Why Audio Is Exploding And How Companies Are Monetizing It
These questions originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
A: Thanks to smartphones, digital audio is exploding. Sixty-one percent of Americans listen to digital radio monthly, and nearly a quarter listen to podcasts monthly. And with some of the biggest companies in the world investing in smart speakers, microphones, and content, audio and voice will only become more popular in the coming years. Audio is great because it saves you time, and with the onslaught of content constantly at our fingertips, consumers are turning to it for efficiency. Companies and investors know this, and we’re all working to build products that fill the needs of these listeners - ideally before they even know what those needs are.
A: It’s been interesting to see the rise of video and how it’s used in everyday life, especially since it’s arguably the most involved medium that requires the most attention since includes visuals, movement and audio. For years companies like Apple and Samsung have been touting their camera quality, but it’s pretty rare that they reference how audio has improved. One thing I take away from this is simply what a visual society we live in, but it’s also been a major marketing push from companies that want to invest in video.
Conversely, audio made a rise of its own and has consistently been one of the top ways people in the U.S. get their news and music. I personally would argue that the biggest factor here is that audio is the most versatile medium - it takes little active effort to listen to something, but there’s still amazing potential for learning and retention. We can see its prevalence every day simply based on how many people are walking around with headphones on, and similarly to the trajectory of video, content creators and advertisers are catching on to the best ways to use the medium to their advantage and engage listeners through sound.
A: The opportunities are really wide open. There are many models to explore, most of which have been tried and tested in the context of other mediums: subscriptions, ad-supported content, even allowing fans to tip creators or pre-order products to fund their work. There’s already a lot of movement toward advertising on podcasts (between 2015 and 2016, podcast ads grew at a rate of72%), and we think a content model that encourages more short-form, interactive work also opens up new opportunities for allowing creators to make money. This might be directly from their audience, or through the platform - it’s something we’re thinking about a lot at Anchor, as monetization for creators is a big part of our mission.
I anticipate that over the next few years we’ll see the industry try a number of things, and it’s not likely that there will be a one-size-fits-all solution for every service or even every creator.
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Paul McCartney, Sting and Sheryl Crow have helpers who load and transport their instruments, amps and clothing. Everyone else has to get creative with equipment and travel. Here's some space-saving gear for the rolling musician.
Not only does this finely crafted instrument by a legendary guitar maker produce a beautiful tone, it's one of the few smaller-sized acoustic guitars that barely raise a squawk from airline gate agents and flight attendants, so you can (usually) slip it in the overhead compartment without much fuss. Its distinctive “L-series” design comes from the early 1900s and it's a favorite among jazz, blues and roots guitarists.
Face it, nothing's going to compare soundwise to your full-size, vintage double bass. But for bassists on the go with little room to spare, Yamaha's SVB-200 delivers a detachable frame, a body made of spruce and mahogany and a neck of maple, dual piezo pickups and a sleek gig bag. Its sound, for its size, is mighty-mighty, and you'll be glad at the end of the gig to pack up and be on your way lickety-split.
While it lacks the tried-and-true road reputation of, say, a Shure SM-57, the iRig Mic HD 2 is the only handheld mic of its kind featuring high-quality 24-bit converters with sample rates up to 96kHz, a low noise preamp, a high-quality gold-sputtered electret condenser capsule for exceptional frequency and transient response and an onboard dedicated headphone output with volume control for direct signal monitoring. Offering unmatched quality and versatility at an affordable price, iRig Mic HD 2 comes with all the cables and accessories needed in a variety of situations, as well as a convenient table tripod for use during interviews, calls or video conferences.
This little speaker packs a mighty punch, and it's compact enough to fit small vehicles and light enough to carry up flights of stairs. It features a single 12-inch 300 watt HyDrive neodymium hybrid cone drive as well as a 1-inch titanium high frequency compression driver. It also looks particularly cool with its steel grill, inset side handles, high-quality plywood with extensive bracing and dado joinery. Its rugged, road-worthy construction is capable of withstanding prolonged abuse that is typically brought on by gigging.
