Now distributing to Taobao.com
Within Taobao’s expansive digital realm, users are granted the capability to generate, modify, and share concise, user-created videos. These videos find their way to fellow users through various channels, including a dynamic ‘news feed’ and User Homepages. These videos frequently incorporate snippets of audio recordings, referred to as “Clips.” These Clips can either be sourced from Taobao’s rich “Yinlou” music library or uploaded directly by users themselves, denoted as “User Clips.” Cygnus Music is now distributing to Taobao’s library.
Instagram Broadcast Channels
Meta has introduced a feature on Instagram known as Broadcast Channels, which has been rolled out globally. In essence, these channels serve as a platform for creators to spread messages to specific individuals within their designated Broadcast Channel. This innovative feature empowers content creators by enabling them to invite their followers or paid subscribers into an exclusive space.
Sped Up, Slowed down and Hardstyle versions of songs
2022/2023 saw a new phenomena with Sped Up, Slowed down and Hardstyle versions of songs gaining great success online. This was primarily driven from TikTok and then crossed over to Spotify, YouTube and more. The key genres leading the charge on this new style was mainly Pop, Phonk, Electro and Trap, with the majors jumping into the trend. Here’s what you need to know…
‘Original Sounds’ are DAMAGING your success on TikTok…
The problem? Most labels and artists are not using TikTok correctly, and it’s damaging their marketing campaigns hugely. Many artists and labels upload an original sound with their content instead of selecting their TikTok sound from the audio library.
Spotify Introduces ‘Blend’
“Blend” on Spotify is a feature that allows you to create a collaborative playlist with a friend. This playlist is essentially a musical representation of your friendship, where both you and your friend contribute tracks to the playlist. It’s a way to share and discover music together, creating a unique blend of your musical tastes.
TIDAL Artist Home is Tidal’s new artist dashboard.
TIDAL Artist Home is Tidal’s new artist dashboard. At launch, it focuses on letting artists and their teams directly manage what fans see when they visit their artist profile on TIDAL.
We’re going to illustrate the product experience for artists and team members using the platform.
Fast Track Marketing using TikTok, Instagram & Spotify
By creating a music marketing plan, artists & labels can cut through the noise and capture the attention of their target audience. This involves crafting a distinct identity, building a strong online presence, and employing various platforms and tools to create a meaningful connection with fans.
We’re seeing more and more clients focus on the cross promotion and benefits of 3 key DSP’s, TikTok, Instagram and Spotify. We now offer you some tips on how to use them within your campaigns.
We’ve partnered with Volumo
We’ve partnered with Volumo to push your music even further. A new DSP, the store aims to provide a consumption offering for the music industry.
Volumo was born with a clear vision: to overcome the limitations of existing music stores and create an enhanced platform catering to both music enthusiasts and professionals. The company often emphasises their commitment to supporting artists in making a sustainable living from their music. This becomes particularly significant for niche music, which may not achieve mainstream popularity, yet deserves genuine recognition and backing.
Launching September 2023.
We’ve partnered with Talentir
Talentir’s innovative digital ecosystem empowers music creators by providing complete control over their work and introducing a fair and transparent revenue stream. With the co-ownership model, artists and fans can now benefit from trading music videos, creating a unique revenue stream for all stakeholders.
Through smart contracts on the Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution, Arbitrum, music, and content creators can convert their YouTube video rights into shared assets. This process allows artists to actively engage their fanbase and involve them in their success stories. Fans, in turn, gain a share of the advertising revenue and become integral parts of their favorite artists’ communities.
A.I Music Marketing Integration
The term A.I or Artificial Intelligence has been bandied about for a long time within the music industry. Despite the constant “terrors” that it will “kill” the music business, it does provide itself as a useful tool. Rather than view A.I as a replacement, it’s important to view it as something that can significantly aid your music career.
First of all, if you’re unaware, it’s important to create an understanding of what A.I is. In a general sense, A.I systems are designed to take in and interpret data and make/create decisions. The systems that use A.I aim to replicate human abilities such as perceiving, reasoning and learning . With this in mind, Cygnus Music are going to show some of our favourite tools to help aid in your music marketing plans.
Threads and why do musicians need it?
Threads is a new freely downloadable app that has caused quite a stir recently. It’s a text-based conversation platform developed by Meta. According to Meta’s description, Threads is specifically designed to serve as a hub where communities gather to engage in discussions that can range from current topics to upcoming trends.
How to use TikTok in Your Music Marketing Campaign.
