As a hardcore stan of any artist in the last few years, you’ve probably heard people or even the artist themselves talk about streaming their latest single or album, but why exactly is this so important?
If you think about it, it means people are choosing to listen to their music and as a track gains more popularity it gets added to more playlists and therefore in front of more people, gains extra promotion and in turn helps with radio play, chart positions, and album sales.
Charting is important because it’s kind of like a snapshot of the most popular music at one point in time. It also means the artist is most likely getting the attention of new listeners, radio DJs and the industry as a whole. And as much as we would like to think of music as an art form, the industry itself thrives on data, so showing you you can back up your fan following with numbers is a plus.
The best time for an artist to get on the charts is right after a release, simply because the anticipation of the project will have fans more avidly listening. But now with so many artists releasing music on the same day to impact the charts that week, there are ways fans can help their favorite artists top those charts and be on top of the music industry.
Some fandoms have already caught on to this streaming impact and many have begun to host “streaming parties” to get everyone in on it so they can boost their favorite artists straight to the top!
Seeing as though streaming a song doesn’t equate to buying an album, how does this help album sales? Just two years ago, the Billboard charts, Nielsen and many others revamped their charting policy to be more inclusive of streaming services, especially when counting a paid user. With over a thousand streams needed to make one album sale. “The new ratios, set after months of industry lobbying, are 1,250 for paid streams and 3,750 for free streams. In other words, it will take three times as many free clicks to equal a paid one,” mentioned a breakdown of the new charts from the New York Times.
With many not even buying full albums anymore, it’s critical fans help their favorite artists stay ahead of the game. But, you don’t always have to be participating in a streaming party to help make a dent in the charts! Want to know how you can help your favorite music artist top the music charts?
How to Stream on Spotify and Apple Music
Create an account on a streaming platform.
Make a playlist of the song over and over again, adding in other songs from the artist to ensure the system doesn’t mark it as fraud.
Don’t mute the sound and play AT LEASt 30 seconds for the stream to count
If using Apple Music, ensure you have removed the song from your library or it won’t count, it needs to be downloaded from apple music!
How To Stream on Youtube
Sign out of your Youtube account!
Don’t make a playlist or stream from multiple tabs, as it won’t count.
As with the other platforms, don’t mute the sound and switch tabs and music videos every so often so you don’t seem like a robot!
You Can Get Rewarded for Streaming
Now you’re probably wondering, what do you as a fan get out of this rather than knowing you’re a loyal stan? Well, as the industry realizes how valuable fans are to artist promotion, more and more things have begun to popup to incentivize this like some phone applications that counts your streams and awards you with merchandise and physical albums called FIX Rewards and Renaissance. Some countries even recognize top listeners with concert tickets or special prizes! Now just think if the music artists themselves capitalized on this idea.
How do you help promote your favorite music artist’s music to the world? Let us know by tweeting us @thehoneypop or tell us on Facebook!
Featured Photo: Billboard on Instagram
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