Musicians sometimes get so tied up with gear that they neglect personal things like clothing, cosmetics, deodorant and a place to store their valuables while they're up on stage. This vintage-inspired rolling trunk, unmistakable amongst your other gear, will neatly handle all your personal stuff. Four full rotation wheels make navigation effortless through crowds, and it's made of “ABS” which provides impact resistance and toughness for long time use and handling. Its corners are wrapped in PVC for additional protection. It also comes with a 5-year warranty and can be cleaned with a damp cloth.
Americans Are Spending More Time Listening To Music Than Ever Before
First of all thanks to Hugh McIntyre for this article.
Streaming has changed not only the music industry and how it functions, but also the lives of everyday people. Now, simply by signing up to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio or any of the dozens of other streaming offerings out there, millions of people can discover tunes that might not otherwise have reached them, stay on top of what’s just been released and listen to as much music as they want. It seems that many are indulging in that last option, and now, Americans are spending more time listening to music than ever before.
According to a new report released by Nielsen Music, on average, Americans now spend just slightly more than 32 hours a week listening to music. That’s an incredible figure, and it shows significant growth from even just the past two years. In 2016, Americans listened to an average of 26.6 hours of music per week, while the year prior, it was just 23.5 hours.
The trend shows massive gains from year to year, with the average expanding by several hours every 12 months. While some interactions with forms of media are measured in minutes, Americans now listen to almost a day and a half of music every week, which shows that they have songs, albums and playlists streaming throughout the day, and that they now incorporate music in many different parts of their life. The upswing isn’t likely to stop growing, but how many more hours per week can people have music playing?
While the actual figure is massive and somewhat shocking, it’s not actually too surprising that the amount of time Americans spend playing music itself is growing, as the number of songs being played is also rising. While one doesn’t necessarily mean the other is happening, this country is seeing streaming grow all aspects of music consumption.
At 2017’s mid-year mark, Americans had hit play on 184 billion songs on on-demand streaming outlets like Spotify and Apple Music. That’s up an incredible 62% from the same period a year before. The major players in the space have all added millions of users over the past several months, and they'll continue to pad their subscriber bases as time goes on.
These figures show that not only are more people listening to more music, they’re spending a lot more time doing so. While that 32 hours per week stat does take into account all forms of music consumption (including radio), streaming is a big part of the story, and since these numbers are all collected digitally, it’s become easier to be more accurate when looking at play counts and time spent tuning into big hits.
How Pandora Royalties Really Work: A Complete Guide [infographic]
How to collect all your royalties for Pandora plays.
What kind of royalties are being generated when someone hears your music on Pandora, and how do you collect them?
Since Pandora has both a non-interactive radio component AND an interactive streaming offering, a single play on Pandora can generate many different kinds of royalties, and the path to collecting those royalties differs depending on how Pandora added your music to their catalog. Understandably, the flow of royalties from the popular streaming service can get confusing fast.
CD Baby wants to make sure you’re set up to collect everything you’re owed, so we created this helpful infographic to show the various kinds of royalties you can earn from Pandora, when they’re each generated, and how you collect them all:
CD Baby Pandora Royalty Artist Payment Infographic
Is there real money being generated from your music on Pandora?
You might have the impression there’s no real money in Pandora. For years they’ve been at the center of a national debate about royalty rates for artists, songwriters, labels, and more — and there’s been a good amount of criticism lobbed at the streaming giant by rights holders (though those criticisms often falsely equate a single play on Pandora that reaches one listener with a single play on terrestrial radio that could reach tens of thousands of listeners or more).
But here’s the thing: for many independent artists, there IS real money in Pandora. We heard from one CD Baby artist recently who is earning upwards of $20,000 per MONTH on the platform, and she’s not “famous” by any stretch. She just happens to own all the rights to her music: she’s the songwriter, publisher, label, principal artist, and performer all wrapped up in one.
Knowing what kind of money your music is generating is important, and as the infographic above illustrates, a play on Pandora can generate a few different kinds of royalties. In this article I want to give a quick summary of what those royalties are, how they’re generated, and where you need to go to collect them all.