In the realm of music discovery, the platforms available for artists can almost seem endless. From gaining placement within huge Spotify playlists to landing features within big publications, almost anything can “break” an artist in 2023. However, no strategy has been seen to possess the level of artist-to-fan engagement that TikTok conjure up.
Spotify launches new “This Is” Playlist Feature
DSPs are constantly evolving with new tech updates to push fan engagement to the front of their platforms. No partnership within this field comes more exciting than Spotify’s. Spotify have recently announced multiple new developments within the platform that all artists should be aware of. Most recently, their newest development has taken place within “This Is” Playlists. The “This Is” playlists are Spotify-generated playlists that act as an artist’s Greatest Hits. It is made automatically after 50 songs are released to a Spotify page.
TikTok – New Release Feature
Last week, TikTok announced their “New Release” feature, which will allow new releases to receive increased visibility and engagement on the platform.
How it Works:
- Automatic Application of the “New” tag: When you release a new song on TikTok, they will automatically apply the “new” tag in the Sounds Detail Page, the For You Page, and the Music Tab.
- Highlight and Pin Your New Release: You now have the ability to highlight and pin your release within your Music Tab on your profile, creating maximum visibility for your fanbase.
Cover Songs, Licensing & Sampling
It is important to recognise that the legal implications surrounding covers and samples diverge significantly for songwriters and music creators. In this article, we will delve into these separate but intertwined subjects, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of how copyright law addresses covers and samples, and the potential impact on your publishing royalties.
Spotify Discovery Mode
Today, 33% of all discoveries on Spotify happen via personalised recommendations in algorithmic contexts. With ‘Discovery Mode’, Cygnus Music will signal tracks to Spotify to push through their radio and autoplay algorithms to reach more listeners across the world. This feature is in beta and Cygnus Music is one of a few key distribution partners who have onboarded with Spotify.
NEW: 2023 Feature Submission Form
We have created a new form for clients to submit significant marketing updates to us and this replaces the two previous forms. The new 2023 form will allow clients to add their supporting information much faster and it allows us to relay this information more effectively to stores (DSPs).
Cygnus Music Tier ‘A’ Status
Cygnus Music’s pillar review on YouTube comes back at Tier ‘A’ Status again. This is the highest tier that YouTube awards and means that all Cygnus Music clients receive higher amounts of revenue than companies below Tier ‘A’ status.
NEW Article added: YouTube Shorts
Shorts are exploding on YouTube, generating over 50 Billion views/day. Artist channels uploading both Shorts & long-form are seeing better watch time & subscriber growth.
YouTube Shorts is a way for anyone to connect with a new audience using just a smartphone and the Shorts camera in the YouTube app. YouTube’s Shorts creation tools makes it easy to create short-form videos that are up to 60 seconds long with our multi-segment camera.
We have put together some best practice advice for artists and labels here.
NEW ‘Clips’
Spotify launches ‘Clips’ – short, under-30-second vertical videos that allow you to express your artistry and invite fans into your creative process, all while keeping your music front-and-centre.
Unlike other short-form video platforms, Clips on Spotify are attached to artist profiles and can be attached to tracks and albums – putting your music at the centre of the experience so viewers can easily listen after watching your videos. It gives you a way to inspire fandom and long-term success.
Instagram Reels Pro Techniques
Reels continues to be the #1 way to reach new fans/followers on Instagram.
Instagram Reels are short, entertaining videos that can be up to 60 seconds long and are created using the reels feature within the Instagram app. Here are some low lift, high impact quick tips to get you into the Reels game.
Spotify – Algorithm Update
Starting this week, Spotify made an update to the algorithm that determines track selection and track ranking for the Popular section on artist profiles on Spotify. Previously, tracks that appeared within artist Popular sections were determined based on individual track popularity. The updated algorithm will calculate Popular section tracks based upon recording popularity rather than individual track popularity. This method will result in a more accurate reflection of artists’ current top tracks and will resolve issues such as: Downranking of tracks with multiple live versions (as a result of play counts fragmenting with each additional version)
Discrepancies between what appears in artists’ Top Songs sections within Spotify for Artists vs. what appears in artists’ Popular sections on platform. Please note that as of this week many top-performing artists’ Popular sections on Spotify will begin to refresh to reflect the algorithm update.
TikTok Marketing & Resources
Submissions now open for 2023 + PPL reminder
Roster / PPL Submissions
You can of course register your content directly with PPL via www.ppluk.com.
