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For some artists, the only descriptor or genre that comes close to describing their music is the word alternative. As more artists start to find the redundancy in genre constraints, more artists are using the eccentric catch-all genre as an alternative to lumping themselves into a category in which they scarcely fit.
As a genre, it doesn’t give away many indications of the sonic experience of their sound. It simply indicates that it falls away from the mainstream. A lack of mainstream aural tendencies doesn’t always mean that it lacks commercial potential – although the experimental nature of alternative music often means that it is inaccessible to what many consider the mainstream. Take prog-rock tracks that last for 9-minutes compared to the 3-minute perfect pop songs, for example.
Alternative genres include shoegaze, goth-rock, steampunk and no-wave, amongst many others; there will never be a definitive list; however, these genres start to paint a picture of the soundscapes that earn alternative status.
What is the definition of alternative music?
By the most simplistic definition, alternative music deviates from popular trends. As popular trends change, so does alternative music by proxy. Alternative music is also music that has lost its mainstream audience to the decades. It was probably pretty trendy to keep dusting off your Loveless record by My Bloody Valentine in the 90s. In 2021, the shoegazey noise rock masterpiece has fallen into the alternative camp.
The phrase started to become commonplace in America during the 80s; it was a way to describe the acts that offered an alternative to hair metal and pop. After music by the likes of the College Rock Gods, R.E.M. featured relentlessly on college radio stations throughout the 80s, national radio stations and record labels started to catch on and see the value in the alternative music industry. This meant that the rise of indie-rock and alt-rock happened simultaneously.
In America, the alternative music movement started with alt-rock; as a general rule, alt-rock was a derivative of punk or rock. Some of the best examples are Nirvana with their grungy sound and Sonic Youth with their harsh, discordant and endlessly enlivening experimental nature. On the other side of the pond, the punk rock movement in the UK gave way to the alternative music scene in Britain in the 70s.
To date, the most influential alternative artists include Radiohead, Joy Division, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Pearl Jam, Jane’s Addiction and The Jesus Mary Chain. And alternative music is so much more than a chapter in music history. There are plenty of upcoming alternative artists making waves with their less than archetypal tonal palettes.
You can take Nadine Shah and her jazzy pop-noir sound, Amanda Palmer and her cabaret punk theatrics, Hands Off Gretel with their infectious grunge-punk cross-over style, Empathy Test with their gothy EBM earworms, and Red Rum Club with their Tarantino-Esque Western vibes for the perfect example.
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We’re always on the hunt for new artists that are pushing the boundaries with their experimental sound, creating fusion tracks, or simply refusing to follow the rules of convention. Submit alternative music to our award-winning blog that is frequented by label owners, playlist curators, and other major influencers in the alternative music industry.
Submitting music to A&R Factory has been made as easy as possible. To help you feel confident with your submission, and other submissions that you will make with your demo, we have outlined some of the best tips to help the submission process run smoothly.
How to send music to blogs: 5 top tips
Get Familiar with the Submission Guidelines
Each music blog runs its submission process differently. There will always be an appropriate channel to send your submission through. To get your demo reviewed on our award-winning top 10 UK site, head over to the submit demo page on our website and fill out all of the appropriate fields. Other blogs will accept submission via email. Unless music blogs explicitly ask for submissions on social media, avoid using it as a method of contact.
Get Your Press Material Ready First
Not every artist has the money to pay a professional photographer for their band/artist photos or a visual artist for their cover art. But always do your best within your means when providing music blogs with cover art or press photos. Avoid sending grainy selfies or random images to accompany your review. Yes, it does happen.
Give Enough Info in Your Bio – But Don’t Go Overboard
When it comes to how to send music to blogs successfully, perfecting your bio before submitting it is a vital stage in the process. Think of your bio as your first impression. You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger, blurt out 3,000 words, and expect them to pick out the important bits. Hopefully, you wouldn’t be unforthcoming and unenthused when someone asks you about yourself either.
Make sure you’ve always got the basics covered in your bio, plus all of your bragging points. Include impressive streaming stats, previous airplay, interviews, gigs etc. If you can’t get excited when you’re talking about your music, how do you expect others to get excited? Even if it’s early days in your career and you haven’t had too many highlights, you have room to make a good impression by talking about what is different about you, what inspires you, how you want the listener to feel.
