05-06 Tools Amazon Music for Artists 07-08 Campaigns LA Priest, Novelist, Erykah Badu, Trojan Records/Young, Gifted & Black 09–14 Behind The Campaign- Above & Beyond APRIL 29 2020 sandbox ISSUE 251 | Music marketing for the digital era THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME Streaming and music’s new formats COVERFEATURE formats and physical objects – is actually increasing. At the start of the millennium, THE SHAPE OF formats were largely limited to singles, EPs, artist albums, compilation albums and boxsets. This was a five-way divide that felt manageable, with just the odd mixtape and THINGS TO COME DJ mix CD to jam a spoke in the wheels. Then came the digital music era with Streaming and music’s new formats the single-track release, the playlist, the enhanced playlist and the digital boxset. Justin adjustin’: the Bieber EP experiment treaming was meant to be the music Now Justin Bieber, of all people, The album isn’t completely dead and the playlist isn’t industry’s final format, a musical has emerged to throw another yet the be-all and end-all – which means that artists are Spick ‘n’ mix that would put an end to curveball into the equation in somewhat creatively discombobulated in what is really a the arbitrary stylistic restrictions imposed the form of his new compilation curious transition period. But with that comes the scope to on music releases by the length of a side series. “Gonna be putting up experiment and push the boundaries. Justin Bieber could be of vinyl or the storage capacity of a CD. some compilations for you guys. the one firing the starting pistol for the way that a series of EPs Yet, strangely, this hasn’t been the case: Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he many young artists still clamour to release wrote on 24th March 2020, straddle the album and playlist worlds, containing elements albums, while the difference between the including a link to a five-track of both and yet existing in their own right. We look at how to mixtape and the album remains hugely collection titled R&Bieber . Nothing meet fan expectations with not only what you put out but also important in hip-hop. so strange about that, you might think. how you put it out, where to refine the frequency of releases In fact, in the digital world the number Except for the fact that R&Bieber – and why playlists may actually allow the album to be reborn. of formats – or perhaps that should be ostensibly a new release – was made up “formats”, given the historical link between of five tracks that had already appeared 1 | sandbox ISSUE 251 29.04.2020 COVERFEATURE for the album format, with tours and new albums going hand in hand. Asked how much live agents and promoters rely on the album as a hook for tours, Blanket says this is “artist dependent”. “But very much so with some of our more established artists, whose agents would very much expect a tour to be around a new album release,” he explains. Formats, fans and… fury? on Bieber’s new album, Changes, which says. “Whilst we’re living in a much more Whether consumers care so much about had been released just one month before. track-driven world, the majority of our formats is a tricky question. Certainly, the Subsequent EPs followed suit, essentially artists are still thinking in album terms. uproar among some Bieber fans when packaging up tracks from Changes into Even when we work on individual tracks or they found out that the “new” EPs would new configurations. EPs, they tend to still be part of a longer- contain previously released material The interest that Bieber’s plans elicited term album campaign.” Mute’s job, he suggested they do. One “@xoxoJahkeem” was a clear indicator of the continuing explains, is to then work out how to fit the tweeted “You put out a whole ass album debate around musical formats in the artist’s desires into the campaign. and you’re making EPs with literally the exact digital age. same songs that were on the same album for “Formats remain quite important for Legacy formats and legacy problems some boost on your album sales? No ma’am, music; I think they all allow the artist to The music industry, even now, is still built that is NOT it okay? [sic]” Arguably, though, convey things differently and also have a around the album: record label contracts this is more of a problem of communication lead up of different marketing plans,” says tend to be based on a specific number of than one of formats itself, with several Jeremy Erlich, co-head of music for Spotify. albums, while marketing cycles are largely fans pointing out that US girl group Fifth “I think a lot of what is happening in the constructed around the album release cycle Harmony successfully released five EPs in streaming world today has been inspired “On the label side, there are more six weeks in 2013 to help promote their by what hip-hop has done for a long time contractual things about what is an LP Better Together EP. with the mixtapes, with the way of having or an EP or a single; what constitutes an Erlich says that some fans will always half (54%) are listening to fewer albums artists be able to release a body of work album,” says Erlich, who previously worked prefer top 40 hits and playlists, while than they did five or 10 years ago. “This which isn’t necessarily their fully polished, for Interscope Records. “When artists others enjoy “having an actual body of is reflected in our streaming data, which fully marketed, fully prepared album or ask me what they should do, whether work they can dive into, then they can shows the UK’s album listening time is debut album or second album, which is a they should release a single or EP or LP, find the songs that aren’t the singles.” “I now lower than the 26 minutes daily milestone event.” generally I try not to answer the question. always look at the statistics of when an average worldwide – at just 17 minutes Neil Blanket, head of marketing for It gets me in trouble. But what I always album comes out and who is streaming a day,” he adds. “Instead, fans worldwide Mute, says that for artists, especially, tell them is: ‘It’s a lot easier to market the what,” he adds. “Even the deeper cuts on prefer hearing a mix of tracks from formats still count, with a reverence album as a body of work than it is just a the [hit] album have millions and millions of different artists.” towards the album format deeply ingrained single. You can market a single, but then streams. It allows users to go in and spend The reasons for the decline of the in musical lore. “We’re very much an artist- it’s just a track.’ The key to anyone being more time with the artist.” album, he explains, are that consumers first company, so it [format] really depends extremely successful is evolving from Nigel Harding, VP of artist marketing feel they have “too much music to choose on how our artists want to present their having a great track to having a great body at Deezer, has a slightly different view. from and a busy schedule”, a classic projects to the world. In the majority, that of work.” His company recently conducted a global example of the paralysing choice overload is still the traditional album long player,” he The live business has a similar respect study of 8,000 people which found over that marketers are often warned about. 2 | sandbox ISSUE 251 29.04.2020 COVERFEATURE It’s tempting to wonder whether the at the time of writing; Ed Sheeran pioneered increased length of albums has something the double-single release, when he dropped to do with this: with the lingering death ‘Castle On The Hill’ and ‘Shape Of You’ on of the CD and its attendant physical the same day, in the run up to his third studio restraints, artists and labels have album, Divide ; and Ariane Grande released succumbed to the temptation to make her fourth and fifth studio albums, their albums ever longer. Rolling Stone Sweetener and thank u, next, within six reported in 2018 that on Spotify the months of each other, a pace of release that duration of the top five streamed albums would have been unthinkable for a major rose by almost 10 minutes over the pop act in the early 2000s. previous five years, reaching an average Somewhat confusingly, this rapid of 60 minutes. There is a certain cold- release schedule can be seen both as a sign blooded logic to this: more tracks equals of success – Grande striking while the iron more streams equals more chart success, is hot – and failure. with Drake’s 25-track opus Scorpion “If you don’t keep coming at the being a particularly notable example of this he explains. Erlich, meanwhile, believes algorithm with content, you are at a trend, passing 1bn first-week streams. there is no “real answer” as to how long an disadvantage,” says one music industry But what if consumers are turned off by album should be. “There is definitely too insider. “The music business tends to keep excessive length? Harding says that one in short and definitely too long. But there going and going [with releases] until 10 respondents in the Deezer survey said is a pretty big sweet spot...