Number crunchers
numbers, Social MediaNow it’s very easy to see the professionals from the amateurs. From time to time it’s very easy to tell where in the industry you are for the moment. Right now is that time.
I got a submission by a manager for an artist to play at the festival. The only thing they brag about was how many streaming numbers the artist had on Spotify ( in reality not that high since I have the measure that you need a million in 48 hours). Still, it was easy to look at this artist that he had only 520 followers out of the massive streaming.
But what really struck me was that if I looked online I couldn’t find any live videos. At the same time, they bragged of an outsold headline show in London just a couple of months ago. Of course, they didn’t tell us which venue it was ( it could have been the local pub with just 50 seats) also it was strange there was no live footage on youtube. None what so ever. This only means that this artist probably isn’t playing that much live or is bad live.
All they have is that the artist went into some playlists. You know what that won’t drag any audience it just means that you haven’t done your homework and got down and done some really good live shows because that is the new thing. You really need to be good live, not any social media numbers.
Yes, I actually check out how many videos on Youtube there is on live shows. That is what I can see how they interact with the audience. How many people and if they look good live. This is the next big thing in the industry. Here is where you easy can tell who is just faking their careers behind the screen and who really have a good fanbase.
It doesn’t matter if this or that radio station thought it was good. It doesn’t matter if you bought a thousand Chinese click on your song. It’s down to the live scene to break artists.
Just amateurs are number-crunching and tell how much they had on their last release in Spotify. Take a lesson the pros don’t even discuss social media numbers any longer.
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I had a meeting with a few agents over at ILMC this past week. The strange thing is that opinions on streaming and social are divided. Probably because no one can really predict in which direction the wind would blow.
You already talked about paid-inflated numbers of this blog and I this example here seems to go into that column.
The agents that rep the Brit Award Winners say that social is great – but we don't get it. People at the bottom of the food chain say that streaming is everything. And to your point – so what do you when you have fans in, lets say China, and you're booked for a show that you can't deliver –> Instant capitulation.
Yes right now i'm early adapting. Feels like when I got Spotify in 2009. No one understood what I was talking about, and some was so sure on still CD sales or Ituens downloads. I guess this will be a debate for at least 3 years or even 5. Still the importance of streaming will fade away. It will be many diffrent factors taht will make sence.