Send the Right Link to Your Music
This one *should* go without saying, but there are plenty of pitfalls that people fall into here. Firstly, avoid sending a pre-save link with no mention of the release date of the music. Secondly, if you are sending a private link on YouTube, make sure that whoever has the link can access the video and it is not set to private. If you have sent a private SoundCloud link, do not take down the track while waiting for a review. If you do need to take down the SoundCloud link for any given reason, update the blog with a new link.
Where Possible, Send New Content.
Fresh music content is what allows music blogs to thrive. Where possible, avoid sending old music. If you do want to submit old material to garner hype around a new music release, let the music blog know about it. That way, the reviewers will have a better angle to spin your music review. And as a final note, always send your demos to the appropriate blogs.
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Hopefully, we have covered all the bases for artists wondering how to submit music to hip hop blogs, indie blogs, rock blogs and multi-genre blogs. Once you’ve followed all our tips, your chances of your submission being successful at competitive blogs will be infinitely higher.
It may sound a little cliché, but each artist is their own journey of discovery. For some, the roadblocks will seem impassable at the first hurdle; for others, there will be a little engine trouble down the line that means some fine-tuning is needed.
With that said, experienced A&R reps and artist development executives have a wealth of experience behind them; checking in with them is often the best way to ensure smooth sailing. Below, we have curated some of our best tips for artist development success.
Four industry-approved tips on how to develop your style as an artist
Grab a Slice of Humble Pie
If we had a pound for every time that we received a submission from an artist claiming to be a genius, a prodigy, or someone that can take a whole audience’s breath away with just one vocal note, we’d probably be richer than Elon Musk. More often than not, the aural bark doesn’t match the bite.
The point is, many artists can get wrapped up in the idea that they’re the next big thing in any given genre once their career starts gaining traction. When it comes to a downtick in acclaim, it is no wonder that it can feel like a nosedive into career suicide for some. The trick is to stay humble. Recognise that there is always room for development in your creative abilities and your brand identity.
Work with the Best Producers
Producers can make or break a record. Usually, they do the former. Every artist starts with an idea of what the final product should sound like when they enter a studio. If your production team deviate from the aural dream, don’t be quick to reject their idea. Now, we’re talking about *real* music producers here, the ones with years of studio experience behind them, not beatmakers that are found on YouTube. If you’re working with one of those, we’d highly recommend investing in a producer with some level of respect in the genre – they don’t always have to cost the earth.
Invest in Artist Development Services
Music artist development services help to solidify and spotlight an artist’s brand. The reputation of artist development companies depends on their ability to guide musicians in the right direction. After all, an artist development company is only as attractive as their most successful campaign.
The award-winning artist development team at A&R Factory have launched many successful campaigns that increase the fans, followers and reach of artists. This is done through advising artists where to spend their money in relation to production and marketing and getting artists playlist spots and features in popular publications.
Find Your Signature Sound
When asking yourself how you want to develop your style as an artist, are you striving for commercial success or the ability to be a better artist and songwriter? If you’re fixated on maximising your commercial potential, you will overlook one of the most valuable tools at your disposal; autonomy.
If David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Prince and Nirvana stayed inside the popularly coloured lines, would they have made it to the heights they did? Probably not. Those artists stirred something within their wide fanbases by disrupting the status quo – not the band – and finding something powerful and expressive within themselves. Why be Megadeath when you could be Metallica; why be Greta Van Fleet when you can be Led Zeppelin – you get the idea.
In short, folk music is music that is representative of communities, played on the available instruments, and more often than not, many people in the respective communities can play it. Folk music has never been about displaying virtuosity and skill, to this day, that carries on in the easy acoustic chords and the cracked and raw vocals in Western folk.
Contrary to popular belief, folk music isn’t all banjos, moonshine and rickey American front porches; the original storytelling genre is so much more than the Western sum of it. In fact, Botswana in Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the most prolific and unique folk cultures; their instruments of choice are mouth bows and handclaps, instead of mandolins and accordions.