Set times for TikTok Sounds, Previews and Insta Reels
Spotify Wrapped 2022
NEW YouTube Handles
NEW TikTok, Instagram & Facebook Early Delivery
NEW Statement Overview Page
We have just launched a new ‘Statement Overview’ page. To access the page simply login, go to ‘Accounts’, click on your label and you’ll be brought to the NEW ‘Account Transactions’ page.
Click on ‘Overview’ next to any distribution royalty statement and you’ll go through to the NEW ‘Statement Overview’ page. You can now access your label statement, products summary and artist accounting tools within this overview page.
SoundCloud ‘Blue Tick’
NEW Freelance Designers and Writers
Essentials to Read!
PPL added to statements
Facebook launches music revenue sharing
Instagram QR / Juno Pre-Orders /
Spotify Codes
Important: Content ID changes on Meta
Further to our email on Monday regarding suspected changes to Instagram and Facebooks content ID algorithm, we now have an update of the situation.
Meta (Facebook & Instagram) uses a company called Audible Magic who provide a content ID infrastructure, and this is also who companies like SoundCloud use. As of June 27, Meta will no longer be using Audible Magic and will be using its own Rights Manager content ID system.
The change on Meta is good news as content will be better protected and have more effective monetisation. At Cygnus Music we see revenue increasing at a significant rate month upon month and this is set to increase further with this update.
As you may have noticed across the music industry, a number of new copyright blocks are starting to happen, mostly on older content. It may be the case that from June 27 there are some settling in issues; however, in anticipation, we are requesting that all labels and artists resubmit their account URLs to us to hopefully prevent any new issues from occurring.
New DSP 140 Plates
Facebook & Instagram Approve List
It appears that Facebook and Instagram have made some changes to their content I.D algorithms and this has resulted in several clients reporting issues with content on their label pages.
Whilst many of our clients have approved accounts on the platforms, we feel that it is best for us to resupply Facebook and Instagram with an updated list. We are waiting for Facebook and Instagram to update partners on what exact changes have been made.
In the meantime, please can you submit your accounts via the form below, and email [email protected] if you experience any issues on these platforms.
New Graphic Designer
Free Artist Accounting!
Smash Social Media
New DSPs!
Getting into Official Playlists FAQ’s
Official playlists support: Where a track has been added to a playlist that is curated by the stores own in-house editorial team. Many of the biggest playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon, Yandex, NetEase, SoundCloud etc, are managed by the stores themselves.
We have put together a page to provide transparency so that artists and labels can strengthen their positions and increase their chances of getting official playlist placements.
Adding Lyrics to Songs
If you want to post your lyrics on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Apple Music, Amazon Music Alexa, YouTube, Spotify and Tidal, we suggest that you use Musixmatch.
Musixmatch is the music industry’s preferred provider of lyrics with millions individuals contributing to creating the largest catalogue of lyrics in the world. Our deliveries to stores and streaming sites worldwide allow you to utilse the tools at Musixmatch.
Spotify Only Singles
Roster / PPL Submissions
If you use our ISRC codes when creating your releases and you would like us to submit your labels catalogue to PPL, please ensure you submit your releases using the Label Roster tab.
New DSP added: FEED.FM
New store added to all standard distribution lists.
Feed.fm is a company that has developed a technology which allows users to add music to other applications, fitness devices, and physical spaces.
Request a Verification Badge on Instagram
SmartLinks 2.0
BiteSize Recap
Label Access to Apple Music
Beatport HYPE
Rotor Videos + Exclusive Deals! 🔥🔥🔥
We are pleased to inform you that we have just partnered with ROTOR to offer an exclusive discount for all distribution clients.
New Accounting Development!
Asian DSP’s Update
- Netease – June 2020- Up to August
- Anghami – April 2021 – May 2021
- Alibaba – Oct 2020 – Feb 2021 (remaining expected in the following months)
- Resso – Jan 2020 – May 21 (This should be with you in either Aug or Sept)
Important Account Information & NEW Developments!
Cygnus speaks with Promoly on Spotify
Cygnus Music Director, Lewis Sinclair speaks to CEO of Promoly about how Cygnus Music started, Pitching to Spotify, Starting a Record Label and much more.
+ JunoDownload are inviting labels to add their logo and biography to label pages. Please see below and use the Google Form to submit the content for your label.