The difference between non-interactive and interactive streaming
Non-interactive streaming is what Pandora originally became known for; it’s essentially online radio. Although a Pandora radio user can customize their stations based on their tastes, they can’t choose the exact song they want to hear (the way you might on Spotify or Apple Music). That online radio model is non-interactive; it’s a more passive listening experience.
Interactive streaming, also called on-demand streaming, is when the user chooses exactly what they want to listen to. Again, think Spotify or Apple Music.
To complicate things in your mind though, Pandora HAS gotten into the interactive streaming game too with the launch of Pandora Premium. And Pandora Plus, the ad-free version of their non-interactive radio service, now has a replay function (which DOES generate the royalties associated with interactive streaming that I will list below).
So, in short, the particular royalties you’re entitled to from Pandora depend on how the listener is accessing your music.
Non-interactive plays on Pandora can earn you…
Digital performance royalties
Also sometimes referred to as ‘digital royalties’ or ‘neighboring rights,’ these fees are paid by online, non-interactive service providers such as Pandora for the usage of a particular recorded version of a song. It’s about the recording, not the song itself, so these are NOT publishing royalties.
Unlike publishing royalties (which get paid to publishers and songwriters), digital royalties get paid to:
Featured artists – 45% gets paid to the primary artist/s (the one whose name is probably on the album cover).
Non-featured artists – 5% gets paid to a fund for session players, backup musicians, etc.
The owner of the recording – 50% gets paid to the label or entity that holds the rights to the recording.
For many independent musicians releasing music today, they’re both the featured artist AND the rights holder (label).
But how do you collect digital royalties from plays on Pandora?
The artist portion is paid by Pandora to SoundExchange, a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties to featured artists and copyright holders. Register with SoundExchange today to collect the artist share of your digital performance royalties!
The rights holder portion is paid by Pandora to the distributor of the sound recording. (Hopefully that’s CD Baby 😉 ). Your distributor will then pay those royalties to the owner of the recording.
IMPORTANT NOTE: SoundExchange used to receive BOTH the artist and label shares from Pandora, and you could collect them both from SoundExchange. However, for any directly-licensed music on their service, Pandora now pays the copyright owner’s share of digital performance royalties directly to the artist’s distributor. They do not pay that portion to SoundExchange.
Even if you opted out of CD Baby’s SoundExchange collection for your releases, Pandora will pay the label share of your digital performance royalties to us as your distributor. You’ll be able to see a full accounting in your CD Baby members section.
Performance royalties (publishing)
Just like with terrestrial radio play, the songwriter and publisher are owed a performance royalty for the broadcast of their music. If you write original songs, you’re owed performance royalties for Pandora plays.
And just like with traditional radio, performance royalties get split:
50% to the songwriter/s
50% to the publisher/s
If you haven’t signed away your publishing rights, good news: you’re the publisher of your own songs, and you can collect both the writer and publisher shares.
To collect your performance royalties, you need to get affiliated with a performing rights organization such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. CD Baby Pro can help you get set up with a Performing Rights Organization, if you aren’t already, and can be your publishing administrator to make sure your songs are registered so you can collect your performance royalties.
Many performing rights organizations have a way to affiliate yourself as both the writer and the publisher, so you’ll collect both shares. With CD Baby Pro, CD Baby would collect the publisher’s share (50%) of your performance royalties and pass along those royalties to you through your CD Baby account.
CD Baby Pro is worth considering for another big reason though: mechanical royalties. I’ll get into those more below, but it’s important to know that performing rights organizations do NOT collect mechanicals, and they’re almost impossible to claim and collect on your own. So… CD Baby Pro!
Interactive plays through Pandora Premium and replays on Pandora Plus will earn you…
Performance royalties (publishing)
The same royalties I talked about above, owed to songwriters and publishers, are generated from interactive, on-demand streaming. With Pandora Premium, on-demand is an option for Pandora users (for a monthly subscription fee).
