Summary
This article from Franskaya's blog describes a resurgence of interest in some of his tracks on streaming platforms like Apple Music. The musician unexpectedly discovers renewed interest in 'Amitiés Égarées' in particular, which inspires him to dive back into music production in 2023, after a 5-year hiatus. New releases of electronic music are scheduled for September and October 2023, with additional singles anticipated for 2024. Resilience and passion are essential in today's ultra-competitive music world!
From Shadows to Stardom: Fostering and Backing Independent Music Makers
Small gestures that mean a lot to artists
I was pleasantly surprised to see a renewed interest in some of my older titles. "Amitiés Égarées" and "Induxatur", initially overlooked by major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or Deezer, are now experiencing a delightful surge in popularity. The listening stats on Apple Music last month have skyrocketed, filling me with joy and gratitude.
When Your Motivation Is Tied to Streaming Stats
The line is thin between music that's published but unheard and melodies forgotten on a producer's hard drive. Having few or no listens can be disheartening for an artist, feeling as though their creative efforts aren't receiving deserved recognition. I've tasted this bitterness in the past, and with my busy life, I had naturally put the Franskaya project on the back burner.
Le Deezer Mystery
On Deezer, Franskaya's early singles released in 2015 played without any promotion, aside from an artist website that received very few visitors and some tweets as futile as a single H2O molecule in a musician's tear. Despite the minimal promotion, Franskaya's followers on Deezer quickly surpassed 300 in a few weeks. I began to believe that platforms like Deezer supported independent artists, and that music played not because of advertising dollars but due to internal mechanisms that highlighted artistically valuable pieces! But alas, it was an illusion. One day, the stats inexplicably stopped, and Deezer never played my singles again. Why? Only Deezer knows! But that initial enthusiasm was very encouraging for me! Even though my music is somewhat unconventional and vaguely experimental, I had believed there was a potential audience that streaming platforms could reach without any effort on my part.
And Spotify?
As for Franskaya on Spotify, it never really took off. Without promotion, it seems the platform doesn't delve into the digital abyss of its unexplored hard drives to unearth gems and give them a chance to be heard. Instead, Spotify appears to follow a guideline that reads: "if it's not played, we don't play it either." In other words, when users play the music, Spotify's popularity rating determines its artistic value and propels the track further into automated playlists and user-created radios. The artistic value is thus based on listening stats, not the qualities of the track... Without promotion to generate a statistical base that prompts the platform to further promote the tracks, my music would remain unnoticed. Like that of many other artists, no doubt! It's understandable that this realization could be discouraging for a solo artist without the means, desire to associate with a label or record company, or the time to invest in social media (which takes away from music-making when free time is limited). Is Spotify playing its role as a broadcaster well? I still wonder about this today, especially with the computing means now available. But the same question could be asked of commercial radios, where listening rates equate to advertising and therefore profitability or profit. So, little room for outsiders, artists whose notoriety is limited to a niche, but especially those who do not want or do not have the time to play the promo game.
AI DJs on Streaming Platforms Are Black Boxes
Do streaming platforms genuinely support independent artists? I don't have the answer, but I'm not entirely convinced they're fulfilling their role as well as they could in giving talented artists working diligently in the shadows a fair chance to be heard. I don't know... but I can say it's painful for any musician to be completely ignored by streamers. One tends to devalue oneself.
A Hard-Earned Place in the Sun for Solo Artists...
The ideal, of course, is to work as a team and entrust certain roles to other people, like management, promotion, etc. If you're relying solely on yourself, don't expect free and proactive help from multi-billion-dollar streaming platforms. But enough criticism and vacillation! Let's be positive! One thing is for sure, to win the public's favor, a music composer must offer a product of the highest quality.The Winds of Change
Recently, Apple Music began playing some of my singles out of nowhere, without any promotion on my part. I wonder what happened. Maybe Apple Music updated the AI of its digital DJ? Are automated radios now suggesting my music to listeners who enjoy similar genres? It's hard to say! I've done some research but haven't found anything about the parameters of the algorithm behind Apple Music's musical choices. If you have an idea, write to me to let me know!
The Virtue of Perseverance
This reminds me of a quote that success and failure involve difficulties, and perseverance makes the difference in the outcome:
« The road to success and the road to failyre are almost exactly the same. »
— Colin R. Davis
Maybe I should have listened to this British Maestro and persevered between 2017 and today...
A Motivation to Resume Production
This wave on Apple Music encourages me to restart my music production. It's a wonderful encouragement to publish the tracks that have been sleeping on my hard drives, never having been heard. "Apotheo" will be released on September 21st, followed by "Circles", "Conjectures", "Notre-père" and a few others. Stay tuned!
Thank You, Apple Music!
Apple Music now offers fantastic tools to help artists create resources for their albums or singles! I love it!
I thank Apple Music for the support it provides to independent and underground artists. 🧡
