Rolling_Stone_Australia_October_2017

R&R

L

ast month, spotify reported

that it has 60 million subscribers

–a100percentjumpfromlast

year (its closest competitor, Apple

Music, has 27 million). Streaming revenue

hasjumpedfrom$1.8billionto$3.8bil-

lion in two years, and its users like being

turned on to new music: More than half

of Spotify users listen to the service’s con-

stantly updated playlists, like Today’s Top

Hits,whichhasmorethan

16 million subscribers. For

artists,gettingplacedona

prominentplaylisthasbe-

come nearly as important

asradioplay.“Labelsobsess

over that,” says Ben Swan-

son, co-owner of indie label

Secretly Group, which rep-

resentsrockersliketheWar

on Drugs. As playlists be-

come the new radio, here

aresomeofthemusicin-

dustry’s new rules.

Curators Are the

New Gatekeepers

Spotify’s top hip-hop play-

listisRapCaviar,withmore

than 7 million listeners. It’s

curatedbyTumaBasa,a

former programmer at MTV and BET,

whobecametheservice’sheadofhip-hop

in 2015. “Tuma Basa is like an artist,” says

Daniel Glass, president of Glassnote Rec-

ords, who saw his client Childish Gambi-

nogetahugebumpwhenBasaaddedhis

song “Redbone” to the playlist. “Radio sta-

tionspickeduponthat–‘IfRapCaviarcan

playit,thenIcan.’”Toachievethiskind

of placement, managers employ consul-

tants like mtheory to meet with execs, pres-

entdataandmaketheircase.“Hopefully,

you’re seeing a bunch of good play counts

andsaveratios,”saysZackGershen,exec-

utive vice president of mtheory. “Then you

go back to Spotify and say, ‘Have we gotten

toapointyetwherewe’veearnedaspotina

playlist?’Releaseweek–sometimesit’snot

gonna happen.”

Timing Is Everything

BignameslikeEdSheeranarealmost

guaranteed space on prominent playlists.

ing,‘I’lltakecareofyouifyoutakecareof

me’,”saysGlass.“ButI’m99percentsure

it exists in the pop world when they’re in

those strategy meetings.” As playlists be-

come bigger marketing tools, Glass worries

about corruption. “I predict you’ll see peo-

pletryingtomanipulateandcurryfavour

with each other. Just like an agent trying to

get someone on tour – you’ll see artists and

managers trying to get on playlists.”

Elevator Music

Pays Big

Spotify’smostpopularplay-

lists include Peaceful Piano

and Deep Focus – ambi-

ent music people relax to.

Those songs rack up tens of

millions of streams, which

meansbigpaydaysfortheir

copyright owners.The

owner, some say, is Spotify

itself. In 2016,Music Busi-

ness Worldwidereported

thatSpotifypayssomepro-

ducersaflatfeetocreate

ambient music within spe-

cific guidelines, then retains

ownershipofit.“It’sabso-

lutely untrue,” says Spoti-

fy’s Chief Content Officer

Stefan Blom. The reality may be more com-

plicated: Some suggest Spotify commis-

sions the music – much of it is recorded in

Sweden,whereSpotifyisbased–andpays

those creators smaller royalty rates than

other artists. “It’s shady,” says one insider.

“But it’s difficult to call out, because it does

make sense what they’re doing.”

New Playlist, New Audience

Playlists can broaden audiences in a big

way.AftercountrysingerSamHuntplayed

a gig for Spotify in 2014, his debut single,

“Leave the Night On”, started appearing

onSpotifyplaylists.“Iwasseeingalarge

amount of female African-Americans com-

ingtoshows,”sayshismanager,BradBe-

langer.“[Iwouldaskthem]‘Didyouguys

hear this on country radio?’ ‘No, on Spoti-

fy.’”Thesedays,Huntisbasicallyapopart-

ist; his single “Body Like a Back Road” is a

Top10hitontheHot100–andBelanger

callsSpotifycrucialtoHunt’ssuccess.

How Spotify Creates Hits

With more than 60 million subscribers, the streaming service

can make or break a song. Here’s how the industry is adjusting

BY STEVE KNOPPER

to launch his first headlining tour. For rec-

ord companies, it’s all about knowing the

right moment to lobby for a play list add: “If

we ask for it too quickly, it’s going to land

with a thud,” says Gershen. “It’s like catch-

ing a wave with surfing.”

It’s Good to Have a Friend

With a Popular Playlist

Ever yone from Father John Misty to Frank

Ocean curates their own playlists for Spot-

ify. Diplo and Friends Radio is a popular

artist playlist, with 250,000 subscribers.

The DJ regularly adds his favourite music,

which often includes people he knows. He

recently added a tourmate’s song, the Aus-

tralian DJ Anna Lunoe’s “Godzilla”, giving

her a 25 per cent bump in streams. “One

artist talks to [another]: ‘I include you, you

include me’,” says Cory Llewellyn, a former

Epic Records digital-music executive. Glass

says the negotiations aren’t quite so trans-

actional. “I haven’t heard of artists say-

For smaller names, the journey takes lon-

ger. Electro-pop singer Lauv, who currently

has a Spotify smash with his single “The

Other”, first released the song two years

ago. At the end of 2016, Spotify added it to a

lower-tier dance playlist. It did so well that

the track eventually made its way to Today’s

Top Hits. “I saw the song go from 8 million

streams to over 100 million streams,” says

Lauv. “It’s insane.” The buzz allowed the DJ

20 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com Illustration by Dan Page