Another message from a tech firm that promises me that I can find the next artists by looking at different numbers on different outlets. Outlets, well they seem more just stats from social media and streaming platforms. As I have written before that is just 25% of the artist’s career. It really doesn’t give any accurate picture of what is really going on. 

Sure, you can get some sales figures from these numbers, at least some pinpoint, but not what is coming, just the past. When the numbers start to reach critical levels someone has already discovered this artist and that is why you have you have those numbers.

In another email, I got a tip-off about a new sing-songwriter that just got picked up by a bigger label. And the numbers were not that special, but they were in the range where a label would pick up and start to try to market a new good artist. Still, I need this inside information to know to have an eye on this artist. It will be another year before she will enter the numbers game and if it will light up on the tech firms list and by then it’s too late for me as a whatever I work as a manager, booker, or recordable. the reason the number is there is because of the work someone else already did.

Another thing is how these numbers should go over to real fans? I just read about an artist I know pretty well. Hasn’t done anything really bigger. Given out some songs on a major label where we can see that they have boosted some Spotify numbers with some kind of suspect major record labels playlists like Topsify. Around 16 000 followers on Facebook and 130 000 followers on Instagram. 

Ok numbers, but with a closer look, the average Instagram post har around 7000 likes her twitter has around 30 likes on each post. Then she has gone over to the big new thing TikTok where she has a staggering over 2 million viewers, each post is around 200 000 views. There are people watching this. My knowledge though as a booker knows that she wouldn’t even draw 100 people inside Stockholm. she is not a name that the bookers fight around or even talk about. 

The tech company thinks then I can see this on their stats. But you can’t. Yes, you can see on Spotify she has the most listeners still in Stockholm even tough the audience on TikTok is not from Sweden. Has she bought the numbers? Not really, maybe her label has put in some extra boost ( looks like it) for TikTok not so much buying instead getting her on different lists and asking people to follow.

Here comes the crucial thing. People that follow really don’t convert to fans. that just click of a button that says it’s it interesting for me. We know this from the live industry that these numbers seldom can be converted. In the Eurovision song contest, they have taken several YouTubers, Spotify phenomena, and such to try to break them. This is prime time TV in Sweden. Still, most just don’t even make it to the final round. The staggering numbers on social media won’t even vote for the artists even though it’s free. It’s to much work. Imagine then to get someone out of their home to be so terminated to see you live. Yes, a much harder work. at the some time a must if you are going to access the big money from your fans, the live industry is 51% of the money going around in the music industry.

Or wait, it was. We don’t know what is going to happen after Corona. One vision I  see several times and is quite keen on is that the mega festivals time is over. These are not environmentally friendly (if it’s not set one construction that is already there like Summerfest) and is not good for artists. One effect from the corona will probably be that smaller venues get together to get touring for the artists. Likely these venues have an audience that is regulars, and the booker of the venue will be the tastemaker. Then the numbers really don’t count, it will still be a person that promotes the stuff to the audience on a small scale, the way it used to be.

No, I deleted the email about the help I could get help to see an artist’s stats. The stats don’t tell me if they are good live, or even can do a live show. Just singing in the camera on TikTok will not make a big career. And I think Covid 19 just killed most of the fake artists as well. Suddenly a network of real people not bots is the way you need.