🎙️The Dark Side Of Success

Together With

PressPlay brings you the latest news covering the audio industry and music news all in one quick 5 minute read!

Quote Of The Day:

Charts Weekly: Hip Hop

Ok punch me if I'm wrong, but I truly believe that Jack Harlow is going to go down as one of the greats.. I mean I understand the song structure isn't as complicated as a Kanye, Jay-Z, etc, but he's crushing it. Not only is he crushing it, but he's doing it on a ridiculously consistent level. "First Class" being #1 for the last 8 weeks, followed by his featured track "Industry Baby" with Lil Nas X.

It's amazing to see such a legend as XXXTENTACION remaining on the charts even years after the tragedy. RIP to a legend, this shows the mark you can truly leave on others, we love to see this.

Charts Weekly: Indie

Now, this isn't something you see often.. 3 songs with a 32-week streak staying within the top 3 range. Conan Grey leads with a whopping 124,520,000 streams on his single "People Watching," battling with "Stargazing" by The Neighbourhood. Ironically "Stargazing" has a few hundred thousand more streams than "People Watching" so we can expect to see The Neighbourhood take over on next week's chart.

"Close to you" by Dayglow sits at the back of the pack with 77,000,000 current streams and climbing.

Charts Weekly: Pop

This is the 3rd week of the PressPlay newsletter and Harry Styles still has yet to leave us alone in the Pop genre. I called him personally and told him our readers are quite tired of his antics and would like to see some other artists in the top 3. He unfortunately had no comment, I'm not even quite sure I even had the right number.

The Music Industry & Depression

Following the release of Post Malone's new album "Twelve Carat Toothache," he was featured on the renowned "Full Send" podcast. Post goes in-depth on his long-fought battle with depression as his life spiraled into glitz and glamour. The tattoo-covered rockstar is a lot more sensitive than most would assume based on physical appearance. In the interviews he shows extreme vulnerability, uncovering the way he feels, and how the industry has impacted him emotionally.

What we learned about Post in the interview:

• Post is purchasing land to prepare for doomsday.

• Post smokes around 45 cigarettes per day.

• He spends most of his time playing Apex Legends on PC.

• Fame is something he has quickly grown to hate, thus he moved to Utah.

It's important to understand the double edge sword that comes with being a musician or anyone successful at that. Most of us assume that problems no longer exist as we achieve self-worth, money, etc. Most of the problems that we face reside within, these extra perks only amplify and slowly uncover what we're already dealing with mentally. You can be a superstar tomorrow, but your inner turmoil will not fade!

Watch the full video here.

In Focus | Spotify For Artists

Spotify recently released a new feature called "In Focus." This feature brings clarity to artists on information about promoting your music, content creation, reaching your audience whether new or current, etc. In Focus offers an extremely organized way to provide artists with a set goal on what steps to take.

This feature may seem simple, and you might think you know what you're doing, but you could learn a few things from this! Spotify created a step-by-step interactive knowledge base tailored to what your current focus is. For example, let's click "promote your work."

The next prompt offers us a plethora of options to choose from based on your individual goals. As you click through the first four prompts you will be brought to a multitude of informational articles specific to your selections. This is an incredible way to create a linear instructional timeline for yourself, and what you need to do as the promoting artist. Think of this as a digital manager that will provide you with the information necessary to progress in your current position.

The number of articles within this feature is going to be constantly updated and more will be added as the feature expands. Consider checking this out, you might gain that one piece of information that's holding you back!

Try the new feature here.

What are your thoughts on this Spotify feature? Let us know by replying to this email!

Artist of the week: Dom Vallie

Once again, Toronto is being put on the map with another superstar. Hip hop artist Dom Vallie is quickly running it up on Tik Tok amassing more than 400k followers off of his latest hit single "Been Himma," sitting at nearly 4 million Spotify streams. Dom is incredibly versatile, spitting hard hip-hop verses, at times switching to a trap rock vibe.

