on all of this is great, but taking too much time could negatively impact the career of the artist.
I want to use the example of Kesha (popularly known as Ke$ha). The early 2010s were full of hits for her. Her accomplishments are impressive. She had the first #1 album of the 2010s era, her debut single, “Tik Tok,” is one of the best-selling digital singles of all time, and she has sold over 33 million records (albums, tracks, and ringtones) in the United States and 60 million records worldwide as of 2013. In addition, she brought auto-tune out of the shadows and used it to her advantage to be distinguished from her peers. For many years, alternating vocals has had a bad reputation because it is said to make artists lose talent. But for her, it all worked. The numbers were great and no stopping was in sight. Then she took time off to focus on her personal problems and the legal battles started to pour in. At one point, her lawsuit stated that “her window as a viable pop star shrinks with each month she’s unable to release new music.” People are forgetting her and with more time passing by, the bigger the struggle it is going to be for her to come back into the spotlight.
Another example this year is JoJo. Her recent release, Mad Love., is golden. Personally speaking, it is one of the best albums of the year because of the great talent she delivers and the diversity that she showcases from beginning to end. The various messages and meanings make this sonically-ple
asing record personal and relatable. Its debut on the Billboard 200 was not as strong as I had liked, but it still managed to debut at #6. I was not surprised at all, but what came after enraged me. On its second week out, it had dropped from #6 to #111 and on the third week, it was completely off the charts. In this situation, I blame the long 10 years between her 2006 release, The High Road, and this one. She unsuccessfully stayed active in between by releasing mixtapes that came and went in the blink of an eye. Other than that, there was no presence.
If you’re not a follower of the music industry, I hope this post will break it all down to make it easy to understand. Nowadays, people listen to whatever they come across. There is an abundance of music because of how accessible music has become thanks to technology (YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Music, etc.). This causes for us to easily forget about artists and their music. We’re always looking for the next big thing and once found, we move on to do it all over again. This is why time is crucial for artists. They must stay active either through social media or partnerships to retain your attention. If not, the challenge will be big for everyone in an artist’s team when future releases are planned. The artist’s team must find the right song, the right way to promote it, and heavily promote the music that the artist is about to release in order to create the buzz that will lead to the vital word-of-mouth marketing. Music professionals cannot depend on the once-established popularity of an artist and expect it to last forever. If a long break is experienced, the establishment of an artist must be developed once again from the bottom up.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesha
http://shepherdexpress.com/article-28298-concert-review-kesha-and-the-creepies-a-the-rave.html
There’s no question about it: streaming is important in the music world. First, we had Rihanna’s Anti be exclusively released on Tidal, a music streaming service. But now, Kanye West has followed the same path. The only difference with Kanye’s scenario is that him and his team did not release official numbers to Nielsen SoundScan, a sales tracking system used by Billboard. Ultimately, this decision made The Life of Pablo unable to chart on official charts before April 1.
Artists aim to have the number one album in America. A number one album means that people are hearing the content artists have been working on for a long time. It’s a position that screams “the hottest album AND artist in the industry.” The Life of Pablo was released on February 14 and was only available for streaming on Tidal. On April 1, the album was made available on other streaming services, such as Google Play, Apple Music, and Spotify. It was also made available for purchase for the first time on kanyewest.com. Between February 14 and April 1, no official statistics were provided to Nielsen SoundScan about the performance of the album. After making the album available for purchase, The Life of Pablo debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. Not many people were shocked because it was expected due to the amount of buzz the album and Kanye made online.
It is important to point out that Kanye’s album is the first number one album to achieve such accomplishment with the majority of its copies being streamed and not sold. Out of the 94,000 equivalent copies, only 28,000 copies were bought. During its second and third weeks, the album sold 1,000 and 78 copies, respectively. In addition, it is estimated that over 500,000 copies were illegally downloaded. Again, streaming has become a key component of sales and Kanye’s album proves it. Although the numbers have been surprising, Kanye is still to embark on a tour and there’s nothing stopping his power.