As with many genres, the definition of folk has evolved with the times and not necessarily at the same pace across the continents. Folk started as a reflection of present modernity, for example, folk songs were used to protest slavery and as a socialist tool during pivotal eras of unionism.
Interestingly, one of the world’s most infamous rock n roll stars, Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones gave a poignant view on the importance of folk, which extends far beyond the folk genre. During an interview, he claimed that there is only one song, and Adam and Eve wrote it, the rest are just variations. The metaphorical statement may not immediately sit nicely with the impious. But what he was really getting at was that songs written today have the music of yesterday to thank as much as the creative mind penning them.
What is Folk Music?
There is no one size fits all mould for folk music across the continents – just compare the Nordic neofolk outfit Heilung to Bob Dylan or the hooky songs of Frank Turner to the melancholic Chinese ballads of Yu Boya. However, there are a few general rules of folk. Such as the use of instruments that are not used in your typical pop or rock band and the tendency for folk to be written and recorded on acoustic instruments.
To understand folk, it is best to stop primarily thinking about the sonic signifiers and contemplate folk music’s role in society. Inherently, *true* folk music is passed down from generation to generation as a form of storytelling. As time goes on, the verses in the songs change to reflect the cultural shifts.
The question of what is folk music? becomes even more confusing with the consideration of new sub-genres of folk, such as murder folk. Award-winning artists, such as Nick Cave and Amigo the Devil use darkly macabre imagery and tone, but they still carry traditional folk hallmarks. They tell a story through the narrative lyrics; the only difference is that in murder folk, the lyrical tales are fictional. Yet, the dark themes that often explore outlier sensibility and mental instability are still resonant to the fans who can relate.
The best folk music blogs recognise the importance of folk music as much as its international versatility. At A&R Factory, we have provided a platform to folk artists from all across the globe and we are always looking for the next big storyteller.
With the fall of print media, music blogs have stepped up to the plate to support independent artists on their journey from underground to the main stage. In 2021, the internet is the number one source of music news, and it isn’t just the big-name online magazines publishing content that allows independent music to thrive.
Even music blogs that seem small and niche can receive thousands of hits every day. For an independent artist, that can make all of the difference. To increase your chances of submission success, we have outlined some of the best tips on how to get your music featured on blogs.
How to get your music featured on blogs: 5 industry-approved tips
Create a high-impact press release
Press releases are a fine art, they should be concise but long enough to include all of the information bloggers and A&R reps need to get excited about your sound. Avoid telling your life story or being over-congratulatory; focus on your achievements and what makes you unique. When describing your music, stick to language that paints a picture of your sound.
Share exclusive content
Instead of submitting to music blogs after the release, give music blogs the chance to exclusively feature music and premiere music videos. This is by far one of the most effective strategies in getting independent music featured on blogs.
Do your research
No artist likes rejection, or even worse, radio silence after a pitch. To improve your chance of success with music blogs, find the blogs that are most likely to accept your submission. While some music blogs are happy to feature unestablished artists, others only review artists further along in their careers. For better success with big-name publications, find out which editor covers your genre or style. Artists should also pay close attention to the niche of the blog and the location.
Keep pitches professional
Music bloggers constantly get bombarded with review requests on social media; where possible, always contact bloggers via the appropriate channel. Submission guidelines with the correct contact information are usually listed on the music blog or the blog’s social media page. Injecting a little humour and personality here and there to pique interest is fine otherwise, keep communications with music bloggers professional – it will reflect the quality of your music.
Consider enlisting PR help
PR packages don’t have to cost the earth, and there are many companies out there with a long list of warm industry contacts that independent artists can take advantage of. Additionally, PR reps have spent years developing and maintaining relationships with these industry contacts – they have a far better success rate for blog submissions than indie artists.
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The A&R Factory inbox is always open for submission. Unlike other music blogs and A&R sites, we feature artists of all genres, and we are always happy to support bedroom pioneers making their debut and established professional artists alike. We are one of the best New Music Blogs UK, as voted by Feedspot and Vuelio
There are no short answers when it comes to the definition of indie music. While some use indie to describe where artists of all genres are at in the industry, it has also become synonymous with an edgy guitar-based pop sound over the years.
