Category: Trends

4 Rampant Trends on The Music Industry

music trends

With the first half phase of 2017 coming to an end, it is a perfect time for reflection and setting our sites on what is coming up next. We expect more great hits on the second half of 2017. We also expect great concerts and live events as we are approaching lots of holidays and activities. Besides, we hope that more brands will be released to develop a music strategy. And with many streaming services being released, music will definitely have greater influence for brands to consider when making partnerships. With that said, here are four rampant trends on the music industry right now.

1.     Streaming will Make Artists Rethink the Revenue Sources

Music streaming has risen to a greater percentage in the last couple of years. Live shows are becoming a primary source of revenue for many artists. Whereas the consumers spending on digital downloads CDs is down almost 50 percent over the past four years, live music consumer spending has risen up to 66 percent. However, artists are reacting to this shift in different ways. For instance, Adele and Taylor Swift have removed some of their albums from a few streaming sites to make more album sales. On the hand, some artists such as Puff Daddy and Foo Fighters have embraced this change. They have even gone to an extent of releasing EPs online for free.

More brands are asking whether or not streaming is the best option to avail music to people. It is an intriguing step taken between quality and access and monetizing that. It will also make the big artists get out and the smaller one becoming more involved. Moreover, the trend of smaller and emerging artists making use of audio platforms to release EPs and singles as opposed to albums is effective and smart. The reason behind this is that it allows artists to market often to their customer base and remain fresh.

2.     Rise of Emerging Artists

Artist collaborations can increase value for a product. It provides a large-scale name to the brand and allows for instant consumer recognition and media coverage. However, most brands which are not in the so called ‘large-scale’ category often cannot afford these collaborations. Besides, some brands who prefer working with the big artists sometimes do not get a genuine feel because of the artists involvement with other brands thus diluting the impact.

That said, one of the big trends which will occur in 2017 henceforth will be for most brands both large and small to rely heavily on emerging artists; utilize the rising talents to boost their brands and target the engaged consumers. This new collaboration will rely more on data. Understanding the brand data and referencing it with the artist fan data will see a higher success rate or artist and brand collaborations.

3.     Music and Technology

This year, the music industry will have major changes. For instance, the songwriters and artists will now distance themselves further from traditional music business models, thanks to sites such as Kobalt. Kobalt offers managers, artists, and labels, more user-friendly analyzing tools that make it simple to understand and review their varied income streams.

Artists are collaborating with tech firms. For instance, Hardware companies including Bose, Technics, and Beats By Dre, have launched their music streaming services, whereas Muzik is launching headphones with an amazing one-touch social media sharing spec. Moreover, firms that can distribute contents are partnering with music artists.

Certainly, regardless of the artist, label, or brand, everyone is now integrating their efforts with popular social media tools since it is one of the most effective metric for success. Tech companies are now proving to be a one-stop shop for music and in turn they get your attention on the products there are selling.

4.     Music Industry is now Integrating with Fashion Brands

Music artists are now playing a bigger role in promoting fashion brands to more consumers. A good number of fashion brands have already begun using the music industry to market their brands. For example, the Macy’s Fashion Front Row event held in 2016 displaying over 60 designers while collaborating with a strong music performance on stage to draw a wider market. Music artists are now expected to be making more events like this one which will increase the amount of brand and artists partnerships in the fashion industry.

4 Skills That Will Help You Make It in the Music Industry

mucisian

If you want a career in music, it is now a great time to join the music industry. However, it is very competitive and there is a lot of pressure in this industry. You have to know what it takes to turn the desire and passion for music to a successful career. Apart from awesome business or technical skills, here are few skills that will help you stand out from the crowd.

1.     Know the aspects of the music industry.

Working in ‘Marketing’ or ‘A&R’ does not mean that you do not need to know all other parts of the Industry. Take time to understand the music industry as whole and what areas are in conjunction with your skills. Knowing all this makes you more resourceful.  Furthermore, reach out to more people within the music industry, which will help you develop new relationships and build your industry network.

2.     Loyalty

In music industry, it is very hard to make it on your own. Record companies, managers, band members, and promoters you collaborate with become your partners in every project you undertake in your music career. Since these companies and people use their resources in working with you, they expect loyalty in return.

Lots of disloyal musicians are usually blacklisted from future contracts and opportunities. Although there are lots of ways of being loyal, the best explanation is not jumping from one opportunity to another while creating conflicts with those who made you succeed. Develop a code of loyalt to become successful and relevant for a long term.

3.     Make sure you have the talent

In music industry, the first thing you need is a talent and ability. Without this, your music career will be short lived. Talent comes before everything else. Until you have a talent, you should not do anything to promote your music. What most people are concerned about is the first impression. This is key to having a successful music career, as it is not an easy task relaunching yourself to people who have heard you before and were not impressed. The odds are that they will not even try and listen to your music the second time around, even after convincing them that you have improved.

4.     Marketing knowledge

Another skill that is important to emerging musicians and artists is having a good marketing knowledge. Having talent will not help you much if you do not have the drive to promote yourself. Furthermore, spending a lot of time practising the wrong strategy for marketing, you will find it very hard to make progress in terms of gaining recognition and building a fanbase.

Marketing is an important aspect in raising awareness of your music. Most of the popular artists you know would not have made without marketing. However, it not all types of marketing are worth it. Some are just a waste of time as it will stop you from doing things that would benefit your career as a musician. Ensure that everything you do promote our music career in the right way, if this is not the case you will not go very far.