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November 22, 2024 • Reading Time: 10 minutes

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Hello, SongsBrewers!

Welcome to another week of super-cool music news. Since the last newsletter (for those who got it), we’ve had some incredible feedback. On that note, you ask, we deliver.

This week, we’re including a playlist or two for you. Since our 10k+ strong subscribers are music lovers, if you’re a playlist curator or music promoter, get in touch to get featured so we can share more music.

And we’re sorry. Last week, the email you expected was sent to your junk. As we’ve grown, we've moved platforms, which caused a problem with our mailout. We’re working on preventing that from happening again. If you have the option, you can help by marking this as ‘not spam.’ (We are clearly optimistic this one will hit your inbox.)

Housekeeping: As always, your support is highly appreciated. Some links in the newsletter may be affiliate links. If you buy something using the links, we make a few cents—at no extra cost to you. 

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Things you should know about:

Creators Can Make More Money With Spotify

The new Spotify Partner Program is a monetization option for creators across ‘selected markets.’ 

While Spotify doesn’t have the best revenue payout for musicians, it is one of the most popular platforms for creators to publish on. In the last few weeks, Spotify has released videos in over 85 countries, and to double down on that success, it is rolling out a Partner Program. 

The Spotify Partner Program is a monetization option for creators across ‘selected markets.’ There are two ways to make money through the program:

  • Premium video revenue - when Premium subscribers stream your video episode, instead of seeing ad revenue (because Premium subs don’t get ads), you’ll get paid for how much your fans stream your content.

  • Ad revenue - earn a 50% share of the revenue recognized every time an ad monetized by Spotify (and their ad network Spotify Partner Program) plays in your episode.

Premium video revenue will go live on January 2nd, 2025; only ad revenue is available ahead of that.

So, what do you need to apply?

  • Host your show on Spotify for Creators.

  • You must have a legal address in one of the eligible markets: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or Australia.

  • Have published at least 12 episodes.

  • Hit at least 10,000 consumption hours on Spotify in the last 30 days, and,

  • Hit at least 2,000 people who have streamed on Spotify in the last 30 days.

Jin’s Happy Solo Release

According to the Spotify streams counter, the Daily Album Chart announced the album scored a huge 17.8 million streams on its first day.

Dispatch photographer Min Kyung-bin, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

BTS has been one of the biggest global hit-makers ever. With an estimated 90 million fans worldwide, they have endless support. As a group, BTS went on hiatus in 2022 to focus on solo projects and complete mandatory military service, promising fans to come back together in 2025. Since then, fans have been gifted solo releases.

RM, the group leader and part of the BTS rap line, was the first to drop new music, followed by Suga, J-Hope, Jin, Jimin, and Jung Kook. Need the complete list of releases? A Complete List of BTS’ Solo Projects (So Far).

And, for those who have been with us a while - you might remember one of our favorites MEGJOON, with Neva Play.

Well, Jin just released his debut album, Happy. Of course, we’ve had a listen! The album is on the short side, with only 6 tracks. And track two, “Running Wild,” is undeniably brit-popesque, with good reason: Gary Barlow (from Take That) is one of the composers - he even played the keyboards for the track! Except “I will come to you”, the album is high energy and fun to listen to.

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SoundCloud Putting In the Work

Or, in their words, “introducing the best damn upload experience on the internet. Period”.

Not For Me No GIF by grown-ish

Gif by grownish on Giphy

SoundCloud has been putting some serious work into what it offers for artists—uniquely understanding their audience. They’re not just talking about Countdown pages or the potential to get on a playlist.

They’re offering artists who upload music to SoundCloud distribution to a further 60 platforms. This offer goes far beyond other distribution options on other platforms. Here is what they say in their press release:

“We get it – artists have enough on their plate. From producing and mixing, to marketing, distributing and managing a fanbase, it’s a lot to handle. SoundCloud’s new artist upload experience redefines what it means to release music on our platform, so artists can focus on what matters most – their music.”

- SoundCloud.

So, what is on offer for artists? In short, when artists use the Next Pro Artist subscription, they can distribute their tracks to 60 platforms, including Spotify. SoundCloud handles all notifications, so your fans will be updated instantly. Their UX has been updated to offer a simple drag-and-drop option, making it faster than ever to release music. Artists can now select a “Monetization” option when uploading, so you can start making money from your music faster.

Two of the standout features are access to the Buzzing playlist through the recommendation algorithm and exclusive merch drops for fans. The merch program is still only available to select artists.

We’re interested in hearing from artists. Where do you upload your music? What platform has given you the most success?

What is your favorite streaming service to upload music?

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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree on Streaming Platforms

Bandai Namco release Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree soundtrack.

Another week and more music for gamers. Elden Ring joins other games like Warcraft and the recent Nintendo Music Platform in releasing much-loved game music.

Bandai Namco released 36 of the 67 tracks in the base game. If you haven’t played the original game, this review might just have you listening to the newly released soundtrack:

“The Elden Ring soundtrack is undoubtedly a masterclass in both creating and building tension, but also full-blown epic drama with layers upon layers of instrumentation, choral vocals, and moments of more restrained, delicate, dark beauty.”

What do you listen to while you’re gaming? Link playlists in the comments!

Playlists!

Your feedback makes what we do better, so thank you. Many of our new and old subscribers want playlists; here are two for you to enjoy: one to hype you up and one that might just give you a little nostalgia.

Next week, we are delivering a stack of audio-related Black Friday deals, including headphones, earbuds, a preamp, and more!

Shout out to PlaylistPush, for hooking up playlist curators with over 25,000 artists and labels and FreeYourMusic for keeping our playlists synced.

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