.png)
The Music Business Buddy
A podcast that aims to educate and inspire music creators in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music. A new episode is released each Wednesday and aims to offer clarity and insight into a range of subjects across the music industry, all through the lens of a music creator for the benefit of other music creators. The series includes soundbites and interviews with guests from all over the world together with commentary and clarity on a range of topics. The podcast is hosted by award winning music industry professional Jonny Amos.
Jonny Amos is a music producer with credits on a range of major and independent labels, a songwriter with chart success in Europe and Asia, a senior lecturer in both music creation and music business at BIMM University UK, director of The SongLab Ltd and the author of The Music Business for Music Creators.
www.jonnyamos.com
The Music Business Buddy
Episode 2: A Guide to Music Distribution
Can a well-planned digital distribution strategy make or break your music career? Join us in this episode of the Music Business Buddy as we uncover the vital components that ensure your music reaches its full potential in the digital world. We'll guide you through the maze of selecting the right distributor, emphasizing why marketing support, robust analytics, and efficient store delivery are non-negotiable. Learn how to meticulously prepare your single, EP, or album for a smooth release campaign, and discover the power of social media in amplifying your reach across platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Get ready to demystify the technicalities of digital distribution. We’ll delve into the nitty-gritty of codes and catalog management, and the differences between ISRCs and ISWCs. Understand why accurate P and C years are crucial, and how timely delivery to streaming platforms can make all the difference for editorial pitches. Uncover the complexities of meta tagging and why it’s essential for correctly linking artists to recordings. We also highlight the vital role of data analytics in tracking your music’s performance and guide you through the spectrum of distributor options, from budget-friendly to premium services. This episode is packed with insights to help you navigate the competitive landscape of digital music distribution like a pro.
The Music Business Buddy. The Music Business Buddy. Hello everybody and a very big, warm welcome to you. You're listening to the Music Business Buddy, with me, johnny Amos, podcasting out of Birmingham, england. I'm the author of the book the Music Business for Music Creators, available in hardback, paperback and e-book format. I'm a music creator with credits on a variety of major and independent labels, as either a writer or as a producer. I'm also a senior lecturer in both music creation and music business. Wherever you are, whatever you do, please consider yourself welcome to this podcast and to a part of this community. I am here to try and educate and inspire music creators from all over the world in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business behind music.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the theme for today is digital distribution. It seems like a very good idea to talk about this on the podcast because there's so much to it. It's a seemingly simple subject, but actually, when you break it down and unpack it a little bit, there's quite a lot to it. We're in an age now where it's never been as easy as it is right now to distribute music, to get it out to stores, to do things for ourselves. But what's the best practice to do things for ourselves. But what's the best practice? So what I've done is I've tried to break this down into 10 simple steps as to what to bear in mind when it comes to music distribution, what to look for in music distributor, also a little bit about the types of distribution that are out there and also where it's all headed. So let's get rolling, okay.
Speaker 1:So maybe the first thing to think about here is to build an expectation as to what you actually expect from a distributor. It's very good to keep this in check. So, for example, it might be that you think straight away right, well, marketing, I want them to help me with marketing. Now, generally, that's not something a distributor would do. There are some acceptances of that, which we'll look at later in the podcast, but generally speaking, it's not a task that is undertaken by a distributor. So you're already off onto the wrong foot if you're looking for a distributor to be the answer to your marketing problems. They won't be, generally speaking. So, first of all, what do you expect? Do you expect good analytics? I would think so. You would expect delivery to a range of stores. You would expect support, whatever it might be, it's just a good thing to think about straight off the bat. What is your expectation of a distributor? Ok, the next thing to think about is the type of campaign.
Speaker 1:Now we know that in the algorithmic nature of the streaming world, that visibility is fed from regular releases. We know this right. So we know that if we go single, single, single single, in theory it helps visibility and traction and growth. Right now, that's all well and good, but we also have to think about how we collect our catalog and how it catalogs itself. So, for example, this is something that's important to think about when working with the distributor is are the singles going to carry over into an ep or album project? You don't want to end up with duplicate songs, so you're going to need the streams of the singles to carry over into an EP or album. Now, in order to do that effectively and neatly, it will be a case of getting the entire product ready for upload before you start working with that distributor, so that you can then set the eventual release date of the entire product, be it the album or EP, and then drop the singles in advance of that and build up to it. That's how labels do it, and it's good to think like that because it also enables a timeline and a strategy. It's very easy in this day and age, when we've got you know, distribution is just a few clicks away to be able to go hey, I've got a new song, bang, let's get it up and we can do that. But doesn't mean we should do that, because there's always strategy behind everything. Isn't there? So it's good to think about. What does that wider campaign look like?
