🎙️How Major Labels Discover Their Artists

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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

We love to see it, my boy Post finally took over, knocking First Class out of #1! Maybe I'm a bit biased but this is what Post deserves! An insanely talented mainstream artist with a vulnerable side. If you missed us last week, take the time to watch Post share his vulnerabilities on the Full Send podcast. After getting quite a bit of backlash on the new album, it's amazing to see him continue to rise.

Charts Weekly: Indie

For 33 weeks straight, these three have been absolutely dominating the charts. If you were here last week you'd know that this is the exact same lineup in the same order sitting at the top 3. Who can guess how long these three will remain in the top 3 lineup? Reply to this email with your answer, if you're right we'll send you a... Well, I'll get back to you on that, I don't handle our finances, but we will keep your answers noted and figure something out.

Charts Weekly: Pop

This is the 4th week that I have begged Harry Styles to stay off of the top charts. I told him there would be repercussions if he remained at the top. Sure, he has great hair, but at what cost? We want to see some other artists thrive so I took it upon myself to fix this situation. I am currently waiting outside of his penthouse with a box of chocolates (not poisoned.) I just want to talk Harry...

How Major Labels Discover Their Artists

In a Burstimo interview with Joe Kentish, the head of A&R at Warner Music (he signed Dua Lipa) we learned quite a bit about the process of talent scouting. It's much more simple than you'd ever think! Most people think there's this huge financial barrier between an artist and a major label, but that's not always the case. Sure, the concept of remaining independent and then rapping about it is romantic, but not all label deals are as corrupt as they're stigmatized to be.

What we learned during this interview

• Selecting an artist typically involves some sort of connection whether an A&R connecting to your music, personality, brand, hard work, etc.

• A&R's will not select a lazy artist! You will need to be showing some sort of online presence/consistency!

• To tie into the last point, A&R's can help you, but only if you help yourself. Remember these A&R's have to show results! You must be someone worth investing in.

• A&R's are regular people too! Most artists are literally found from an A&R simply doing what you do, scrolling through TikTok, Youtube, etc.

• Many A&R's are looking to see if you're someone that even needs a deal to begin with. In this business, an A&R can determine whether an artist is worth reaching out to regardless of their online presence. A&R's can see an artist that has full leverage on their music, and business deals vary from artist to artist.

• A good deal does not include changing your entire style of music. This is the stigmatized concept that has been implanted into many artists' minds.

Conclusion - It's not the labels that suck, it's you... Just kidding, but there's a level of accountability to be shown if you're interested in being signed. You need to show that you're serious, make great content, etc. You have to have something to show for in order to look more dependable when it comes to a business deal that could change your life!

Watch the full interview here.

Spotify Canvas | For Artists

Do you know that cool video gif thing that some songs on Spotify have? Well, most should have that cool little video. That's called a Spotify Canvas, and you don't need to be famous to have one of those! Sure, you probably thought that was some sort of feature specified for only the largest artists, but that's not true!

Some facts to know about Spotify Canvas

• Track shares increase by 145%

• Playlist adds increase by 20%

• Track streams increase by 5%

• Profile visits increase by 9%

• Height increases by 3 inches

• It's easy as all get out to upload and manage your canvas.

How many times have you watched an interview or music video and your entire outlook changed? Maybe their music sounded even better once you got to actually visualize that artist's style, personality, etc. Imagine being able to create a simple 3-8 second video and gain a new super fan? Who knows, that could be thousands of additional streams all off of a little effort.

Not on Spotify yet? Let us help you.

Want to learn to upload a Spotify canvas?

What are your thoughts on this Spotify feature? Are you using Canvas yet? Let us know by replying to this email!

Artist of the week: Connor Price

I'm thoroughly convinced that Canada has an artist breeding facility in which they just make insane talent in a laboratory... Maybe they're all AI, I can't seem to put my finger on it. Connor has amassed a whopping 1.3 million TikTok followers making viral hit after hit on a regular basis.

Fun Fact: Connor actually follows me on TikTok, yes I am that cool. He even commented once, hbu? That's what I thought...

Connor actually started his career pretty early acting at the age of 6, building some pretty impressive film credits fresh out of kindergarten. Hulu asked me to do the same but I wanted to focus on bringing you these amazing weekly newsletters, so, yeah...

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

What does Playlist Push do? - Playlist push acts as a middleman putting your music in front of Spotify playlist curators.

How do I run a campaign - Simple, set a budget, and let them do the rest! Your budget is going to determine the number of playlists you're going to be pitched to.

What playlists will I get added to? - Playlist Push takes the time to analyze your style to determine what playlists will suit you best.

Will I get on Spotify curated playlists? - Playlist Push is not affiliated directly with Spotify, therefore you will most likely not reach Spotify curated playlists from a campaign directly. More often editorial playlists are reached when your song is pitched through Spotify for artists or amasses enough streams for a curator to hear it.

Are playlists guaranteed? - In no way is it guaranteed that you will reach a single playlist. It's on you to create a song valuable enough to be playlisted. Remember, this is being decided by real people, you aren't paying to be on a playlist, you're paying for an opportunity. If your song isn't good, the odds are going to be lower.

Does Playlist Push only deal with Spotify? - Playlist Push recently dropped a new feature in which they actually push your music to TikTok creators as well! These creators will use your track to create content.

Conclusion - In terms of legitimacy, this is the only place I'd suggest running a playlisting campaign. There are a ton of dodgy playlisting websites out there that will take your money and put you on a bunch of bot playlists which are most likely run by the website themselves. I highly recommend Playlist Push as they only allow legitimate curators on their platform!

If you'd like some more information on Playlist Push check them out here!

Drake Did Us Dirty With This One...

So last time we waited about a year for Drake to drop an album. The anticipation was killing us. Do you know what this fool decides to do? Drop a surprise album... I literally didn't even know this until today myself.. (June 16th.) I'm actively listening as I write this, on the third track, it's decent so far, what're your thoughts on it?

Is the album gas or trash? What's your favorite song so far? Reply to this email and let us know!

It's pretty insane that most rappers can hardly even write a half-decent song these days. Imagine not being able to write a song at all because you're blind. Well, that doesn't stop the goat, Blind Fury! Blind Fury is a hip-hop recording artist that suffers from spine Bifida. Not only that, Fury was literally not born with eyes. Could you imagine going through a multitude of health issues straight away? How does one continue to do what they love when all odds are against them in such a brutal way?

Despite his health conditions, Blind Fury continues to kill it with the freestyle ability. Not only that, he uses his disabilities as a way to formulate incredible lines. Who knows, maybe the disability is a blessing in disguise.

Click below to watch Blind Fury's latest freestyle to Eminem's track "Kill you."

Notable Lyrics:

The crazy thing is that the height line was off the top.. Wow

PressPlay Quick Links

• Getting your music on Spotify is easy.

• What is a Spotify Canvas?

• Last week at PressPlay

• The future of audio is here

• Eminem stole black music

• Luke Combs vs Morgan Wallen

The Coolest Looking Plugins On The Market

Not only do these look cool, but they also sound cool! BABY Audio makes some of the cleanest !llmind, producer for Drake, Kanye, and many more quotes the following: "Man I'm such a fan of Super VHS, it's one of my favorite plugins ever."

Here at PressPlay we highly suggest their "Smooth Operator" plugin. This plugin automatically searches for and destroys bad frequencies from your mix. This saves quite a bit of time as this EQ process can be quite tedious.

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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