Get Your Voice Heard

Words: Maddy Salvage (VP A&R, North America, Ninja Tune)

The music industry has to some extent always been a tumultuous habitat, and 2020 is most definitely no exception: dictated by streaming algorithms, rife with more competition than ever and currently at the mercy of a dessamating global pandemic - for up-and-coming artists, it may seem like a daunting place to enter.

But it also has a history of true resilience. Let's not forget it was only two decades ago that digital technology pulled the record business inside out, taking until 2015 to finally move into recovery. And, like it has before, in 2020 the music industry is fighting back: evolving new techniques and platforms for artists to survive these chaotic times. In this article i'll do my best to navigate these tools, and provide some basic A&R tips for growing your career as a new act in an apocalyptic year.

One important reminder before we get going: every journey is unique, subjective and highly complex. As an A&R and label co-founder, for me to attempt to blueprint a formula for universal success would not only be ignorant, but also narcissistic. We're here to guide artists and to amplify their vision, the rest is down to you. With this in mind, let's get started:

1. It's all about the music

There are 40,000 songs uploaded to Spotify every day, that's 14.6m a year. Affordable home studio gear (Focusrite's Scarlett being no exception) has made music creation universally accessible and affordable. But with this celebration of mass creativity comes a lot more competition.

The average music fan, perusing streaming services on their lunch break is now overwhelmed with choice. In 2019, over 20% of songs on Spotify had never been listened to. This begs the question, What are you really saying with your music, your art, that others aren't? What are you doing to stand out over those 39,999 other songs?

LINK:	https://focusrite.com/en/news/get-your-voice-heard...
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