Note: Pandora curates its interactive catalog to some degree, so there’s no guarantee that your music will be available on Pandora Premium, even after CD Baby delivers it to them. But of course you want to be ready to collect any royalties your music is generating, so consider signing up for CD Baby Pro, and at the very least affiliate with a P.R.O.
Sound recording license fee
This is the standard payment the owner of the sound recording receives for a stream. It gets paid by Pandora to your distributor. If CD Baby is your distributor, you’ll see it in your accounting along with the details: song title, amount paid, date, date of reporting, etc.
Mechanical royalties (publishing)
Any time a song is mechanically or digitally reproduced (CD, vinyl, download, stream), a mechanical royalty is owed to the publisher.
As I mentioned above, mechanical royalties are almost impossible for you to claim and collect on your own without the help of a publishing administrator.
That’s where CD Baby Pro Publishing Administration comes in. We can help you collect all the publishing royalties you’re owed worldwide — including mechanicals from interactive streams on Pandora.
As you can see, a single play on Pandora can generate multiple royalties. It’s important to set yourself up to collect them all, from Pandora and countless other music services. Here’s how:
Register at the same time for CD Baby Pro (or upgrade your older titles) to collect publishing royalties for a range of music uses
Choose the P.R.O you’d like to be affiliated with (such as ASCAP or BMI) — or let us know which one you are already with — and CD Baby will then handle the affiliation process and register your songs with collection societies worldwide
That may sound like a lot of steps, but this is the really important stuff you have to do ONCE (per release) and then you’re set forever to collect your performance royalties, digital performance royalties, mechanical royalties, and streaming license fees!
3 things you’re doing wrong on Spotify as a musician
Are you being held back on Spotify by these three bad habits?
Even as streaming becomes the dominant means of accessing music, the streaming world can still feel like a new frontier to many musicians — and how you get your music noticed on platforms like Spotifyoften defies conventional wisdom (or at least the conventional wisdom of the old music industry).
Your play count doesn’t matter if nobody is adding your songs to their playlists or sharing with friends.Just like with YouTube, where average watch-time is more important than views, ENGAGEMENT is key on Spotify.
I’ve seen musicians streaming their own music on repeat to boost their play stats. It’s a bad idea, firstly, because if your user activity is public, we can see you doing it and that just looks lame. Second, you can get penalized for it. One friend even had his music removed from Spotify because they caught him trying to game the system, and I just heard about another notable musician whose single was removed from Spotify because he’d paid a click-farm service to generate “guaranteed” plays.
I say there’s no shame in having a small audience. So instead of worrying about your play count, find ways to encourage your modest following to actually engage with your music on Spotify.
2. You’re paying too much attention to curated playlists
Curated playlists are great, and getting a song added to a popular playlist can have a huge impact. We’ve even written a whole guide with strategies for building your Spotify resumé so you’re in a better position to attract attention from big playlist curators. But there’s something more important than curated playlists: algorithmic playlists like Release Radar and Discover Weekly.
Bryan Johnson, director of artists and management at Spotify UK, says “What we are seeing is that this playlist (Release Radar) is becoming a huge driver of streams – more than any of our programmed editorial playlists, which are the ones that everyone pitches for. It’s Release Radar which is driving listens.”
The more followers you have on Spotify, the more Release Radar playlists will surface your music. So the lesson is simple: get your fans to follow you on Spotify. That will be a smarter use of your time than pitching to popular playlisters, at least early on.
3. You’re not releasing enough music
If you want to do well on Spotify, you should release music more frequently.
Johnson explains, “We are dealing in attention economics. Gone are the days when you can just spend six or eight weeks prepping a single and then dropping it to see how it does. Now you can just drop the track and then work it. Because the track’s available, people want it; people want more and more tracks. The more individual tracks [you have], the more chances you are getting to present your music to people.”
And when working on bigger recording projects, you gotta remember: you can’t disappear between albums. You need to keep the momentum going. And that means “stockpiling” extra material to drop between larger EP or LP releases. “Be a few tracks ahead of yourself,” says Johnson.
Of course CD Baby can help you distribute all your music to Spotify (and Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora Premium, and 100+ other digital music platforms). Plus, you’ll get YouTube monetization, sync licensing, daily trending reports from Spotify, and so much more.
