Warner Music Group is getting smart about looking for breakout artists.
Today, the old-school record label revealed it has entered a rather clever partnership with Shazam, maker of the popular smartphone app that helps people identify unfamiliar songs. Through the deal, Warner will gain access to Shazam data that describes what songs people are listening to, and using this data, Warner will seek to identify break-out artists. It's just one way that the entrenched music labels are leaning on new technology to reinvent themselves in a changing music market.
Shazam handles about 500 million song identification requests each month, and that gives the company a prime view of the new artists and new tunes that are beginning to resonate with the public. People turn to Shazam any time they're unsure of what music they're listening to, whether it's on the radio, at a bar, in a clothing boutique -- wherever.
Meanwhile, Warner Music is among the scores of traditional media companies trying to figure out how mobile devices, the internet, and other technologies can help streamline the traditionally scattershot process of identifying promising new artists. Data from Shazam could be the answer.
In internet speak, the record label will use Shazam to mine the Long Tail. In other words, the app will provide a means of cutting through all the obscure new songs and artists that pop up across the world with each passing day. If it pinpoints promising artists making waves on Shazam, Warner says, it will sign them to a new, Shazam-branded record label. These acts will then be able to reach back into Shazam for marketing purposes, communicating with the Shazam users who tagged their songs and helped launch their careers.
Or at least that's the idea. The marriage between new tech and old school record labels is still a work in progress. At moment, the whole recording industry is experimenting with internet and mobile tools. Music labels have warmed to the idea of recruiting new stars from YouTube, and Warner is among the labels that have stuck deals with the site so that they get paid when their music turns up in amateur videos. Universal Music has gone a step further, launching its own YouTube label.
Streaming services like Pandora and Spotify are probably the next frontier. Both run programs that share listening data with artists, and they could easily do the same with labels, who could more profitably exploit data on listening trends.
But it's not enough for the labels to merely partner with online music services. They must act on what they learn from these new talent sources, investing money and attention in potential breakout stars and feeding their music back into these services. Warner has the right idea. And now we'll see if it works.
