Apple Music has become the latest tech giant to surprise users worldwide by listening to the people responsible for the content their platform is built to promote. Following in the steps of Spotify, who recently unveiled a playlist submission feature, Apple Music artists can now upload and change the bio and profile photos associated with the artist page for Apple Music and iTunes.
The service, which is still in beta, is a much-needed addition. Artists who sign up for Apple Music for Artists are usually approved in a matter of days. New photos can be submitted under the Manage tab on the dashboard, and they must be at least 2400 x 2400.
The addition of this tool, which has been offered by Spotify for over year, should help Apple Music in their efforts to become the world’s leading streaming platform.
Here’s how it works:
1 Open Apple Music for artists and select the Manage option.
2. In the section labeled Artist Image, you can upload a new image. It MUST to be 2400 x 2400 and a .jpg or .png file.
3. Once the image is uploaded, you can adjust the crop and how it will appear on the service. When finished, select Submit.
4. Your image won’t appear changed because there is a manual approval process for new changes in place, but changes typically only take a few days to process. Once you see Submitted for Review, you know the process is underway.
Despite what the proliferation of streaming services may have lead you to believe, exclusivity in the music business is alive and well in 2016. Regardless of whether you’re discussing sales, streams, video content, or even written editorials, the demand from companies and blogs alike to lay claim to something no one else can offer has never been higher than it is right now. Even artists are in on the game, with Kanye West proclaiming Tidal as the only place he will ever allow The Life Of Pablo to be made available to the public online, or with Drake having his “Hotline Bling” video financed and premiered by Apple. The idea behind these moves is that it draws everyone’s attention to one place where the conversation is controlled by the party, or parties, responsible for the content being shared. It’s a concept known to many as windowing, and in theory it’s a real game-changer, but in reality it’s a process that ultimately devalues whatever content such activity is intended to promote.
“Windowing” is a term often thought of in relation to film, but in recent years it has become increasingly popular in conversations based around the music industry. The word refers to the idea of releasing a new piece of media in a select number of locations or to a select user set at first before later making the same content available in more places and to more people as it begins to age. In digital music, a windowed release would be one that is only available on Spotify or a similar streaming platform at first. Then, after several weeks or months has passed, the album is made available on Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube, and/or any other streaming platform you can think to name.
Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton recently suggested that in future, we will see music releases being windowed like movies, with new music being made available exclusively on paid subscription services first, and only on free services later. Companies want to offer something their competition cannot, and as that trend continues the amount of money services will be willing to pay for exclusive access will rise. This mean labels and artists alike will be able to cash in on new material with a big payday up front as opposed to pursuing a traditional release and the uncertainty that comes with it. Windowing guarantees some return on investment, at least up front, even if the material isn’t all that great. After all, companies are paying for content, not quality.
The problem with windowing, especially in music, is that it assume consumers will change their behavior based on a corporate sponsorship that does not benefit them in any way whatsoever. Consumers have grown accustomed to having everything ever released available on demand, often for free, pretty much whenever they wish to access it. They have likely already chosen a streaming platform, or have at least used several free trials, and they have established a routine when it comes to new music consumption that they rarely deviate from. If they buy vinyl, a streaming exclusive won’t get them to use Tidal. If they pay for Spotify, a physical release of something might not find its way into their collection. This isn’t to say music fans are stuck in their ways, but they do tend to know how they prefer to engage with music and they rarely change their behavior without somehow finding it absolutely necessary to do so. Promises of better quality might work, which I suppose is the hope of hi-fi services such as Tidal, but the only people who care about such things are those who feel what they already have is not good enough.
Take Kanye’s latest, The Life Of Pablo, for example. The record, which was released exclusively on Tidal, reportedly helped the fledgling streaming platform more than double its total number of subscribers (from 1.5 million to 3 million), but it also lead to a boom in online piracy that quickly outpaced Tidal’s growth. Within 72-hours of the album first appearing online several torrent trackers reported the record to have already been illegally downloaded more than 500,000 times, and by the end of the album’s first week of release that number had already doubled. Kanye may see some return on those downloads in the form of praise from fans received over Twitter or another social network, but the real winners in this scenario are the pirate sites promoting the album’s illegal availability. Their pages have ads, often many, and they gain a few pennies for every click they receive. Times those pennies by a million or more and you begin to see real money, which will never reach Kanye or anyone he may be indebted to as a result of creating TLOP.
