TuneCore has rolled out a new service for artists to enable them to distribute music directly to social platforms.
The move by the leading DIY digital music distributor means that artists can target platforms such as TikTok with new music ahead of wider distribution to DSPs and download stores.
The Social Platforms service was created as a one-stop solution to facilitate discovery and virality for independent artists, while monetising their music right away.
Andreea Gleeson, CEO, TuneCore, said: “In the past few years, social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook have become the first stage for music discovery, providing a new way for music creators to start building audiences and accelerate discovery and virality. With the launch of distribution to Social Platforms, TuneCore is offering a one-stop solution for artists to release and monetise their music on key social media platforms with no-upfront fee to provide an easily accessible launchpad for creators.”
With the Social Platforms service, artists are now able to distribute their music directly into the music libraries of social media networks including TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Reels. There is no upfront fee for this new service. TuneCore will participate in a small share of revenues generated by the tracks on the platforms.
Getting into the platforms’ music libraries - so that new music is readily accessible for creators and influencers - is key for artists’ earning power.
When an artist posts a video of a new song directly on their social channels, their music is not easily accessible for creators to use in their posts and so does not generate revenue. Through Social Platforms, artists can now make their songs available in the music libraries of key social media platforms easily in one step, increasing virality opportunities and monetising new music immediately.
Discovery algorithms of social media platforms have helped indie artists break through to large audiences.
In November 2020, TuneCore artist Charlotte Sands (pictured) posted a demo of her song Dress. Just a few hours after posting, the TikTok video had gone viral and the comments section was filled with requests for her to release the song.
Sands released the song a few days later, and Dress was featured on multiple Spotify playlists including New Music Fridays, Teen Beats, New in Pop, Fresh Finds Pop, and she was the cover artist for that week’s Fresh Finds playlist.
Currently Sands has over one million monthly listeners on Spotify, with Dress clocking in at 11 million streams, and the original video on TikTok at 1.3 million plays. She’s signed to TuneCore’s parent company Believe and released a new EP earlier this autumn. She is supporting Yungblud as opening act for his tour.
Gleeson said: “With social media, there are no gatekeepers, the fans decide what they like and what goes viral. As fan behavior and music discovery changes, artists need to pivot as well. TuneCore is not only enabling indie artists to connect with fans, and viral moments, we’re helping them to monetize those interactions.”
Social Platforms encourages artists to use the social roll-out as a pre-step to a wider release plan to DSPs, which can be put in place quickly if fans discover the music.
Artists are able to test an unlimited number of songs for no upfront fee. As songs gain traction, they can distribute their music through TuneCore to over 150 stores and streaming platforms worldwide.
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