1st December 2020,

The very first report of IMPALA’s new One Step Ahead project is out, and it’s all about playlists in the music streaming market, with a webinar on 11 December at 3pm CET for IMPALA members. Register here: https://cmuinsights.com/onestepahead-playlists/

One Step Ahead is a new digital intelligence facility managed by IMPALA in partnership with CMU, which sets out to enable independent music companies across Europe to navigate and identify trends, developments, challenges and opportunities in the digital music market. IMPALA members can access a series of reports, briefings and webinars. This new report – ‘Playlists And Curation In The Streaming Music Market-  can be accessed here: https://impalamusic.org/one-step-ahead/

In recent years pitching new releases to playlist curators at the on-demand streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Deezer has become a key part of any music marketing campaign. Placement on a popular platform-controlled playlist can drive both discovery and short-term listening, and result in an initial spike in royalties.

But playlists are just one form of curation on the streaming platforms. And it’s important to understand how things are changing and where curation in the streaming music market may head next. The evolution of playlists and curation in the streaming music market presents both challenges and opportunities for independent music companies – both for individual record labels and for the independent community at large.

The first report puts the spotlight on that and identifies five key trends, including the so called ‘democratisation’ of playlist pitching at the streaming platforms; the increased importance of the algorithm; the debate around paid-for promotion; the impact of diversification in the digital market; and challenges caused by the disparity between playlisting operations in different markets.

Based on the new report, IMPALA and CMU are organising a webinar, called IMPALA’s Digital Hour, to discuss best practice playlist marketing, key future trends in streaming service curation, and how the independent community can stay one step ahead.