Side Paths to Streaming: A Contemporary Model to Fan Engagement and Monetisation in 2020

It seems every three months, Spotify announces a new way to rip off artists and continue the degradation of artist income. Today it was the introduction of a way for artists and their teams to sacrifice income in place of algorithmic prioritisation. Amazingly, Spotify have managed to find a way to pay artists even less than $0.0032 per stream.

Whilst, the idea of prioritising a single or series of songs in the algorithm to ensure they are heard on paper sounds like it is in favour of artists. There are a few simple factors that would, in any reasonable world, take the idea straight off the table.

Firstly, if the service is opt in and all artists and artist teams opt in to take the lower cut of money for a higher likelihood of being heard, you create a bottleneck of all artists opting in for the same prioritisation. Predictably this will result in the same algorithmic issue you had to begin with, too many songs and not enough placements for them to be heard. Only now, the artists are paid less.

Secondly, an algorithm only works if you do not allow human hands to push and pull it where they want it to go. I work in data; I work with algorithms every day and every day I fight back pushes from external parties attempting to manipulate that data and those algorithms to work in their favour.

An algorithm is a complex web of connections that builds a picture of each individual customer and determines what they want to hear, what ticket they want to buy or what button they should click next. The main power of an algorithm comes in its ability to remove human bias or assumption. Once that human bias and assumption is forced back into an algorithm, that algorithm ceases to function in its optimal circumstances; suddenly forced to service certain products against the recommendations it has produced without bias.

This means Spotify’s latest artist product option is counterintuitive to their most powerful selling point to customers.

However, none of that matters.

Streaming exists, Spotify exists and has market dominance Yes, Spotify destroying one of the few revenue streams musicians have access to is awful, but unfortunately it will continue to exist. It will operate however it chooses until a new technology comes along and makes it obsolete. Like CDs did to cassettes and downloading MP3s did to CDs. Progress will always do just that, progress.

What does matter however is how artists exist within the framework of the market they are operating in.

So how do you exist in the current environment? How do you not become disheartened when you need to hit 185,200 streams a week on Spotify to make minimum wage?

You revisit and reframe your relationship with streaming, Spotify and digital distribution.

You revisit and reframe your relationship with social media.

You revisit and reframe your relationship with your listeners, fans, and advocates.

Those last three words are what I want to break down further. Those three words are the core categories of how artists should be framing their outward facing public profiles in 2020.

So, what do I mean by them and how do we make the most of each one? Each category is as important as the last, yet each needs an individual approach to service.

 I also want to reframe the labels to reflect what each one is. I want to start referring to them as passive listeners, active listeners and patrons/advocates.

Listeners/Passive Listeners

Listeners, or passive listeners are the individuals out in the oceans of music consumption. For other artists they most likely fall into different categories but for you they are casually engaged. They are the people who will hear your music through streaming services, radio, or traditional music media. Music listener relationships with artists are becoming increasingly casual. As algorithms feed new music to listeners the likelihood of engaging a listener to actively seek you out is less and less.

However, on the flipside of this there is a major positive. The positive element of streaming and digital distribution is the capacity to cast your net far and wide. You can reach more listeners today from your bedroom than an artist in the 90s could have ever dreamed of whilst hearing their dialup internet come to life. This is powerful and needs to be harnessed.

You cannot ignore prospecting; you cannot ignore the need to be in the market. Everyone may be fishing in the same pond, but you will not catch a single fish if you do not have your line in the water.  

Do not rely on streaming numbers as your only source of revenue or your measure for success. Do not even factor them into your genuine revenue calculations, just let them be a bonus. See streaming services instead as another stage you are putting yourself out to.

To engage passive listeners:

• Use digital distribution services such as Gyrostream or Ditto

• Upload your music to triple j unearthed

• Seek coverage on music blogs or engage a publicist to do so for you

• Network with other bands and play shows outside of your known stomping ground

Treat every release and every show as professionally as you can and put forward the highest quality and most genuine product you can. Also be sure you’re ready for the highs and lows. Maybe you won’t land the playlist you were after, maybe triple j won’t play your song, but if you land in the right Daily Mix you might just bring a listener out of this category and across to a being a fan.

Finding listeners and converting them to fans is the most important element of this phase.

Play the game, do not be bitter that times have changed and put yourself out there.

