The mindset and operational design of a record label were originally shaped through decades of excessive music distribution and, by extension, audience attention. Before Limewire, iTunes, and then streaming facilities like Spotify, record labels didn’t have festivals about how we pay attention to and buy music. Historically, labels’ monetary methods and resource allocation have focused on upcoming releases, whether it be the release of a new song or the reissue of old albums. Today nothing has changed. The allocation of monetary resources within those labels remains rigid, predetermined through annual budgets reserved for releases through express artists. Modern times require a more agile technique for making an investment in catalog music, proposing the creation of non-refundable budgets or cooperative investment funds. This would allow real-time investment in catalog assets, a mandatory evolution to keep pace with how music is fed and discovered today. Unfortunately, the current setup, geared only toward initial investment in anticipation of quick returns from new releases, hinders the ability to capitalize on the unforeseen opportunities that music catalogs present.
Moving from an expectation of short-term returns to a long-term vision is very important for the industry. The momentary opportunities in the catalogs that justify a reaction are not seismic. For in-progress or older songs, an accumulation of 900 streams from older women ages 18-24 in Toronto following a concert or an artist’s birthday arguably justifies a targeted expense to identify and retain those new audiences for long-term futures. . The practice of allocating really large budgets to marketing campaigns in anticipation of a quick return on investment is not compatible with the nature of catalog music marketing. Unlike new releases, catalog music can rarely benefit from support for smaller, hyper-targeted, data-driven campaigns, which don’t generate quick returns but contribute to a slow accumulation of profits over time. The return on investment for catalog music evolves over time, requiring a move from a highly successful, targeted marketing technique to one that values incremental gains across a broad spectrum of assets. This shift in mindset and operational strategy is imperative for record labels to start jumping in and applying where they can.
Westcott Multimedia, a knowledge firm that optimizes when to spend marketing money on streaming media assets, has conducted initial studies on how long it would take to recoup the investment in buying virtual ads. The effects of the studies were based on knowledge of implementation. from more than 80,000 automated campaigns on Instagram and Facebook. The study decided that if a label was releasing 10 to 30 campaigns per catalog song per year, enough attention had to be paid to those songs to justify that. expense. The label would see a return on investment on average within 12 to 24 months. Faster returns are quite possible, but on average, it takes time to see a slow buildup across an entire catalog.
For the catalog to have good support, the mentality of music rights holders will have to continue to evolve. Instead of solely focusing on selling new or reissued music with big budgets and expecting a quick turnaround, he deserves to pay more attention to his vast collection of older songs. It’s about implementing smarter, more consistent marketing efforts at the right time, which may not pay off quickly, but will gradually generate profits over time. This technique requires the adoption of automated AI. -Set of equipment driven to manage the volume of catalog sheets found on the web today. In addition to the willingness to invest in the long-term perspective of music, which only generate returns on investment.