Speaker 1:Okay, the next thing to think about is social media delivery. So what we're talking about here is the ability to be able to make music that's been released accessible through social media for sharing. Now, most distributors can do this. Some charge a little bit extra for it, some charge on a premium plan for it, some don't charge anything extra at all, so there's variations to the price model on this, but it's something that probably most people are going to want to have.
Speaker 1:It's the ability for people to be able to make videos, make their own content and then tag your song inside it. In order for that to happen, it has to be delivered to those social media platforms via the distributor, and this is why it's good to sometimes think about the actual marketing plans before you go ahead and pick your distributor. So, for example, if you knew that you wanted to have kind of make your own sort of micro sync videos, where you were kind of tagging your own song in other visuals that have nothing to do with you as an artist, which is a great way of promoting music on TikTok, for example, but then you find out that you can't deliver your music to TikTok, that's an error, that on judgment, perhaps in picking the wrong distributor. So it's good to think in advance about that and what that might look like for you. There's also a YouTube content ID, which you know. There are pros and cons. Just to clarify what it is it's basically a digital footprint of a recording not a song, but of a recording of that song and it's captured and detected by YouTube. It means that, for example, if you had a YouTube content ID, then not everybody can just upload that song, a recording of that song, to their own channel.
Speaker 1:Now, if someone were to upload your single to their channel, they wouldn't get a strike, but you would get notified. They would also get notified that they've uploaded something which has a copyright claim on it. Now that just means that they can't then monetize that upload. On the one hand, there are obvious advantages to that, there are also disadvantages, and I'll give you an example of a disadvantage. Let's say, for example, that you've found out about a tastemaker, a YouTuber, that's accessible through a platform such as SubmitHub and they want to premiere your single, or just share your single, or a lyric video of your single, or something like that, and it could well garner, you know, two or three hundred thousand streams in one evening because they're putting it in front of their audience for you. Now, if I were a youtuber, I probably wouldn't do that unless I could monetize the content, because that's the the financial landscape of the market. That's how it works, isn't it? So if you've got a content ID, you can't do that unless you've got a distributor that can deactivate a content ID from a specific channel. Some distributors can do that, some can do it very easily and some won't touch that subject, so it's good to think about that subject.
Speaker 1:Another thing to think about is Shazam delivery and delivery to discovery apps like Shazam that may come into the marketplace in the coming years. Again, it might be an additional feature offered by a distributor. That may come at an additional cost and it may not, depending upon who the distributor is, but it's very, very important that it is a box that's checked, so to speak. It really helps to future, future proof, the recording to be able to be discovered. So, for example, it might be that your music maybe sits dormant on spotify for a while and all of a sudden, after a two-year period, it starts to gain some serious traction. Maybe it gets on to the next big hulu show or Netflix show or whatever it might be, and then all of a sudden people are wanting to Shazam it because they hear it in a TV show or a film. If it's not been delivered to Shazam, then people aren't going to be able to find it and stream it. So it's good to think about those kind of future-proofing apps which are available through a music distributor for delivery.
Speaker 1:The next thing to think about is the range of stores. Now, this is a subject which has evolved quite rapidly in recent years. We've got so many stores in the world now. It used to be a few years ago that people would often say oh, you know, just send to the major ones, otherwise you might dilute your streams. I would say that's nonsense, and the reason I think that's nonsense is because surely you'd want your music to be as accessible as possible. So it's good to look for things. Like you know, does your distributor distribute to Tencent, which is the biggest distribution platform in mainland China If you've got an electronic music release, you know? Do they deliver to Beatport? You know, these are the questions to be asking. Of course, the main players Deezer, spotify, apple, etc. These are the main players to think about, but there are a lot of other stores out there where music can and will be accessed, so it's good to think about what stores it's going to and which ones your distributor can reach.
Speaker 1:The next thing to think about is code generation and visual generation. So many distributors now have an inbuilt facility for you to take your artwork and generate some visuals with it. That could be in the form of YouTube banners or circles or moving images with your artwork. That's an area that a lot of distributors are really starting to evolve their offer for people, but also they are capable of generating the codes that you would need, an area that a lot of distributors are really starting to kind of evolve their offer for people, but also they are capable of generating the codes that you would need. So you would need a UPC code, that's unique product code which most distributors which is like a barcode, by the way.
Speaker 1:A distributor would create that for you. They might also have their own internal cataloging system. They would also give you the option to be able to create an ISRC. Most of them can do that on your behalf cataloging system. They would also give you the option to be able to create an isrc. They can most of them can do that on your behalf. An isrc stands for international standard recording code, which is different from an iswc, which is an international standard writer code. Remember, you could have one song and multiple recordings of that same song, so an iswc would not be generated by a distributor. That would be something that you'd do through your collection society, where you'd get the song registered and you'd get the ISWC for the song not the recording for the song, but the distributor would generate the ISRC, which is the International Standard Recording Code. A distributor would also ask you for your P year and your C year. The P stands for phonogram, the C for copyright. The C in copyright is pertaining to the songwriting copyright and the P for phonogram relates to the recording copyright. So, for example, if you were releasing a song in 2025, then the P year would be 2025, but if you wrote the song in 2022, then the C year would be 2022. So they'll ask you for a P year and a C year, and that's what it relates to.
