A New Funnel for Music

One of the major pivots the music industry has made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a shift in focus from lean-back, aggregate streaming channels (e.g. Spotify, Apple Music) to direct-to-fan channels (e.g. Bandcamp, Shopify, Patreon) where the revenue impact is more immediate and transparent. Monthly membership revenue in particular is easi... See more

On streaming platforms, each stream of a song contributes the same amount of revenue (approximately $0.004 per stream on Spotify), regardless of that fan’s particular intensity of affinity towards the artist. In contrast, on platforms like Catalog or Sound, superfans are purchasing NFT music for thousands of dollars each, with creators earning what... See more

Creators still use the big platforms for discovery because they offer the best opportunity to get in front of people and find new potential fans. The difference is that they’re no longer reliant on the platforms for monetization, which ultimately puts them in better alignment. By decoupling the content they make in order to get top of funnel traffi... See more