Black History Month | Juno Download
“October is Black History Month in the UK and at Juno Download we want to play our small part, raising awareness on problems such as underrepresentation and discrimination in the Music Industry. Throughout the whole month we are going to put the spotlights on the amazing work of Black DJs and producers as well as giving some deserved extra space to Black-owned record labels!
We are featuring a selection of great and emerging Black artists and their work on a dedicated landing page.If you are interested in collaborating with us, please submit the following form by no later than the 20th of September.”
Parity on Spotify & Apple
Both Spotify and Apple Music ask for Parity, meaning that they ask for a release to be available on their platform at the same time it’s been made available for fans to listen to publically anywhere else.
Deezer for Creators hub
Deezer recently launched their new Deezer for Creators hub, a mobile and desktop destination for artists, managers and podcasters that provides analytical performance data based on how fans and listeners engage with music and podcasts for in-depth insight into their streams.
Claim an Instagram Reel
If you, or one of your artists/managers, identifies an Original Audio on Reels that is, in fact, one of your sound recordings, then you can manually request Attribution for this Original Audio via the form below.
Instagram will re-title the original audio to an official sound recording, and this Reel and all others created with the same audio will be aggregated on the Audio Page associated with the official song.
Changes to Payment Times
As of now, payment days will be every Tuesday and Thursday, meaning you’ll get your money even faster. We will now process all new invoices on Tuesdays and Thursdays by 6pm BST.
Invoices submitted after 4pm BST Thursday will be paid on the following Tuesday, and invoices submitted after 4pm BST Tuesday will be paid on Thursday.
Note: Bacs can take a day to go through, international may take an additional day, Payal is often immediate.
Essential Links & Forms
Creative Writing at Cygnus Music
Luke has worked on PR campaigns for Universal Music Group, Merky ACE, Funky Dee, Snowy, DJ Argue, XP BURSTGANG and others. He’s a former editor of the specialist publication Once Upon A Grime and writes bylines in Genius, Clash Magazine, Link Up TV, The Line of Best Fit & Qobuz.
Ryan is the founder, editor and sole writer for specialist music platform The Art of Grime. He regularly writes features, monthly reviews and artist interviews. He works freelance PR for Digital 101 Recordings and writes bylines in specialist music publications such as Truants.
New Lead Time + SoundCloud Monetisation
Please note the following announcements regarding; a new reduced lead in time for release submissions, SoundCloud’s new 3rd party montisation request form for premiers and uploads and an update regarding Pretzels onboarding process.
Make money from Twitch via Pretzel
- Complete the Pretzel consent form.
- You will then receive a composition information form which must be completed.
- Pretzel will notify us once your label has been accepted.
- We will open the delivery feed for your label.
Spotify Marquee Now Available in UK + Ireland (125k+)
Spotify has now expanded its Marquee product to UK and Ireland in addition to US, Canada and Australia.
Please note that Spotify’s Marquee tool is still in its rollout stage and this tool is only available for artists with more than 125k monthly listeners in the target territory.
SPOTIFY Editorial: Significant Press Updates
We recently published an article called PRO TIPS on pitching to Spotify!
Artists and labels should be using Spotify for Artists to pitch their tracks/songs to Spotify for consideration for editorial, ie: playlist placement and playlist takeovers. (Not applicable to Various Artist releases)
We have created a new form that allows you to provide any significant press updates. We will email this information to Spotify to support any pitches you make through Spotify for Artists.
New Store: SberZvuk
New Store: Pretzel
Pretzel provides licensed music for streamers. Music can be used on Twitch without having to worry about content ID strikes. DMCA-safe music for users monetised streams and VODs.
Pretzel playlists and catalogue are constantly updated and curated by Pretzel Staff.
We will deliver all new content to Pretzel and providing you have a publisher, your content may be uploaded and used on the platform. If you do not have publishing in place we will share a consent form.
Cygnus Music – Community Music’s Official Preferred Distribution Partner
“Community Music are proud to announce that we have formalised an official partnership with Cygnus Music to make them our preferred distribution partner.”
Spotify Artist Linking
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Artist Managers or Labels who distribute content via Cygnus Music will need to submit requests via the content relocation form in Spotify for Artists.
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PR Agencies / Campaigns /Promos
We often get asked which PR agencies our clients work with and what options are available when looking to commission a marketing campaign for a release.
Below are a number of leading companies who our clients have recommended. All these companies are well established, have worked on hundreds of campaigns with many high-profile clients, and are Dance Music specialists.
Why you should jump on Spotify Shows!
Store Features & Playlists
Beatport Expands on Bass Genres
