In 2016 the world got introduced to the smash hit that was Designers “Panda”. The song skyrocketed to the number one spot on the Billboard charts. Designer became the youngest artist to reign the charts since Lorde back in 2013, and the first male rapper to reach number one since Wiz did it back in 2011....and to think that all this was achieved from a type beat he bought for $200 dollars back in 2014…yup $200 bucks. The connection between a beatmaker, the singer/songwriter/rapper and the consumer has never been this easy. Type beat platforms have surfaced allowing producers and artists to collaborate and have given way to a much easier and faster mode of creating music. 

What Is A “Type Beat”?

A “type beat” is an instrumental that is close in structure and sound to the music of another artist. Pause for a minute and do a quick search on YouTube for an artist of your choosing followed by the words “type beat”, and you’ll get a heavy pool of instrumentals that sound similar to the artist for which the type beat is assigned. (if you want to read up on the many other forms of song compositions and remix types out there check out my past post right HERE) The creation of these “type beats” has not only made way for genre and mood listening to expand but it has opened ways for producers to take on a new business model as well. 

The Rise Of A New Business Venture: 

Software like FL Studio has made it easy to create a type beat and upload it on the interwebz. With prices ranging from $20 dollars for an MP3 download and $1000 for the lease of a song, artists can get their hands on 1 of thousands of beats uploaded to the site. Producers in these platforms can earn a solid amount from beats that usually take no more than 2 hours to make. Artists alike, have taken the ease of convenience and availability that type beats provide, to cut down on the high costs that are involved in hiring a producer and acquiring studio time. Beatmakers no longer have to depend on rappers,  labels, and publishing deals to make a steady income. 

The Drawback: 

YouTube, SoundClick, BeatStars, FL Studio and other type beat platforms have helped democratize the song production landscape. However, one major issue that many people in the industry have seen, is the lack of creativity that such type beats have provided the listener. Spotify’s “Daily Mix”, “Discover Weekly” and “Release Radar” playlist, which are curated to our taste, have become such popular sources of our music listening because they serve us what we want to hear. With that in mind, it's easy to see why we’ve become accustomed to hearing similar sounds across artists nowadays…it’s just what we want to hear. But the question many have asked is: what’s the fun in music discovery when artists, producers, and consumers are all mingling with the same sounds over and over again? Viral hits have become commonplace, but to be a producer and artist who’s more than just a viral sensation, you need to be (as cliche as it sounds) innovative with your sound, and in 2019...we ain't seeing much of that. 

So What’s Next: 

Back in 2016 I had the opportunity to intern for an A&R company, my goal was simple: spread the names of up-and-coming artists and learn about what it takes to land someones song on the radio. The importance of the latter part of my job has nowadays been replaced with the ever so increasing popularity of streaming services, where today it's about getting a record to show up on some of the most followed and streamed playlists vs. finding it’s way to 94.7’s radio play.

Today, landing a song on the “Discovery Weekly” or “New Music Friday” Spotify playlist, is equivalent to landing a song on a Top 20 hit radio station. Playlists are continuously playing a pivotal role in helping break a song and an artist.

The Significance of Playlist:

Landing a song on a popular playlist doesn't mean guaranteed stardom, but it sure means a whole lot of exposure. When a song bypasses the algorithmic tests and DJ curation onto a playlist with a crap ton of followers, it means that song is going to get a crap ton of listens. One of my favorite Spotify playlists is “New Music Friday”, because that's usually where I get a fresh taste of the new music released in a nicely packed weekend long soundtrack. Artists who land their song on the highly followed playlist can either find their way onto getting discovered or begin generating a larger sum of income and buzz around their name though streams.  

How Are Playlists Determined:

Still the predominant and original way that playlists are created on streaming services is by 100% curation from it’s users. Handcrafted playlists are made by users like you and me, they can be public or private, and are just an organized way of filtering our song choices based on mood or occasion. In recent years however, these user generated playlists have become much more influential in our listening choices. Word of mouth is one of the strongest forms of marketing and the song choices of influencers or influential friends continue to gain traction from people like you and me, who place trust in the music taste of others to find our own niche of likes.

In the streaming industry, data drives business, thus the second most common way playlists are created is algorithmically. There is technology out there that will in today's industry allow for more precise and successful automated music recommendations. Along with that, most music streaming services have cooked up their own algorithms that aim to predict and analyse trends in their consumers listening choices across pockets of listeners and worldwide, that as a result generate a lot of the more popular playlists we hear.  

Another common way playlists are developed, is by something a combination of editors and algorithms that come together to create something the industry has called “Algotorial” curation. Streaming services employ professional curators that play the role DJs do on the radio. Along with algorithms that help pluck a selective collection of songs among the millions, these professionals device weekly selections around genres, moods, occasions, etc. (it's a pretty dope job)

The Role of Labels and Promotional Companies:

In order to get ahead of the game and increase the chances songs will land on playlists, artist seek the help of record label and streaming promotion companies to build buzz and a case as to why a song should be added to a Spotify or major streaming service playlist. These individuals create large sums of exposure and strong relations with the streaming services editorial teams. Along with that, they reach out to individuals with a good sum of playlist followings and ask them to place their catalog of artists on their playlists. However, Spotify and other streaming services have often discouraged such interactions between these companies and its users, by forbidding monetary exchanges in an effort to continue to allow its users to create playlists democratically and as they please.

The effect that streaming services have on the industry continues to grow. Repeatedly, artists are having to find ways to create and maneuver their way around a series of barriers in order to gain a place of comfortable pay and greater exposure. We as music consumers are gaining more and more power to help artists gain momentum through our interactions with their music outside (social, concerts, merch etc.) and most definitely through our continuous listen inside these playlists.

Check out this playlist I made with some of my favorite artists to keep a watch for!