Today, indie is an extension of the music that the indie pioneers created when they started to break away from the big four record labels (EMI, Warner, Universal and Sony). To definitively understand the definition of indie music, we have to get to grips with how it came around and became a descriptor for a particular off-kilter sonic style
A Micro History of Indie
The indie uprising started in the 1970s – although the roots of independent music go back to the soul, blues and Motown independent labels in the 50s. In the 70s, distinctions arose between artists on major record labels and artists independent of them.
The new wave, post-punk and alternative music releases in the late 70s started to fall under the indie category while picking up traction amongst music fans eager to hear music that was far more visceral, real and experimental. This new aural hunger led to Tony Wilson creating a roster at Factory Records, Daniel Miller establishing Mute and Chris Parry following suit with his label, Fiction, in 1978.
The Manchester-based outfit, The Smiths, were a pivotal part of UK Indie history; once they were on the Rough Trade roster in the mid-80s, they created a cultural movement with their politically aware, socially conscious and poetically morose lyrics. The Smiths inspired countless acts keen to emanate the jangle-pop guitars and the hooky despite the melancholy energy. Just a few of the indie acts that are under the influence of the Smiths are Blur, Pulp, The XX, Frightened Rabbit and The Killers.
Indie started to manifest in the industry in plenty of other ways from the 80s onwards, from indie dance to indie folk to indie hip hop, swathes of artists started to adopt the DIY ethos after watching the success of indie pioneers, such as Joy Division and Depeche Mode. Although indie artists are experimental as a default, the genre amassed characteristics over the years, such as bands having a cultural identity, almost existentialist mentality and being heavier than pop but lighter than rock.
The indie acts springing up under Sub Pop in Seattle in the 80s were far noisier and more discordant than UK indie acts. The independent label, Sub Pop, signed Soundgarden,Mudhoney and Sonic Youth and gave way to the grunge era that defined the 90s in America.
Technically, when independent artists, such as REM and Nirvana, signed multi-million-dollar record deals with major labels, they should have lost their indie status. Instead, their indie status remained for the culture that all of the indie bands since the 70s collectively created.
Today, indie music isn’t *quite* as popular as it was when it peaked in the 90s, but there are still thriving independent grassroots music scenes all across the UK and across the globe. In 2021, independent artists can take advantage of countless indie music blogs, indie playlists, indie radio stations and indie magazines to grow their fanbases away from major labels.
Promoting music as an independent artist can be disheartening and confusing for new artists trying to find their place in the indie marketplace. This guide will help you navigate the best ways to make an impression and help you to avoid some of the common pitfalls artists stumble into when trying to reach streaming milestones, boost sales and increase fan engagement.
How to Promise Indie Music: 5 Helpful Industry-Recommended Tips
Build Your Brand Before Distributing Music
Image is everything when it comes to promoting independent music. It gives potential fans and useful industry contacts the chance to know who you are as an artist before hitting play on your music or working through a lengthy bio.
Your artist photos, cover art, press kits, website and social media feeds should all reinforce the image that you want to put out into the world. Always stay consistent. There’s nothing wrong with the DIY method when creating your artwork, artist photos and website, but it is worth remembering that if you want to appeal to professionals, you have to look…professional.
Create a PR Plan
Your list of industry contacts will be your best asset in promoting music as an independent artist. Weeks before the release, try to drum up momentum on your new release by giving exclusive access to radio stations; if you’ve got a music video, choose a blog or magazine to run the premiere. Playlists and getting your music distributed on all major streaming platforms should not be overlooked.
If paying for PR isn’t feasible for this release, you can contact the blogs, playlist curators, radio stations, magazines and promotors yourself. It might be harder to pique interest as an unestablished artist, but with the perfect pitch that proves why you’re a good fit and being discerning with who you contact, you have got a good chance of gaining some traction with your new release.
Get Involved in Your Local Scene
The internet may provide a wealth of opportunities for exposure but playing it local at the beginning of your career can help you build valuable connections. You will get the opportunities to share a fan base, get snapped by gig photographers, make an impression on other members of the industry that happen to be there; if you are lucky, there will be a live review in it for you. See who similar bands are getting booked and by and take the time to reach out to them, explaining why you think they’ll love your sound too.