Indie musicians, you have access to legal support!
First of all thanks to Joel Andrew for this article.
How to get free legal advice as a musician.
As someone who’s seen a lot of legal disputes between people in the music industry, it’s always a bummer when musicians give up and walk away from something they know is unfair because they believe they have no access to good legal consultation. Lawyers are expensive, the required paperwork can be complicated, and how do you even find a capable lawyer who’s willing to advise an independent musician?
Well, there is good news and I’m ecstatic to tell you about these organizations called Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (or VLAs). This post walks you through what a VLA is, the basics of finding one, how the process usually works to engage with the VLA, and what you can typically expect.
What is a VLA?
VLAs are organizations of lawyers volunteering their time to give real legal advice for free to the artists that need it.
VLAs serve all arts and also the business and industry needs behind those arts—so your business law questions are just as covered here as art law questions. Most states or even cities that have a large arts presence have VLAs in some form or other. Some are affiliated with law schools, some are affiliated with local Arts and Business Councils, and some even tie in more volunteers than just lawyers, like Austin’s Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts. I’ve seen accounting problems be as destructive for musicians as legal problems, so check your local VLA to see what it provides!
“Our volunteer attorneys find advising talented individuals with a passion for their art an important way for them to help ensure a vibrant creative community.” – Lydia Loren, President of OVLA
How to Find a VLA
There is no national organization for VLAs at this time but you can find a national directory of VLAs that St. Louis’ Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts put together at https://vlaa.org/get-help/other-vlas/.
How the Process of Engagement Works
Each VLA can operate a bit differently but there is almost always an initial intake or application process through their website. Nashville’s Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts intake process just takes an email while others have an online form to fill out or a PDF to complete and send.
You will be asked to supply information such as:
what is your legal problem?
are any lawyers already a part of the issue?
what is your financial situation?
There will be a small intake fee ($15, $20, or something relatively small compared to the service you will get) to enroll in the service, but the actual advice and your time with the lawyer will be free.
There are often financial caps to consider, and each VLA is a bit different here so these are rough numbers, but if your annual income is more than $45,000, if your music business is generating more than $100,000, or if the value of the deal at issue is more than $100,000, then there might be some cap that makes you ineligible for the VLA.
Once accepted you will be asked to sign some paperwork that formalizes your relationship with the VLA, just like you would if you hired a lawyer, because that is what you will get here… real legal advice for your music!
“Nashville is on an exciting trajectory of economic and creative growth. The Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts (VLPA), a program of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, ensures that artists have access to the legal support and professional services necessary to protect and progress them along their career path. From assistance with nonprofit incorporation, trademark filing, intellectual property protection, and the drafting of various legal agreements and documents, VLPA provides Nashville artists and emerging arts organizations access to services they need but might not otherwise be able to afford. The support of VLPA gives artists the peace of mind to focus on their creative work knowing that their legal interests are covered by trusted and knowledgeable professionals.” – Jill McMillan, Executive Director of ABCNashville
What to Expect (and not to expect) when working with a VLA
There are two things that the VLAs provide:
First is the clinic, which is the legal advice from the lawyers. Depending on how your VLA structures the clinic, you will probably receive something like an hour of in-person time with a lawyer. You can ask a bunch of questions, get a contract made, get schooled on a particular topic, map out how to move forward after the clinic… whatever you want as its your time. This is your lawyer, you will be in good hands, and you will be treated just like any other client. This part about mapping out how to move forward after the clinic is potentially the most important part because at some point your time with the lawyer will end. Your clinic lawyer is not signing on to be your lawyer after the clinic unless you hire the lawyer outside of the clinic, which happens sometimes. So, maximize your clinic time by coming prepared with your goals and questions you have as best as you can.
The second thing VLAs provide is the ongoing service to your community. VLAs often host events outside of clinics, such as presentations or workshops on how art, law, and business work together. Even if you have no need for a clinic at this time you should check with your local VLA and sign-up for any newsletters because these events will be super helpful! For instance, Oregon’s VLA hosts empowering events that are just around the corner from CD Baby’s headquarters.