The short term gains of windowing releases in music is only a good thing when one does not consider the potential lost income and engagement that will arise from consumers forging their own path to your content. Instead of limiting access to material, artists big and small should be doing everything in their power to make their music available everywhere under the sun. Make it harder for people to find illegal links to your music by supplying them with endless legal options instead. Don’t limit yourself or your fans to just one service when you can use them all and have your content available anywhere on the planet at a moment’s notice. You might not receive a big check overnight, or even have the immediate press blitz you desire, but in the long run you will develop a more dedicated and engaged audience that is willing to put their money where their tweets are and financially support your efforts. That should be the ultimate goal for any artist, and it’s only possible by allowing your fans to be themselves and make their own decisions.
The jury may still be out on the debate of whether or not streaming makes a direct impact on someone’s decision to buy an album, but regardless the age of streaming appears to be here to stay. There are new streaming services popping up every few weeks, and at the same time the current competitors are scrambling for exclusives and other offerings to help them stand out from the pack. You may not believe in using these services yourself, but its clear from the data made public that a good portion of consumers feel they are the new normal, and in business public opinion carries a lot of weight.
App Annie, a company that specializes analytics services and market intelligence as it relates to the world of apps, has released a new report on the popularity of streaming services around the globe. The 31-page document, which is available for free download to anyone interested, aims to help identify music streaming opportunities in active users, downloads and revenue.
A few takeaways from the report include:
The top streaming apps worldwide saw data consumption per active Android phone user grow by 25% year-on-year while downloads increased by around 15% and revenue from in-app purchases doubled.
New opportunities are growing and being served by players in Asian markets where local content puts regional players ahead of global giants.
Traditional FM radio networks are finding some traction with apps, potentially providing a model that networks in other markets can replicate.
Mixtape streaming apps are on the rise, highlighting the value users place in new music discovery.
The report also outlines the top performing streaming services around the globe as of October 2015, both for iPhone users and those who prefer Android devices.
The success of Spotify probably won’t come as a surprise to most, but there are numerous competitors on both charts that have received little to no press stateside. Still, by sheer luck or some kind of marketing genius completely oblivious to us, there are new users signing up to take advantage of those lesser known services every single day. Could TuneIn Radio be the next big thing in music streaming? It sure seems like it.
The one thing missing from these charts, or at least the iPhone chart, is Apple Music. The streaming service, which launched at the end of June, had only just ended its initial round of free user trials when the data for these charts was pulled. If we could see the November data I am confident Apple Music would be a top 5 competitor, but right now it’s unclear how their userbase stacks up to the competition.
Tonight, September 30, marks the end of the free trial period for the first wave of Apple Music users. Those who signed up the first day the streaming service became available will have to decide in the coming hours if they want to keep their subscription or cancel, and those who signed up in the days after launch may want to start considering their options as well. An Apple Music subscriptions costs $9.99 per month, or $14.99 per month for a family subscription for up to six people (which requires iCloud Family Sharing). This is comparable to the cost of Spotify ($10 per month, $4.99 for students), as well as Rdio ($10 per month, which includes an offline listening mode), but doesn’t necessarily make Apple Music the better choice. That decision will likely be based largely on user preference, so we won’t waste any time trying to sway you one way or another.
If you weigh your renewal options and decide Apple Music is not for you, follow these simple steps to ensure you subscription ends when your free trial expires:
1) Open Apple Music
2) Tap the Account icon in the upper left corner of the app
3) Tap on View Apple ID
4) Select Manage under Subscriptions
5) Turn the slider next to Automatic Renewal to Off.
6. Confirm your cancellation
7. Once confirmed, your account will stay active until your current trial/month comes to an end.
Let us just say, Anthony Fantano is one of our favorite music critics today. He’s a smart guy with a unique way of seeing and hearing the world around him. This commentary is spot on. Dig in.
Whether you’re an artists working in pop, country, rock, rap, hip-hop, black metal, doom, grindcore, folk instrumentalism, post-modern opera, or some obscure combination of everything in between, everyone in music owes Taylor Swift a bit of thanks for speaking up against Apple’s new royalty plan for the launch of Apple Music over the weekend. Her open letter, which called the plan to not pay artists during the company’s three-month trial launch ‘disappointing,’ went viral just jours before senior vice president of internet services and software Eddy Cue tweeted that Apple would, in fact, pay artists during the 90-day period.
