There’s no doubt about it: some DSPs have come a long way since they were first rolled out many moons ago. But it could be argued that many have stayed fairly static when it comes to tools that make sense to the music business and add value to an artist’s career. Indeed, some – bar an aesthetic facelift – have barely changed.
With such a wealth of innovation taking place across the digital sphere, one has to ask what is holding streaming platforms back from rolling out legitimately useful tools that they could also benefit from. And when I say tools, I’m not talking about the back-end dashboards. I’m talking about front-end tools that could help artists and users alike.
We’ve seen some meaningful changes over time. Spotify and YouTube were first out of the block with meaningful merch integrations, or Spotify for touring notifications, for instance. While Merchbar was a headache none of us knew we needed, their Shopify integration makes far more sense in terms of true usability and integration.
Spotify, I would argue, has actually led the way in terms of tools and development across the DSPs. While not all of them have landed well in some places, they have at the very least got an amazing product team churning out ideas in Beta for testing, while many rivals stick with utterly basic, passive functionality.
Some, however, could offer a broader range of tools – and some could start by offering any at all. But there’s an argument, especially for emerging artists, to offer some value to help them grow if they’re truly engaging with an audience. By the time you’ve made it big enough to play a global stadium tour, you could argue that any tools become optional extras to a clever marketing plan, but I do think some features will benefit everyone, especially fans. This could even lead to long-term platform loyalty as well as increased revenue generation.
What follows is a list of things I’d love to see rolled out across all music streaming services.
MARKETING PIXELS
For the love of my sanity, give us some marketing pixels – or expand our on-platform advertising capabilities. The larger platforms that offer advertising abilities still have incredibly restrictive tools if we want to, say, sell merch or tickets. Surely the ability to serve top fans with these makes sense for everyone?
ELEVATE THE NEXT GENERATION
A tool to help smaller artists reach top fans. We all know the start of an artist’s career is the hardest. I would love to see an easy way to interact with and reward top listeners for artists under one million plays a month.
SPOTIFY WRAPPED 2.0
While Spotify Wrapped is undoubtedly a huge success, both as a branding exercise and as a user interaction tool, it basically tends to tell you what you already know. Wouldn’t it be amazing to take this a step further? How about Spotify Unwrapped – a discovery tool that rolls out with Wrapped and shows a) what artists, albums and tracks you might like based on your year’s listening habits, b) what new local, national and international venues, gigs, festivals and experiences you may enjoy off the back of your streaming habits, and c) ticket links for concerts to see your most listened-to artists.
GENRE TAGS
Visibility of genre tags on tracks played. It took an age to have credits implemented on some platforms (those of you that haven’t, we are waiting...), but what about genre tags? The ability to click the genre you’re listening to and be presented with similar tracks makes so much sense. Rather than waiting for AI to latch on, let people engage when they’re in the mood.
LINKS
The ability on all platforms to add an official website link and/or social profiles. This always seemed like a no-brainer as it’s mutually beneficial. Some services offer it but by no means all. If a snippet of code was added to verify the website for instance, and permissions were granted for tracking, everyone would benefit.
BOOKING ENQUIRIES
This is particularly important for new and mid-level legacy artists, but has potential right the way up the chain. Private events often fall outside of an agent’s scope but can be hugely lucrative for artists – indeed, in some cases, they can be the difference between survival or not.
EVENTS HAPPENING NEAR YOU
Based on your listening habits, a list of shows taking place in your current location and a list of popular local artists. This is great not only for those at home but music fans when travelling. Dice is great for gig listings. Why haven’t streaming services got on board?
COLLABORATIVE PLAYLISTS THAT ACTUALLY WORK
The ability to set policies around collaborative playlists. These playlists can be a great idea, a way of sharing music, but one weird choice and it’s ruined. A tool to limit a collaborative playlist to a genre wouldn’t go amiss.
Have you got a request or idea for streaming services? Tweet @SammyAndrews @MusicWeek #StreamingFeatureRequest with your suggestions.
