We’re back with part two of our “Musicians Guide to SoundCloud!” Today we’ll be tackling the issue of what you need to look for when submitting to playlists or accounts to be reposted on.
While there are countless factors that determine weather or not you are featured, there are three major ones that you should be aware of:
1) Genre
2) Branding
3) Play Count
GENRE:
Perhaps the most important factor on this entire list, but surprisingly the most often overlooked. While there is plenty of phenomenal music out there, the bottom line that you have to fit a SoundCloud pages taste to make it on one; it’s a lot like getting on a blog. You may be an incredible country artist, but no electronic playlist worth their salt is going to post you because they will lose followers.
While there are always exceptions to the rule (a trap remix of a pop song might be posted on an EDM playlist), the majority of the time you will be turned down. It may even offend some curators, who will write you off for wasting their time in the first place.
Don’t be “that guy.” Do your research and respect people’s personal tastes.
BRANDING:
What is your color scheme? Does it align with other colors used in the cover art of artists featured?
For example, take Run the Trap‘s page. Notice anything? Very few artists in their genre are actually featured on cover art. It’s mostly graphics, an a lot of severe color schemes.
While branding admittedly is not a “make or break” factor in determining placement, it’s the first thing people see, and that leaves a lasting impression.
PLAY COUNT:
If you are an artist that is just starting out, it’s best not to expect huge placements from the get-go. This entire industry is a build, and baby steps are often part of the journey. Take a look at other things posted when submitting – do all tracks miraculously have over 100,000 plays each, while you’re stuck at 50? If so, you probably aren’t ready for that account. Rally your fans to help grow your engagement, or get some key press placements to help.
There are also a TON of mid-tier SoundCloud playlists run by individuals who just like good music, and will be more than happy to help you out. Slow and steady often wins the race, and there’s no shame in that.
We’ll be back next week for the last installment in our SoundCloud crash-course. See you then! In the meantime – click this image to see how we can help you get on playlists!
Curated playlists are how many fans listen to and discover music; and a great way for independent artists to market their music. But which Apple Music playlists deliver the most new fans?
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Want to know which Apple Music playlists help gain the most fans for new music?
Follower counts only tell half the story. So indie music services firm AWAL dug into the data and found the most engaged playlists on Apple Music. These are where fans are listening to and saving the most music.
A complete run through of the latest and greatest in sync licensing and music supervision over the past fortnight, courtesy of Synchblog.
Film and TV
Josh Groban records new Beauty and the Beast song 'Evermore'(Entertainment Weekly) The pop singer has recorded a version of the new Beauty and the Beast song 'Evermore' that will play over the film’s end credits and appear on the soundtrack, Disney announced Thursday.
Why The Young Pope's score chooses to embody 'musical promiscuity'(Vulture) “Leaving aside the difficulty of rationalizing a creative process that is the product of intuitions and of chance, I would define the score as a sort of musical syncretism,” Young Pope music supervisor Lele Marchitelli tells Vulture.
Native and The Premier League: Music Strategy(Native Soho) Late in 2016 Native were approached by RKCR/YR, Dixon Baxi, Robin Consulting and Design Studio to develop and inform the Premier League's global music strategy. Native's Managing Director, Dan Neale and Music Supervisor, Rachel Menzies discuss the project and how they got involved:
Singles Soundtrack reissue to contain grunge-era rarities (Rolling Stone) A new, deluxe edition of the soundtrack to Singles – Cameron Crowe's look at Generation X living in early Nineties Seattle – will feature previously unreleased songs by Mudhoney, Chris Cornell, Paul Westerberg and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, among others. The album is set for release on May 19th.
La La Land, Justin Timberlake among Guild of Music Supervisors Awards 2017 Nominees (Billboard) Among the supervisors receiving multiple nominations are Steven Gizicki, Julia Michels, Julianne Jordan, Joel C. High, Dave Jordan, Lindsey Wolfington, JoJo Villanueva, Becky Bentham, Heather Guibert, PJ Bloom and Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe and Jonathan Leahy.
Sundance cues up a chorus of music docs (Variety) From Once to 20 Feet From Stardom, Searching for Sugar Man, and Whiplash, Sundance has long been a key launchpad for music features and docs, and this year’s edition is primed with a slew of music-infused entries, from documentaries to features.
Can I have your job? Interview with music supervisor Rob Lowry (society6) Rob Lowry is currently working on about 8 films and 3 TV series, and just wrapped up Dirk Gently and Man Seeking Woman. In this Q&A, Lowry delves into precisely what a music supervisor does, how to get started in the business, and what is most necessary for the job.