Do VLAs provide quality legal advice?
I want to stress that these lawyers are some of the most well respected lawyers in the arts. They truly love the arts and are putting their lucrative careers to the side for a moment just to help you out. For instance, my first experience in a VLA clinic was with one of Portland’s top entertainment lawyers giving about an hour of legal advice to a person that just made her first film. That would have been very expensive and I believe that filmmaker would not have sought legal advice if not for the VLA, and she received advice that absolutely impacted her future career. It was amazing to watch!
Also, if you volunteer for a VLA then please reach out to me in the comments below. I would love to connect and make sure that CD Baby artists in your area know how to get in touch with you.
Grammy Music Education Coalition Reveals Plans to Expand Music Education in Public Schools
With the goal of boosting the number of youth creating, playing and performing music in U.S. public schools, the Grammy Music Education Coalition (GMEC) announces its launch today (Nov. 7). The nonprofit collective is comprised of more than 30 of the nation’s most forward-thinking music education organizations, including the National Association for Music Education, the NAMM Foundation (National Association of Music Merchants), VH1 Save the Music Foundation and Lang Lang International Music Foundation.
In announcing GMEC and what he calls the “first-of-its-kind” approach, Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow tells Billboard that the concept was sparked by a what-if. “The big dream was what if every young person had the opportunity to be involved with music through the public school system,” he explains. “And what if we were able to pool our energy, efforts and resources with others in the music industry who are also doing fine work in music education to attack this big dream? The partnerships we are creating with school districts, teachers, parents and youth are designed to drive systemic change across geographies and communities nationwide.”
Focusing particular emphasis on underserved communities, GMEC will initially roll out in three school districts: Nashville (Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools’ Music Makes Us), New York City (New York City Department of Education) and Philadelphia (The School District of Philadelphia). GMEC will provide customized funding and strategic services based on school system needs assessments. The end result is to create an infrastructure through which school districts will be able to implement robust music education programs that will be independently sustainable. To date, more than $2.5 million has been raised by The Walker Family Foundation, ELMA Philanthropies and the GMEC board. GMEC plans to expand its partnerships to include additional school districts, artists, corporations, non-profit organizations and foundations.
“The benefits of music education extend far beyond the classroom,” says GMEC executive director Dr. Lee Whitmore in a release outlining the coalition’s launch. “By increasing the number of students actively making music, we’re fostering the development of essential cognitive and social skills that better prepare them for success as well as beginning a lifelong appreciation of music.”
Among its first moves in bringing learning content to teachers and students, GMEC has partnered with Disney*Pixar’s Coco. Coming to theaters on Nov. 22, the film centers on 12-year-old lead character Miguel, a self-taught guitarist who dreams of being a great musician. Supported by the Walt Disney Studios, GMEC is collaborating with Berklee College of Music to soon provide new educational materials within Berklee Pulse, the school’s online music education resource. Disney*Pixar’s Coco team will also donate 300 Cordoba guitars to GMEC’s inaugural school system partners. And Guitar Center will donate an additional 300 Cordoba guitars. The 600 instruments will be delivered before the end of the year.
A scene from the film Coco.Courtesy of Disney Pixar
Coco features traditional Mexican music and original songs including “Remember Me,” written by Academy Award-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and “Un Poco Loco,” written by Adrian Molina and Germaine Franco. “Coco is rooted in music,” says Molina, the film’s co-director and screenwriter as well. “We believe in GMEC and its mission and are honored to work with this organization.”
GMEC’s board members include chair Tarik Ward, director of music programs for ELMA Philanthropies Services (U.S.) Inc.; treasurer Jeffrey C. Walker of the Walker Family Foundation; Recording Academy & MusiCares president/CEO Neil Portnow; Berklee College of Music president Roger H. Brown; Rusty Rueff of the Patti and Rusty Rueff Foundation; Shout! Factory CEO Richard Foos and Bohemian Foundation executive director Cheryl Zimlich. For more information about GMEC, please visit www.grammymusiced.org.