Not only is playing live a great way to get exposure, but it can also provide a valuable income. Just be wary of scammy pay to play promotors that are more interested in lining their own pockets than helping grassroots artists thrive.
Stay Social
Social media is very much a necessary evil for independent artists; the music industry builds thriving communities with like-minded people, give the people on your level a chance to connect with you on your posts. Posts about tours and releases are essential but it is crucial to keep your fans engaged between big announcements.
Create regular posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok that remain consistent with your brand and show how much you appreciate your fans. If you only have a small online following, it may be a little frustrating to get low engagement at first, but your time spent will pay off in the long run.
Create a Viral-Worthy Music Video
With enough creativity at your disposal, it doesn’t matter if you have thousands to splash on an official music video or a £50 budget to work with. Videos and other visual media content are great for social media content; even if your track isn’t a hit on the radio, a viral-worthy video is your chance to blow up online. Good music videos do one of two things, they either explore a deeper meaning in the song that isn’t conveyed in the lyrics or find a quirky way to connect with the listener.
Build Credibility with Bloggers and Journalists
Even if your sound isn’t big in your hometown, the internet provides international opportunities to connect with niche communities. Your gateway to niche communities can come through getting featured on blogs and magazines that are always looking for the next big thing in their specified genre. Always respect a blog or magazine’s genre preferences; you’re not going to win anyone over by ignoring their submission preferences.
Submit Indie Music to A&R Factory
A&R Factory has become one of the top 10 UK artist repertoire services for independent artists looking for exposure. Since our 2012 inception, we have featured thousands of independent artists on our platform. Submit indie music to our blog, or get in contact with a member of our PR team to hear how we can do more to help you reach your goals and milestones.
What defines hip hop music and what hip hop music has come to represent in culture are two very different phenomena. Hip hop can be instantly recognisable by the canter of rapid-fire vocals and familiar patterns of the 808s. However, hip hop transcends sonic style to embrace an artistic edge that is solely synonymous with the genre.
Since hip hop music was born in the Bronx in the 70s, it has become a way to celebrate, confront and narrate the highs and lows of existence.
Hip hop became a way of seeing the world that resonated in minds across the globe. The popularity of hip hop had plenty to do with how it exposed wealth equality and disparity in 1970s America and offered compassion to everyone that found themselves on the wrong side of the rich-poor divide. Perhaps most importantly, hip hop offered an alternative to apathy for marginalised groups in society, resistance.
The genre has a rich past, but the future looks even brighter. Hip hop surpassed rock as the most popular genre in 2017 for the first time. For many, the genre became a lifeline during 2020, with the ten most-viewed artists on YouTube in 2020 all being hip hop artists. Hip Hop and RnB artists accounted for over a third of all streams in the US last year, and the popularity trend is showing no signs of slowing down.
Lil Baby, Juice WRLD, Drake, Eminem and Kevin Gates are just a handful of the artists taking up their well-deserved space on the Billboard music charts in 2021. It is safe to say that the cultural influence that established in the 70s is just as essential now than it was back then. If you need any further convincing, look at the change-invoking art that transpired as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Hip hop became the soundtrack to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 as the artists paid ode to a tradition much earlier than the invention of hip hop music itself. Fighting oppression was a major theme in the James Brown era of blues music, taking the Isley Brothers and their single, Fight the Power, as a perfect example, but no one fought the power with the same fire as the early hip hop pioneers such as Tupac, Run DMC, De La Soul & Rakim.
A Short History of Hip Hop Music
DJ Kool Herc made history happen in August 1973 when he filled a dancefloor by isolating and extending percussion breaks while spinning the same dance record on twin turntables. The other big-name DJs in the Bronx were paying close attention and found inspiration in Herc’s experimental ethos that was later defined by two principles:
Utilising talent and available resources to create something new.
Emulating others but finding your own voice and groove.
The founding principles of hip hop music go a long way in explaining how the genre evolved so rapidly through the past few decades; it spoke to a growing movement of urban philosophers, poets and visual artists who all wanted to make their impact. Simply put, hip hop became a platform like no other.