What do you think? Should artists keep releasing “exclusive” albums?
From the point of view of an artist, it’s satisfying seeing your songs succeed in the American market, one of the biggest ones in the world. From the point of view of a hardcore fan, it’s exciting seeing them receive exposure because that means that you’ll be hearing them more often on the radio. But what if the song was released eight years ago?
This is the scenario that Empire of the Sun, an Australian electronic music duo, is experiencing. Their song “Walking on a Dream,” released in 2008, recently charted on the Billboard 100 chart for the first time ever. To be more specific, it peaked at position number sixty-five on the Billboard 100 and number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs. It’s interesting to analyze this scenario because of multiple events that have happened. The first one is being that the duo has moved on to new musical content since 2008. They have released one album and seven other singles since then. I would expect for artists to move on from past content since people mature, grow, and learn more through experiences. It’s more common to see more recent songs succeed and chart nationwide.
Another event to look at is the reason why the song is now getting the exposure it deserves. Every year, marketers latch onto the attention the Superbowl receives to promote their brand and products. Honda, a car manufacturing company, used “Walking on a Dream” to promote their Civic line. This proves one thing: marketing and music can make memorable things together if they work together to enable customers to feel, hear, and see the magic!
It’s been proven multiple times through statistics: music is not selling like it used to. It was no surprise for albums to sell a couple hundred thousand copies during their opening week and claim the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart, a weekly chart that ranks the highest selling albums in the U.S. Nowadays, an album is considered commercially successful if it sells over a hundred thousand copies during its opening week.
Music experts have noticed that well-established performers in the industry have the power to sell large amounts of albums without much trouble. Rihanna is one of these performers. Many had high expectations for her latest release, “Anti,” but to their surprise, its release was a complete disaster. The long-anticipated album was leaked on Tidal, removed right after, and officially released a day after its leak once damage had been done. The album was only available on Tidal for streaming, then sent to all digital retailers two days after, and available in physical format a week later. Ultimately, it is this erroneous release that served as a huge marketing tool for the album.
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at #27. Many people understood the underwhelming placement because it was released on a Wednesday evening when the sales tracking period starts every Friday and ends every Thursday. With only one day to sell and stream the album on Tidal, it’s chart placement was nothing but expected. Things changed when the album soared to number one after being on the market for one full tracking week. Although many people knew that this would happen, some were unimpressed. Most people believed this placing on the Billboard 200 chart could’ve been accomplished in the first place. The argument was that this is Rihanna’s eighth studio album, has gone on world tours, and has been in the industry for years. She’s famous enough to have thousands of people buying her album. To make it more straightforward: if Beyoncé could do it back in 2013, then so can Rihanna in 2016.
To make things worse, more controversy started pouring in when people found out the true statistics of the album. Within the first day of its release, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album platinum status. A platinum status for an album is achieved if it sells more than a million copies. Many were quick to celebrate, while others pointed out that almost all of the million copies were free downloads. Rihanna and her record label partnered with both Tidal and Samsung to giveaway her album to customers that used their services or electronics. Many saw this as unfair because it gave her an advantage that most artists don’t get when releasing albums. And then, another shocking statistic started circulating around the Web: the album only sold 460 copies in its first day of release. Again, with the fame that Rihanna has, many found this very disappointing.
When analyzing this scenario, people have to understand that there’s more to music than what they see. In an industry that is constantly changing, record labels and artists have to be innovative and find ways to promote and sell their music. The partnership between Rihanna and both Tidal and Samsung is nothing unusual. We see these in music videos and tours without paying much attention to them. But now partnerships are becoming common with album releases because they’re considered a win-win situation. They simultaneously promote a brand and music. Another thing to point out is that the album was released exclusively on Tidal. The music industry is changing because the consumer is now more inclined to stream unlimited music and make it all available offline for a flat, monthly rate than buying an album. Therefore, this is a perfect example of how multiple marketing factors can either positively or negatively affect the release of an album.
Power In The Music 