Monetisation opportunities: grants, royalties, playing shows and streaming payouts

Fans/Active Listeners

Fans, or active listeners are those people who have heard you in their playlists, had you recommended to them by a friend, maybe they caught you at a live show or read about you online. They have listened to your music and they have liked it enough to leave the screen they are currently on, find you and click follow.

These are your Facebook likes, Instagram followers, they’re in your @tags on Twitter and they’ve subscribed to you on their favourite streaming services. They have made an active choice to engage with you and they are actively listening to you.

That word ‘engage’ is the most important element of this category. An individual has made a choice to engage with you and you need to engage them right back. A Facebook like, or follow on Instagram is a commitment to a two way relationship and if you don’t uphold your end of the bargain, why did you put the effort in to find a fan in the first place?

Determine your identity as an artist and engage in a regular content strategy. Be open, honest, frequent, and paint a genuine picture of the artist you are trying to be through your communication with fans. Give back to your fans/followers what they give to you and give opportunities for your fans to engage with you.

It is a delicate balance and will be unique to each brand. Experiment and find what will work best for you. But always remember, if your social pages are only ever used to push marketing messages, you will soon find your engagement falling off a cliff. If you were at a party and had the option to pat the dog or talk to a guy handing out flyers relentlessly without replying who would you choose?

Engage with your fans to ensure they continue to engage with you. If you create a genuine connection, you will find your advocates.

To engage fans or active listeners:

• Play shows

• Play live streams

• Create and maintain social channels

• Develop a communication strategy that has two-way communication at its core

• Start a newsletter

• Sell merch

• Sell your music through Bandcamp

If you can engage your fans, you will create community. If your community is strong enough, you will find your fans willing to try and bring their friends into the community and begin to advocate for you as an artist.

Advocacy is the final category you want to aim for in any brand relationship. But what is it?

Monetisation opportunities: grants, royalties, playing shows, merch sales, Bandcamp sales and streaming payouts.

Advocates/Patrons

Music fans have always been passionate. Go to a show and say “cool shirt” to the first person you see in a band t-shirt and hear their response, then do it to the next and the next. Responses will differ but all will lean towards the “right, I love them” spectrum.

If someone is willing to talk to their first date about how much they love your new song, wear your name across their chest and post about your shows online. You have created a powerful relationship with a fan. To the extent that they are willing to put their name behind yours to lift you up (even if it is just to an endless stream of uninterested Tinder dates).

But once you have a passionate fan, someone that loves your art and advocates for you. What more can you do for them? And what can they do for you?

You need to create a space that feels like an inner circle. A level of connection to the artist that is genuine and special. Whether you monetise this directly or not is your own personal decision, but it is a genuine opportunity and not one that offends in the current market.

Music fans also realise that money has been stripped out of the community they love and will actively and financially support their favourite artists if given the opportunity. The boom of crowdfunding, vinyl sales and patreon shows this. Do not feel guilty about making money from your fans, if you are giving the whole of your creative output for your fans, they expect and want to give you something back.

Examples of platforms that can be used for this:

• Patreon

• Tribe

• Buy Me A Coffee

• Ko-fi

• OnlyFans

• Discord

• Facebook Groups

Ideas for how to keep these fans feeling special:

• Early access to music

• Access to unreleased music or demos

• Exclusive limited run merchandise

• Reprints of sold out merchandise

• Forums like Facebook Groups or Discord where fans can talk to the artist

• Video Game sessions (shout out to Cry Club the Mario Kart champs of Australia)

• Start a podcast

• Access to lyrics and your creative process

• Feedback mechanisms

• Listening parties for new music

• Exclusive shows (play an acoustic show in your mates backyard, it’s dead easy and will make memories)

What advocates will create for you:

• A continual source of income for your art

• A community that will lift you up

• An honest feedback loop

• Memes

• Ideas and content

• A modern-day street team

• Word of mouth promotion

• The push for other fans to join “the inner circle”

You may feel awkward growing this community at first. Maybe you will only have 3 members and one of them will be your mum. If you stick with it and make the most of the opportunity, your community will begin to grow itself and you will grow from it too. You and your fans both know your journey as an artist has to start somewhere and if they can be there at the beginning and know they helped… That is a truly special thing.

Monetisation opportunities: grants, royalties, playing shows, merch sales, Bandcamp sales, patronage, crowdfunding, royalties and streaming payouts.

There is no easy answer to making a living as a musician in 2020 and everything I have outlined in this article takes time, money and a lot of effort. Engage your teams, engage your band members and be ready to work. The days of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll are long dead, you are small business managers now.