The middle-classes did their best to ignore the hip hop revolution, but the pioneers persevered and kept pushing their messages that threatened to shake them out of complacency. Hip hop music attacked everything from urban poverty to racism to economic abandonment. The gangster rap group, N.W.A. shook the world with their iconic track, Fuck Tha Police, in 1988 before the Sugar Hill Gang proved that there was plenty more to hip hop than just aggressive narratives.
Over the years, many things became synonymous with hip hop, from the spoken-word style to the self-awareness of the artists keen to share their social and moral principles with the world. Today, hip hop encompasses a multitude of sub-genres, including, but not limited to, drill, grime, cloud rap, trap, jazz hip hop, boom bap, lo-fi hip hop, hardcore hip hop, mumble rap, nerdcore, breakbeat, ghetto house and emo rap. With artists such as Yungblud, Kae Tempest and Niki Minaj on the airwaves, we probably don’t need to point out that hip hop culture is more diverse than ever.
Submit Hip Hop Music
A&R Factory has been championing hip hop artists since 2012. Since then, we have become lauded and recognised as one of the best hip hop blogs to submit music to for artists looking to expand their reach to an international audience.
We especially want to hear from artists covering experimental ground with their sound, artists paying ode to the old school with their own lyrical flair and those looking to shift perceptions with their introspection. Submit hip hop music to our award-winning blog here.
2020 was a challenging year across almost every industry, and few took a bigger hit than the entertainment sector.
With venues around the world shutting their doors and cancelled gigs piling up, many young artists had to postpone their debut.
At the very least, they had to find an alternative way to get their music out and build a fanbase without relying on live performances.
Fortunately for these artists, TikTok came to their rescue, allowing them to grow their career from the comfort and safety of their own home.
So, what’s the deal with TikTok?
TikTok is a popular video-based social platform developed by Chinese tech giant ByteDance in 2018.
The platform started life as two different apps: Musical.ly, which launched in Shanghai in 2014, and Douyin, which was founded by ByteDance in 2016. ByteDance wanted to expand Douyin internationally, and did so under a new name in September 2017: TikTok. They then acquired Musical.ly and folded it into TikTok shortly afterwards in August 2018.
In a nutshell, TikTok allows its users to share videos of up to 60 seconds. These rapid-fire short videos of lip-syncs to popular music and viral challenges delivered via a never-ending feed make for an addictive viewing experience. According to data released by ByteDance, their U.S users open the app eight times a day, with an individual session lasting for about 4.9 minutes, which is reportedly the highest individual session time across all social media platforms.
Since TikTok’s launch in 2018, the app has racked up billions (yes, with a ‘b’) of downloads globally. The highest peak was observed during Q1 2020, which saw global audiences quarantined at home amid COVID-19. Already claiming the coveted status of “most downloaded app” for both 2018 and 2019, in April 2020, TikTok officially reached a staggering 2 billion downloads.
How musicians are using TikTok to grow (and resurrect) their careers
Although TikTok took Gen Z by storm almost instantly, older users needed a little more time to get hooked. But as soon as they did get involved, their demographic has started indulging and creating TikTok content in a big way.
Despite its rapid growth in popularity, TikTok remains a relatively new medium. As the app continues to attract new users, it creates a unique opportunity for young talent to embrace its potential.
To reach mass-awareness on TikTok, users across the world are tapping into trending memes and challenges featuring a mix of chart-topping songs, niche artists and even long-lost hits from decades past.
Matthew Wilder, the artist behind 1984 single ‘Break My Stride’, is enjoying a huge surge in popularity by going viral on TikTok, helping him to climb the charts again almost four decades later:
At time of writing, TikTok users have featured Wilder’s song on their videos over 526K times as a part of the ongoing trend.
What kind of trend could lead to such impressive streaming performance? It involves texting someone the lyrics to ‘Break My Stride’, one line at a time until they figure out what you’re doing; then you film yourself dancing in front of the text chain – and the results are astonishing. The track has recently popped up on Spotify’s Viral 50 and Apple Music’s Top 100 charts around the world, giving it a whole new lease of life.
And what about new artists?
The most famous example of a “TikTok-made” musician is Montero “Lil Nas X” Hill.