In just a few months Dom went from a regular kid to performing at rolling loud mainly off of one single track! Shows you what consistent content can do for you!

Who should be the featured artist next week? Submit your song here!

What is an editorial Playlist? An editorial playlist is a playlist created by the Spotify team directly. Editorial playlists are typically rather large and can get you some big numbers quickly! This is a huge goal for most Spotify artists.

• Pitch before your release date - The Spotify for artists platform allows you to pitch your song directly to editorial playlist curators. Make sure you schedule your song ahead of time and give the Spotify team to listen!

• Write a good pitch! - When pitching your song Spotify will ask you to write out a small pitch. This pitch should include a well-written story about the song that you've created. Think about it, Spotify is getting thousands of pitches per week, if your pitch is bad they most likely won't even listen! Your effort will show through this pitch!

• Be Niche-Specific - A common theme that tends to show with smaller artists reaching editorial playlists is that they tend to be extremely unique. Keep in mind this doesn't mean you need to go off and create a new genre of music. Example: If you're a Japanese artist that makes electronic music, you should include the correct criteria in your pitch. During your pitch, there will be a few selections to choose from which include lifestyle, religion, culture, language, etc. Once you shrink the competition and specify small detail you become more unique! (Silly example but this is something that actually happens!) This artist now gets tens of thousands of streams by constantly reaching these same playlists.

• Select Accurate Sub Genres & Instruments - Going back to being niche specific make sure you're selecting all of the accurate prompts! It's even more beneficial to mention specific playlists that you'd fit within your pitch. Do their job for them!

If you'd like some more information on editorial playlists check this video out!

This man cannot be a human being... If you're not already aware of King Los, you need to consider checking out his freestyles. King Los hands down may be the one and only King of freestyling off of the top. Native to Baltimore, King Los climbed the ranks through freestyle battling and a plethora of mixtapes beginning in high school. Los was able to gain the attention of Diddy in 2012, which ended up getting him signed to Bad Boy Records. He eventually left Bad Boy Records to go the independent route in 2014.

I'm honestly not sure how an artist of this lyrical magnitude isn't a household name, but you be the judge of that!

Notable Lyrics:

King Los often speaks about the trauma built by the murder of his father, which translated into a lot of the music that he creates today. He attributes his father's passing to a large part of his successful career today.

PressPlay Quick Links

• Theneedledrop HATED the Post Malone album.

• Becoming a musician might be easier than you think..

• The next big Canadian artist

• Want you put your music on Apple & Spotify?

• The easiest way to blow up in 2022 | For Musicians

• How do I start recording music?

EVERY Artist Should Have These Plugins!

Look, I understand your stock plugins sound great, it's just what you're used to, and you're satisfied. But what if you could sound a bit better? Well, you absolutely can with Waves plugins! Third-party plugins can be quite costly for bedroom artists and Waves Audio was able to fix this issue!

Waves now offer a monthly subscription for their Silver, Gold, and Platinum bundles. This gives you access to Waves plugins for an incredibly cheap price, which you can cancel at any time. No more spending hundreds of dollars for a couple of plugins that you might only use here and there, try the 14-day trial and see how you sound! Invest in your sound!

Sound Professional In Seconds: Baywood Audio

If you're a bit confused about how to use your new Waves plugins and need a starting point, then Baywood Audio has you covered! Baywood Audio now provides high-quality Waves plugin presets that will make you sound pro with a simple drag and drop. Not only will you be able to instantly impress friends and family, but you'll also be able to deconstruct these presets to learn on your own!

Feel free to take our 30% PressPlay discount code: PRESSPLAY

Share PressPlay with your friends, acquire free PressPlay merch, and then acquire more friends as a result of your awesomeness. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. Super easy, free stuff, let's get it! :)

Reply with a link with one of your best songs for a chance to be featured as artist of the week!

Signing off for now!

- PressPlay