SoundCloud

SoundCloud

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SoundCloud And Instagram Launch Cross-App Link-Up

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Easy sharing from the popular music service to Instagram Stories is a bid to increase its reach, especially with younger users
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Oct 24, 2018 - 3:36 pm

Music service SoundCloud has been a go-to for artists and producers getting started but has had its own struggles to stay in business, claiming a "creator-focused" path last year. SoundCloud announced on Oct. 23 they are rolling out easy link-sharing through Instagram Stories, and this should make it easier for artists to blast out to fan-followers when they have uploaded new tracks.

On SoundCloud's blog, the company says "easily shared … means easily heard" and boasts that "what's next in music is first on SoundCloud."

Both statements have truth in them, but it's also true that SoundCloud is a bit of a corporate underdog. Observers noted a comparable announcement from Spotify and Instagram dated from May. SoundCloud needs to appeal strongly to the people who already use it, and it is catering to emerging artists, so this is the little guy playing catch-up to a degree, but that won't matter to fans already using both services.

The power of connecting SoundCloud and Instagram Stories more directly likely lies with youth and user-behavior analytics. For artists monitoring the activity on their SoundCloud accounts, spikes will tell them when Instagram Stories succeed in becoming viral. The nature of Instagram sharing also takes dialog through comments into another new dimension.

More than half of internet users under 30 use Instagram, so this bid to blast tracks to kids is smart positioning and users of all ages will likely be pulled in as well.

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SoundCloud

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How New Artists Can Build A Following In 2019, According To SoundCloud

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The key to standing out is showing up as yourself and growing a network of fans
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 28, 2018 - 11:49 am

The artist and label services team at SoundCloud has some advice for artists hoping to grow their audiences in 2019: Be “YOUnique.”

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As summed up in a handy list on Hypebot, there are a few ways aspiring artists can build a following: Keep to a consistent schedule of uploads (Fridays are reportedly the best days to release new music), and stay inspired by listening to your fellow artists. You never know when you’ll discover a new friend and/or collaborator.

But above all, when marketing yourself, remember to be "YOUnique": after all, being real is part of what makes music compelling.

SoundCloud also advises artists to pay close attention to their fan network (yes, that means reading the comments section) and study the streaming analytics available with the service’s SoundCloud Pro package. It always helps to know what your listeners are gravitating toward the most, right?

Check out SoundCloud’s advice for aspiring artists over at HypeBot, and the best of luck to all of you creators in 2019.

SoundCloud And Instagram Launch Cross-App Link-Up

Shazam music app

Shazam

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Shazam IDs Can Now Be Shared Using Instagram Stories

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Whether seen people-first or as a boon from internet companies, easy music sharing like this is becoming a top form of engagement that is still growing
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Nov 5, 2018 - 12:01 pm

There are a few ways to look at the Nov. 1 news that Shazam iOS users are now able to share music using Instagram Stories, but all are connected by the increasing ease-of-use to let more people share their favorite music casually. It was just over a week ago that SoundCloud added this feature, too, and as we noted then, Instagram is now used by more than half of internet users under 30. Shazam-sharing to Instagram also will roll out to Android users sometime in the future.

Music engages social media users more than any other category of content. One way of looking at this new emphasis on making it easy for users to share their music the way they like is in contrast to earlier years when people claimed they had no legal way to share music. The culture of platforms like Instagram to enable meaningful messages, spurred by impulse or planning, to shoot out on social is still growing. The hope was always that legal music sharing would thrive because nobody was worried about lawsuits. Today's sharing ecosystem makes much of that dream a reality, but the end is not in sight.

Another way to look at the new feature is to turn the whole music-app ecosystem upside down and think about it in terms of major platforms. Apple bought Shazam late last year and Facebook owns Instagram. Some reacted that the iOS-first rollout is no surprise because Apple is favoring its own users, but over the long term Apple plans to offer Shazam without advertising to Android users as well. It is perhaps more interesting to see this as an expansion of the way Apple wants its Shazam users to live their lives online. For Facebook, there are similar lifestyle-choice issues to why it owns Instagram, future-proofing its dominance with an alternative that has been a consistent youth magnet.

Whether this is viewed as something for everybody or more as the latest "no-brainer" handed down to us by big platform companies, sharing music like this is potentially good for everyone in the big picture. Letting others know what music someone likes has always been part of people's unique identity and taste. Now it's almost an online industry of its own, and it's still growing.

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Wu-Tang Clan

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NYC Council Approves Wu-Tang Clan And Notorious B.I.G. Street Names

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NYC is honoring rap history by voting to rename two streets after the iconic rappers
Phillip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 28, 2018 - 2:05 pm

Notorious B.I.G. and the Wu-Tang Clan are steps closer to becoming a permanent part of New York City, their hometown and one of the birthplaces of hip-hop.

The New York City council has unanimously voted to have a Booklyn street become Christopher Wallace Way (after Biggie) and a Staten Island street become Wu-Tang Clan District. The measures are still pending Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature.

"As soon as you put a name on a street sign, you say something about the public importance of that individual," University of Tenn. Geography Professor Derek Alderman told NPR. "Hip-hop deserves that respect."

Brooklyn Community Board 2 first approved the re-naming petition 33-1 in November.

NYC resident LeRoy McCarthy, who led the naming initiatives for both streets, thinks naming a street after Biggie symbolizes something greater than the rapper. "It symbolizes a culture. It symbolizes a borough. It symbolizes a people, and hip-hop is worldwide,” he told Rolling Stone.

The council also voted to name a street after Woody Guthrie in Coney Island, where the iconic folk singer lived in the 1940s.

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The block expected to become Christopher Wallace Way is on St. James Place between Fulton Street and Gates Avenue where B.I.G. actually grew up. Wu-Tang Clan District will be centered on the intersection of Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street, the location of Sobel Court Park, according to Rolling Stone.

The news of the council passing the measures came shortly after Chuck D was announced as chairman of the celebrity board for the Universal Hip-Hop Museum to open in Brooklyn in 2022. 

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ASCAP Makes Disaster Relief Donation To MusiCares

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Donation will help music community members most affected by the fires
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 27, 2018 - 11:59 am

Performing rights organization ASCAP announced on Dec. 18 that it is donating to MusiCares to support music's creators including those "affected by the recent wildfires in northern and southern California" needing help with food, shelter and replacement of instruments or equipment.

"We are truly grateful for the support and ongoing partnership of ASCAP," said Recording Academy and MusiCares President/CEO Neil Portnow. "Their work on behalf of music people is vital, and their generosity to the music community is equally strong. This donation demonstrates how the music industry works together to take care of their own."

"We have all been stunned by the devastation caused by the California fires and the heartache and loss suffered by our members who reside there," said ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams, winner of three GRAMMY awards as a songwriter. "ASCAP has always been an advocate for music creators, and faced with these terrible circumstances, we have their backs. We are pleased to work with MusiCares to get help to those who need it most."

Members may make disaster relief requests by contacting MusiCares toll-free at 1.800.687.4227.

For those wishing to donate, the "Gift Designation" choice at MusiCares' donation page offers "Disaster Relief" as a selection.

"The music community knows that it can turn to MusiCares in times of distress," said ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews. "They have the organization and the infrastructure necessary to respond to these horrible events and help members of the music community in times of need. We're glad to work with MusiCares once again to ensure that our funds reach the people most affected by the fires."

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