Instead of competing with other up-and-coming rappers on more popular streaming services such as SoundCloud or Spotify, this 21-years-old American rapper decided to leverage the potential of a new social media platform. His efforts to promote “Old Town Road” using TikTok proved successful, and the song eventually got picked up as a trending meme, securing millions of streams as a result.
In his interview with Time, Hill commented: “I should maybe be paying TikTok. They really boosted the song. It was getting to the point that it was almost stagnant. When TikTok hit it, almost every day since that, the streams have been up. I credit them a lot.”
TikTok creates opportunities – but can it sustain an artist’s career?
Despite many mainstream bands already taking advantage of the new social video platform, TikTok isn’t reserved only for well-established artists. On the contrary, the platform is known for causing the breakthrough success of many emerging musicians such as Powfu, SAINt JHN, BENEE or Salem Ilese.
Several previously unknown musicians made their name thanks to being a part of the popular trends, memes and challenges thatTikTok thrives on. However, with music always being at the core of TikTok’s value proposition, the discovery of niche artists quickly becomes a massive part of the app’s identity.
Search trends clearly show what we think of as “TikTok songs” are growing in popularity across the world. The app has been incredibly successful so far in generating online streams to springboard lesser-known artists into the charts, as well as driving their explosive social media following.
A UK-based video production studio, Nibble Video, has recently released TikTok earnings data that investigates how much money TikTok artists could make in online royalties as a result of going viral on the platform.
According to Nibble’s report, a Canadian artist, Isaiah Faber – also known as Powfu – could be making as much as £2.3M in royalties from Spotify and YouTube with his single ‘Death Bed’ alone.
“Death Bed (Coffee for Your Head)” samples the 2017 song “Coffee” by UK. indie-pop artist Beabadoobee and tells the story of a man confessing his love while on his deathbed. Since the tune was uploaded to Powfu’s YouTube channel back in April, it has already accumulated over 247M views,as well as being featured in over 5.8M videos on TikTok.
But apart from online royalties, Faber has also benefited from an ever-increasing following across his social media channels. According to data collected by Soundcharts, his fan base on popular social media platforms such as Instagram saw a significant uplift as soon as ‘Death Bed’ took off virally.
Source: Soundcharts
Since Powfu is already making a significant profit from online streaming thanks to a single song, it stands to reason that he could benefit greatly from his Instagram presence in the long-term.
With almost 382K followers on Instagram, Powfu could be charging as much as £1.6K for a single post if he’d choose to become a paid influencer. [source: Inkifi]
TikTok’s impact on the music industry
Although there are many examples of artists who have had their music career skyrocket because of TikTok, the social media platform still sparks controversy.
Even with Donald Trump publicly criticising TikTok and demanding a blanket country-wide ban in the US due to privacy concerns, the company behind TikTok is still one of the world’s most profitable start-ups, its value circulating around $50B.
But as the profit of the start-up grows, one question is still being asked – do musicians make enough off their TikTok success?
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has recently launched an inquiry into the economics of music streaming, urging the UK government to look into the business models operated by popular streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. The inquiry aims to evaluate streaming platforms’ economic impact on the music industry for artists, record labels and record shops.
A recent poll by YouGov (on behalf of the #BrokenRecord campaign) found that 77% thought artists are not being paid enough, while 76% felt songwriters were also underpaid. In contrast, the research showed that Universal Music Group recorded whopping revenues of $1.14bn in the last quarter despite the global pandemic and economic downturn.
During the first inquiry hearing last week, equitable remuneration, increased transparency and user-centric streaming models were put forward as ways in which the industry could be reformed and made fairer for artists. At the hearing, Guy Garvey, lead singer of the rock band Elbow, declared that the “system, as it is, is threatening the future of music”.
Back in July, TikTok sealed a deal with the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA). This trade association has previously accused TikTok of failing to pay adequate royalties to music rights-holders and has even reportedly threatened legal action.
The multi-year agreement that has been developed in partnership between TikTok and NMPA was apparently designed to “enrich users’ experience and the creators of the music made available by the platform by helping them to get their music seen on a canvas with unlimited avenues for expression”, as noted by the official press release issued by NMPA.
