Connecting with listeners, not making money or being signed to a major label, is the most important aspect of success for a musician, according to a new report titled “Sustainability from Chaos” by MIDiA Research and Amuse, a artist distribution and services company. Even if they only reach a small number of people, 89% of all creators surveyed and 94% of full-time professionals believe that success is defined by touching people with music.
Money matters, too, but relatively few artists say they're trying to become superstars. Just 17% of creators and 21% of full-time musicians said being famous is critical to success, while 21% of both groups said being signed to a record label is a sign of success. However, 83% of full-time musicians – and 63% of all creators – defined success as making a career out of music.
The report is based on a survey of 450 artists conducted in April 2024 for MIDiA Research's Maker Survey.
It's an important time to think about how artists define success. Artists have many options for releasing and financing their music. And there are far more independent artists than there are artists signed to traditional record deals. MIDiA estimates that 95% of artists are “artist direct”, meaning they work with a distributor or artist service platform. Only 1% of artists are signed to a major label. the rest are signed to indie labels.
The vastness of the independent artist market, and their desire for control over their careers, explains why companies invest heavily in artist distribution and services. Universal Music Group owns Virgin Music Group. Sony Music Entertainment owns AWAL. Warner Music Group was interested in – but did not acquire – Believe, owner of TuneCore. Distributors such as STEM, UnitedMasters, Ditto and Symphonic have collectively raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding in recent years.
For these service providers to succeed, they must provide artists with deeper, more meaningful connections with fans. According to MIDiA Research, old definitions of success are being replaced by newer metrics of success, such as community participation (such as Discord and WhatApp groups), sold-out shows and merchandise sales. According to the report, this approach “emphasizes building long-term relationships over simply accumulating views and followers.”
In the past, mainstream success was measured by chart position, radio play, awards and covers. These achievements would give an artist a good shot at a viable career in music. But in the age of streaming, those signs of success have been replaced by what the report called “misleading” metrics, as it listens and follows. Chart position and radio airplay are not considered significant indicators, according to the report, although they do have marketing value.
Most full-time professional artists want to work with a distributor with label services or a self-service platform with tools that support artists to release their albums and tracks. In fact, these artists would rather work with a distributor (31%) than sign to an indie label (20%) and are almost as interested in going a DIY route (17%) or using a self service, online platform with artist tools (16%). Only 10% prefer to use a management company to run their business and only 6% prefer to sign with a major label.
Considering all creators – including both professionals and part-time artists – an online self-service platform is the preferred way to release albums and tracks (28%), followed by an indie label (25%), a distributor with services labels (20%) and the “Do it yourself” route (13%). Only 7% of all creators prefer a major label. Management companies were the least preferred partner (6%).
Artists surveyed believe that breaking through the noise (54%) is the biggest challenge they face. Lack of time to create (40%) and lack of financial resources (35%) were the second and third biggest challenges cited by artists. This “noise” refers to the sheer volume of music released daily on the internet. In 2023, an average of 103,500 tracks were uploaded daily on digital platforms, up 10.8% from 93,400 daily in 2022, according to Luminate's 2023 Year-End Report. Major labels accounted for just 3.9% of those tracks — as measured by the new ISRC Figures — compared to 96.1% for the rest of the industry.
Building a sustainable career is made more difficult by the challenges of touring. Rising costs mean live music is no longer the best way for artists to make money — but it's still a goal for many artists and a path to financial comfort. In the report, MIDiA Research recommends that artist services companies provide stipends or salaries for new signings as well as tour support that record labels typically offer: “All artist services companies,” it writes, “need to take a longer-term view of the artist relationships.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/artists-want-tools-not-major-label-deals-midia-survey-finds/