In today's digital landscape, it's crucial for artists to understand the platforms that are driving their success. Many times, the music industry invests time and resources in the wrong places. Without leveraging machine learning, it's easy to waste valuable time and money on channels that don't provide a significant return. However, by utilizing AI/ML, artists can uncover hidden opportunities, save time, and achieve a better return on their ad spend.
Here’s an example.
The Cure, a legendary goth-rock band from the late '70s, is currently on a major 40th-anniversary tour and has a new album coming out. We were curious about the data surrounding all their recent activity, so we plugged their publicly available data into the Immensity system to see what we could find. Using their Spotify link, we were able to see which platforms contributed most significantly to their streaming growth (see example video above).
Views on Instagram Reels around 6/1 containing The Cure’s music were one of the main KPIs that the system identified. This means that users were creating popular Reels that featured their songs and, in turn, drove people to stream their music. After some quick digging on Instagram, we found a Reel that used The Cure song "Six Different Ways" (from influencer @‌danieljosephmuldoon with 277k followers, who does haircuts on mannequins on Instagram). The Reel got 96.1K views right around 6/1, which is the date that the system highlighted as an important moment for this IG activity driving streaming numbers. In short, that Instagram Reel drove streams!
It’s no secret that Instagram Reels have become a hub for user-generated content. However, the band may not fully grasp the influence this UGC has on their streaming numbers. It could be pretty hard to find content like this without intelligent analytics to steer you in the right direction. There’s a lot of action or knowledge that can be implemented after identifying these types of results. The band and their team might want to focus more on Instagram and encourage fans to create and share Reels with their music. Additionally, the band might want to create their own Reels featuring their music and run ads on Instagram to amplify their reach.
It took our team a little less than an hour to dig and figure this out. Without some guidance, valuable efforts can easily be wasted on channels that might not effectively reach your fanbase and get them to interact with your music. It’s not difficult to imagine someone on the team focusing on TikTok and coming up empty or coming up with something that they think is a driver, but in reality, it might not be. For example, what if money is being spent on Twitter but should actually be spent on an influencer campaign on Instagram?
Not knowing exactly where to focus is like going on a wild goose chase or digging for opportunities that might not pan out. By utilizing the full power of what AI can do with data, artists can make informed decisions, optimize their marketing strategies, and connect with their fanbase in the most impactful ways.