And while TikTok is reportedly getting better at paying royalties for mainstream artists and their distributors, it leaves new and unsigned artists behind in terms of equal compensation.
Yes, it offers excellent publicity and free promotion in front of a multi-million-strong global audience, which can be quite lucrative, especially if you’re lucky enough to get involved in a major trend. But for those who don’t, TikTok does has an alternative.
Back in August, the company announced its first music distribution partnership with indie music distributor United Masters. According to TechCrunch, the deal will allow artists on TikTok to tap into the platform’s ability to make their music go viral, and then distribute their songs directly to other music streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Does this mark the beginning of a whole new future of music discovery? We firmly believe so.
We are in the digital era and you have little to do about it other than conforming to the trend. If you are to succeed in your career or the music business, it is important to learn aspects of digitization and integrate it in your music. The entertainment industry has billions of enthusiasts with incredible talents in diverse music genres. To be noticed in the industry, you have to employ different tools to be up of the competition.
While there are uncountable artists in the industry, the high demand is yet to be satisfied. Music is like technology, highly dynamic. You have to integrate technology in your marketing. How would people know you exist?
Today, the internet offers a common platform for all nature of customers. Irrespective of your target audience, they are in large numbers online more than anywhere else. Irrespective of whether you are recording music as a passion or career, you need to be heard. Music is a way of communication; it is poetry, it wouldn’t make much sense if you record and listen it to yourself. You need to reach out to an audience and communicate with the rest of people.
We all dread marketing and assume it is unnecessarily difficult, but the truth is it is everything you need to succeed in business; assuming you are doing music as a career hence need to make a living. Whether you want to inspire, entertain or lead people to a supernatural being with your music, you need to promote your music. There is no better way of doing this in the 21st century like submitting to music blogs.
Music blogs
Some people opt to develop personal websites and blogs specifically for this purpose, sharing music. While it is a step and effort in marketing your music, it is not as effective. It can take a long time for you to gain traffic to a personal blog, months and probably years; also, you need to build reputation and trust for people to click and view your blog. The internet is full of malicious intentions hence extra care by users when accessing any sites. Patience is not the issue here, you can wait and build your blog gradually but the wait is not good for business. By the time you gather enough followers and traffic on your blog, your music style or presentation may be obsolete. You need to keep up with technology and trends.
Therefore, the best way to get your music out there for whichever purpose is submitting to professional music blogs. Various blogs offer you a platform to reach out to billions of music enthusiasts in your specific genre.
Some use music as an escape route, some to celebrate and some to calm their minds. The varying preferences are taken care of with different genres; don’t worry about the audience, identify a genre you like and put in your best. The blogs will work out the other promotion dynamics after your submission.
How to submit music to blogs
Submitting to music blogs is a trend in the entertainment industry that you should implement before it is too late. Remember business is about picking up an opportunity at the right time, time, it’s crucial.
Obviously, what you submit must be above standards. Quality is not compromised. Also, it has to be relevant and unique. You have to capture the music blogger’s eye first before you think of the wide audience accessing the blog.
Here are a few tips on how to capture a blogger’s eye
Type of music blog
Music is wide and so are music blogs. If your music is to feature on any of the blogs, it has to be relevant as per content and focus of the blog. Research extensively on nature of blogs and the kind of music tracks posted. It is simple but crucial.
Research on blog type and content will save you time and unnecessary stress. Instead of sending hundreds of emails with no feedback, which is not only frustrating to you but also annoying to the recipients, research and pitch where it is appropriate.
Follow guidelines
Every music blog has specific music submission guidelines. Be sure to follow each instruction to the core to increase your chances of being picked. There are probably thousands of similar submissions on the blog, any mistakes may not be considered. Be thorough and accurate in your submission.
Contact details
Just like other blogs, most music blogs have a submission form for complaints and comments. If you are to be featured on the blog, you have to do better than sending your application through such a submission form. Take time to research on people running the blog, find the editor or someone in charge of music reviews and contact them directly if such guidelines allow.
Be professional
Check on your spelling and grammar. Most of music bloggers are professional writers and would easily pick up a grammar error as a negative. While this may not be in criteria of their selection, it might count. Be on the safe side. Don’t spam, be humble, build relationships and go get them!