In an interview with Billboard, Cue elaborated that it was Swift’s letter that turned him around on the issue. “When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change. And so that’s why we decide we will now pay artists during the trial period.”
Everyone expected the tech giant to respond to Swift’s letter, but the seemingly immediate change of policy came as a surprise to many, including Swift herself. “I am elated and relieved,” she tweeted after the new broke. “Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us.”
Some in the music community, while happy about the news, were concerned that it took an artist as big as Swift to complain before action was taken. As you may recall, we ran a story early last week that shared the concerns from numerous people in the indie music community. Those same concerns were shared on countless blogs and news outlets, but it seems Apple didn’t think to respond until Taylor Swift made it a point to get involved. To his credit, Cue told Billboard he had heard “concern from a lot of artists” before hearing from Swift. You can draw your own conclusions as to whether or not that had the same impact.
Apple will be eating the cost of the royalty payout, as the company intends to not charge any consumer for using the service during its first 90-days of existence. That will no doubt be a big bill to pay, but considering the company is expected to be valued at $1 trillion by 2016 it seems like a tab they will be able to cover.
Apple Music is set to launch on June 30, and we are planning to run an editorial with our initial impressions not long after. For now, spread the word of the new royalty plan so artists make a it a point to claim their Apple Music Connect profile as soon as possible.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
Music industry queen Taylor Swift shared a letter to Apple with fans via Tumblr over the weekend. We loved her insight and couldn’t resist sharing here thoughts here. Enjoy.
I write this to explain why I’ll be holding back my album, 1989, from the new streaming service, Apple Music. I feel this deserves an explanation because Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans. I respect the company and the truly ingenious minds that have created a legacy based on innovation and pushing the right boundaries.
I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.
This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs.
These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.
I realize that Apple is working towards a goal of paid streaming. I think that is beautiful progress. We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out.
Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done. I hope that soon I can join them in the progression towards a streaming model that seems fair to those who create this music. I think this could be the platform that gets it right.
But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.
Everyone knows Apple is a little late to the streaming business, but if the latest rumors regarding Apple Music are true it seems the biggest tech company in the world is about to become the industry’s biggest bully.
According to severalreports from independent records labels, publishing houses, and artists alike, Apple is allegedly threatening to remove music from iTunes if artists do not agree to the new royalty policy being instated for the launch of the company’s new streaming platform (set to debut on June 30). The company is planning a three-month ‘free trial period’ to celebrate the launch, and according to reports it is asking all artists with music currently on iTunes (aka essentially everyone) to agree to all the company to stream their music royalty-free during that time. In other words, Apple wants to stream your music, or the music of your favorite artist, without paying them a dime to do so. If artists refuse, then the company will allegedly remove that performer’s content from iTunes, thus preventing that artist from earning any additional revenue through Apple-owned services.
There are hundreds of other platforms for artists to sell and stream their music through, but to think what essentially amounts to a ban from iTunes would not impact the livelihood of any artists is foolish. iTunes still accounts for the vast majority of online music sales, and we have heard from several of our own clients and friends within music who have expressed concern over how this new policy may impact their business. Labels big and small rely on digital sales to pay artists, support a staff, and generally keep the lights on. Online sales have dropped in recent years, but they’re still far above the performance of any physical product. If iTunes were to revoke access to their store, the impact could cripple an entity’s ability to maintain the quality of work their consumers expect, or even shutter the operation completely.
Fortunately for the silent, there are some who are not willing to bend to Apple’s will, as Beggars Group, the record company umbrella that owns 4AD, Matador, XL, Rough Trade, and Young Turks, among others, explained in an open letter posted to their site earlier this week:
To Beggars Group Labels Artists and Managers:
We thought it was time to update you on the situation with Apple Music, following speculation in the press, some of it ill-informed. Apple have been a wonderful partner for the last decade, and we confidently trust they will continue to be so. We have recently been in discussions with Apple Music about proposed terms for their new service. In many ways the deal structure is very progressive, but unfortunately it was created without reference to us, or as far as we know any independents, and as such unsurprisingly presents problems for us, and for our coming artist releases. We are naturally very concerned, especially for artists releasing new albums in the next three months, that all streaming on the new service will be unremunerated until the end of September. Whilst we understand the logic of their proposal and their aim to introduce a subscription-only service, we struggle to see why rights owners and artists should bear this aspect of Apple’s customer acquisition costs.