Speaker 1:Another facet to think about is the speed of delivery. Now, I think this is quite an important one. The reason I think it's important is because you want to know how quickly your recording can be delivered to the streaming platforms. One of the advantages for that is then knowing when Spotify have it, because once they have it delivered to them, it means that you can then pitch it through their pitch tool for their editorial team. So it's very important that you know when your song is being delivered and what the release date is in advance, because that will then give you the snapshot of lead time, knowing how long you've got to be able to pitch it through to editorial teams.
Speaker 1:Okay, the next thing to think about. My God, there's a lot of things to think about, but anyway, the next thing is meta tagging. Now, meta tagging relates to assigning the correct artist with that recording, and this is a subject which is fraught with difficulties, because there are so many artists with the same name, right, and that problem is not going to go away. If anything, it's just going to increase. So there are a few things that we can do to negate risk on this.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the things that distributors like to do is to be able to say right, if you've already had a past release, put your Spotify ID here or your Apple ID here, and we will then tag that artist in this recording. So if you've got a past release, it makes it a little bit easier. If you haven't had a past release and you're dealing with the debut release, then you're better off not meta tagging, leaving it empty and claiming the profile once the once the single is live, that is, unless you go through a distributor that does the verification process for you. There's only three or four of them that leap to mind that do that. But the verification process where you get the blue, blue check tick has to be verified against an identity. So some distributors can handle that, some can't. If you've got one that can't, don't worry, because you can do it yourself anyway after the release is live.
Speaker 1:And the final thing to think about is data analytics. Now, all distributors are capable of providing reports and analytics on a recording's performance, how it's being streamed, where it's being streamed, that kind of thing. This is really, really important. Now, some distributors are absolutely amazing at this and others are not so good. It just depends upon their setup, their offer, their technology, the softwares they're using, all sorts of other things. But I think it's becoming more and more and more important to have those analytics as detailed as possible. So that would be a good thing to consider when working with a distributor. And breathe Johnny, ok, right. So there's a few things to think about there, right.
Speaker 1:It's also worth remembering that you know a distributor is not going to be the make or break of a success point for a track. You know there's only really so much that they actually do. So you know everything that makes a recorded song successful. You know it's not usually down to the distributor, it's about everything that comes after. So, but those are a few things to think about before working with distributor.
Speaker 1:It's also probably worth mentioning, of course, there are different types of distributors. So you know there are more on the kind of upper tier kind of side of things that would include sort of marketing and dsp playlist support. So that's um, uh. You know distributors that can pitch directly to spotify and apple on your behalf you know you're not that can pitch directly to Spotify and Apple on your behalf. You know you're not going to necessarily get that with a budget distributor, but there are more upper-tier distributors when you're further along in your career that can help with that, that offer that as part of their service plan. There are also artist and label services, which offer a much more kind of bespoke distribution service that also perhaps includes editorial DSP, editorial support for Spotify and Apple, also detailed marketing plans, much more detailed analytics, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:So it's always worth having a look around to see who's out there, to see who is in this game and doing well, who is new, who is established. You know there's always new partners coming out to work with. So where is all this headed? Right? And this is the thing that I find quite exciting is that digital distribution in particular is a very, very, very crowded market, and that's great for music creators, because whenever there is a crowded marketplace, it means something's working. One of the hallmarks of that is that then more and more competitors come on board and for them to survive and thrive, they have to up their game, which means creating better offers for music creators. So we're already starting to see some of the distributors kind of have partnership plans with influencer marketing, for example, but I think we're also going to start to see more partnership work between digital distribution companies and sync agents, so that one of the hallmarks of you signing up to release your song through distributor A, b or C will be right. It also gets tied up into becoming part of this sync library over here which can be accessed by this, this, this and this company. We also might start to see the introduction of branding partnerships on a much, much more kind of grassroots level and also micro licensing options so, for example, youtubers and filmmakers and people like that being able to get your music involved with their projects in a much more accessible manner, your music involved with their projects in a much more accessible manner. These are some of the things that may well change and evolve in the digital distribution landscape in the coming years.
Speaker 1:Ok, so there's a kind of succinct snapshot of digital distribution and where it's at and where it also may be headed in the future. But also remember there's always balance to all this thinking. Yeah, it's important who you distribute through to a certain extent, but it's nowhere near as important as to you know what you actually do with your music and what your strategy looks like. So there's always balance to the thinking. I hope this has been useful. I'll catch you next time. Thank you for listening. May the force be with you.