Oscars: Sting, Justin Timberlake, La La Land, Moana vie for best song (Rolling Stone) Justin Timberlake is nominated for "Can't Stop This Feeling," his song from the Trolls soundtrack. Sting is up for "The Empty Chair," a song that he and composer J. Ralph wrote for the HBO documentary Jim: The James Foley Story. Lin-Manuel Miranda's song "How Far I'll Go," from Moana is also on the list. They will be going up against two songs from La La Land - "Audition" and "City Of Stars."
La La Land, BFG, Hidden Figures and more tune up Original Score Oscar race (Variety) At present, the presumed frontrunner in the field is Justin Hurwitz, whose lively La La Land music only really had one hurdle to clear: the mercurial nature of the branch. It might have easily been decided that the abundance of songs overwhelmed the interstitial scoring, but happily, that didn’t happen.
How The Mary Moore Show got its theme song (CBS News) "Who can turn the world on with her smile?” Millions of TV viewers were asked that question each week when they heard “Love Is All Around,” the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Gaming
A conversation with Sean Beeson: Video game composer (CultureSonar) Beeson has worked on both console and mobile games of such heavyweights as Disney and Wizards of the Coast. CultureSonar sat down with him recently to find out more of this truly unique career.
Classic FM to host weekly show on orchestral video game music (endgadget) It'll be hosted by Jessica Curry, co-founder of British game studio The Chinese Room and composer of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and focus on symphonic video game music in particular.
Lil Buck hypnotizes throwing shapes to Sia in new Lexus Super Bowl Ad(Fast Company) Lexus has pulled out all the stops for its Super Bowl LI commercial—the soundtrack is Move Your Body from Sia’s new album, the voiceover is Minnie Driver, and it's directed by multiple Grammy winner Jonas Åkerlund, whose most recent work includes a section of Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
How Frank Sinatra made Jack Daniel's into a rock star brand(Forbes) In 2013, Jack Daniel’s sold more than 11 million cases of the company’s iconic Black Label Tennessee Whiskey bottle. According to the company’s historian, Nelson Eddy, that would never have been possible if not for Frank Sinatra.
Sync of the Week: January 16th | Thomson Holidays | Moments (adbreakanthems) If, as some media pundits predict, 2017 is going to see a growth in specially commissioned syncs by modern classical composers, then you can expect to hear more of Biggi Hilmars, the young Icelander responsible for the score to Thomson’s eye-catching, freeze-frame Moments spot.
Apple sued over sample in synced Jamie XX track (CMU) Jerome Lawson, previously frontman of American a cappella group The Persuasions, has sued Apple over its use of Jamie XX’s ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ in a TV ad for the iPhone 6.
UK Top Shazamed ads: Jan. 24 | Jan 16 (The Drum) The Drum's Shazam chart is based on the number of times each ad has been Shazamed over the past week using the music identification app.
Atlantic Exec Kevin Weaver explains why movie trailers are the best marketing bet for artists (Billboard) Veteran film and TV music executive Kevin Weaver is competing against himself for a Grammy at the Feb. 12 ceremony, scoring nominations for best compilation soundtrack in the visual media category for his work as a producer on both Suicide Squad (Collector's Edition) and Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1. He chats to Billboard about sync, recent projects and more.
Sync licence requests: Approval chains (Resilient Music) Brands looking to license commercial catalogue music often come unstuck as they fail to appreciate the timescales needed for clearance. Why? They don’t understand the number of parties involved in the approval chain. In this post I share how it works…
Sync licensing advice from Hitcher Music (ReverbNation Blog) ReverbNation sits down with Chase Misenheimer of Synchtank client Hitcher Music to learn about the latest developments and trends in sync licensing, the biggest misconception artists have when dealing with a licensing company, tips for approaching sync licensing, and more.
Getting Sync Placement(Music Consultant) John Sepetys, Senior Vice President of A&R of Synchtank client North Star Media, chats to Music Consultant about the qualities music supervisors are looking for in music to sync to film, television and advertising in the current climate. He also offered up some tips for artists looking to approach music supervisors, publishers and others.
Events
Music Sync: Evolution Towards Internet TV (Los Angeles, February 7th) Is internet television the new synchronization frontier? Join the California Copyright Conference (CCC) and leading sync professionals for a discussion about production cycles, the pitch process, licensing rights and terms and how these differ from those in traditional media, and most importantly how to make money.
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