And given the natural response of competing digital services to offer comparable terms, we fear that the free trial aspect, far from moving the industry away from freemium services – a model we support – is only resulting in taking the “mium” out of freemium.
We are also naturally concerned, as ever, as to whether we and you are being treated on a level playing field vis a vis the major labels and their artists. Additionally, we have reservations about both commercial and practical aspects of the Artist Connect area. It is a mistake to treat these rights as royalty free, especially in the light of recent licenses with services like Soundcloud.
At the moment we do not have an agreement with Apple Music that would allow us to participate in the new service. However, we very much hope that the obstacles to agreement can be removed, for us and for independent Merlin-member labels as a whole, and that we will be able to fully support this potentially exciting new service in the coming days.
We at Haulix are concerned as well. We may not sell music on iTunes, but we rely on the continued growth and success of our clients in order to continue thriving ourselves. If iTunes makes it more difficult for the people we serve to thrive, they make it difficult for us to do so as well.
Furthermore, our employees don’t exist in a tech-focused vacuum. We have each worked in publicity, or run a label, or even been in bands who had to work day and night for every inch of momentum they gained. We like to think we can relate to the struggles of many of our brothers and sisters in music, and the potential ripple effect from a stiff arm like this is understandably terrifying for many.
We will, like all of you should, be monitoring this situation closely in the coming days and weeks. Apple has set a June 30 launch for Apple Music, but that doesn’t mean the repercussions for not joining the service will take effect at that time. The company has also not yet commented on the many concerns the indie community is expressing, but Billboard has a story this week that predicts the company will send out a mass opt-in email to indies within the coming days. There are even rumors the payout will be above the industry standard 70/30, reaching as high as 71.5% to performers, in hopes of selling more people on the three-month royalty free period.
You can follow our official Twitter for more new and updates on this, as well as other major industry headlines.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
With the announcement of Apple Music, its streaming service and Beats1 live online radio, came Connect. This direct to fan social music platform should help artists connect with fans as they listen to music. Chandler Coyle of The Coyle Report and Music Geek Services figured out the easiest way for artists to claim their profile, and we’ve created this post to share his knowledge with all of you. Don’t sleep on this information. Claim your account as soon as possible.
On June 30, 2015 Apple will launch their new music service called Apple Music. Included in this new service is an artist to fan social platform called Connect. Apple describes it this way:
Apple Music Connect
Apple Music is for you, the artist, to connect directly with your fans. Share your thoughts and ideas, post demos, remixes, lyrics—really, anything you can imagine—and connect with fans all around the world.
You will want to claim your Connect profile as soon as possible.
I’d like to highlight a few important questions and their answers:
What can I post?
You can post a simple message, share your favorite music from our expansive catalog, and upload your own work, including audio, videos, and photos. All users, whether they are members or not, can read your posts and stream content you upload. However, only members will be able to stream the songs, albums, and music videos you share from the Apple Music catalog.
You can also attach audio or videos that you upload to your existing albums in Apple Music and comment on other artists’ posts or respond to comments on your own posts.
Please note that you must own all rights for any content that you upload to Apple Music Connect (otherwise your access to Connect may be revoked).
Are there guidelines for the content I upload?
Apple Music offers you the opportunity to post content that’s unique and personal. Upload audio (up to 90 minutes), videos (up to 8 minutes), or photos (in JPEG or PNG file formats) in the app with a simple tap.
Audio and videos can be professionally produced or spontaneously recorded on an iPhone or iPad and posted immediately. All the audio, videos, and photos that you upload will be available to members and nonmembers alike.
Step 4 – Claim your profile and become a verified Apple Music Connect artist:
How can I get access to Apple Music Connect?
To become a verified artist, simply request access here.
Apple released two new advertisements for Apple Music earlier today, and we’ve chosen to highlight the better of the two for you above. The clip, which is titled ‘Worldwide,’ showcases the numerous ways people enjoy and celebrate music around the globe. There is no mention of the new platform, or the need to pay for complete access, but there is a message of how music brings us all together that is downright beautiful. Some might even call it moving.
The second ad, which showcases the history of people enjoying music and the various products used to do so, can be viewed using this link. It’s nothing all that special, but the editing and cinematography are just as good as the clip above.
