Will 2023 Be The Year Algorithms Fail Us?
Fraudulent streams and fake virality can't beat old fashioned curation.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. Public Radio’s Winning Strategy: Music Discovery
A handful of public radio stations dedicated to playing new singles have enjoyed notable ratings bumps in recent years.
Takeaway: Instead of depending solely on advertisers, they lean on the largesse of their listeners, who often provide more than half of their budgets. This forces these outlets to take the tastes of those listeners into account — ignore them, and they’re likely to be stingy with donations.
2. Amazon Follows Apple in Increasing Music Streaming Prices
Tech titans raising the price on what has always been assumed to be a loss leader is an indicator of what’s to come for streamers.
Takeaway: The price increase follows a large drop in Amazon’s share price, down from almost $170 last March to under $100 today. It’s currently in the midst of cost-cutting efforts including a massive round of layoffs that will affect around 18,000 of its staff, and recently announced plans to sunset its charity-donating AmazonSmile feature.
3. TikTok Uses a Secret ‘Heating Button’ to Drive Viral Trends, Investigative Report Finds
Employees are alleged to promote content beyond the normal algorithm with little oversight.
Takeaway: The “heating” development raises all manner of interesting questions about the precise terms of TikTok’s licensing pacts with the Big Three labels and others – not to mention the findings of certain studies.
4. Spotify Speaks Out About ‘Important’ CNM Fake-Streams Study
Spotify says that the study, which revealed 1-3% of streams to be fraudulent, is a victory for its mitigation efforts and better than the DSPs that did not take part in the research.
Takeaway: Battling fraud should be about cross-DSP collaboration rather than a competition differentiator. Spotify is making the right noises on that front.
5. Music Discovery in 2023 is About the Journey, Not the Moment
It’s not about being heard. It’s about where you’re heard (and what happens next).
Takeaway: The most common sources for discovering music are YouTube, followed by the radio — although for Gen Z consumers, TikTok replaces radio for second place. But consumers who cite these sources score lower on time spent listening to music and money spent on live music, when compared to the rest. By contrast, consumers who discover music through niche sources, like blogs, podcasts, and magazines, score high.
