Facebook, Instagram, Snap, YouTube, and other social media companies offer programs to connect creators with brands, and now Spotify is doing the same. The company was announced the launch of AUX, the new in-house ‘music consultancy’ for brands; While not necessarily a creator marketplace, the program has a similar goal — it will facilitate connections between brands and emerging artists for various campaigns to benefit both parties.
For Spotify, AUX also represents another source of income, as the company says brands can pay Spotify to leverage the new service.
The consultancy’s first client is Coca-Cola, which sees the drinks giant working with Berlin-based DJ, producer, singer and songwriter Peggy Gou. Together, the brand and artist have created a long-term partnership that will include live concerts, events, social media content, branded playlist and promotional support on the platform.
The move sees Spotify take a more proactive stance to facilitate connections and offer its music expertise to brand partners, but also positions the platform as a social network, where creators strike brand deals to pay the bills. The launch, in particular, follows that of Spotify updated payment model, which arrived late last year, promising to bring an additional $1 billion to artists. But critics of the model said so did little to support emerging artistsand indeed, will cut payments to artists who are already receiving lessto boost payments to those who received more.
Now, Spotify is offering those artists who have been cut off from the benefits of the new streaming rights model a new way to make money by working with brands.
“Spotify AUX will expand the opportunities available to artists by offering them a platform for creative expression, financial support and strategic partnerships that transcend traditional industry avenues,” the company explained in a blog post.
“We’re proud to be the first AUX partner to integrate Spotify’s expertise to enable authentic connections with music lovers around the world,” said Joshua Burke, Global Head of Music and Culture Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company. , in a statement shared by Spotify. . “This is a natural progression of our long-standing partnership with Spotify and marks a key milestone in our commitment to artists and the music community. We are excited to launch Coke Studio on Spotify LA, which will provide recording support for emerging artists and a platform to promote their music.”
Although Spotify touts AUX as giving artists another chance to “live from their art,” artists and musicians would likely prefer to be paid better for their streams, rather than having to sign deals with brands like creators and social media influencers.
However, the overabundance of music offered by today’s streaming services — where 120,000+ tracks are uploaded to services every day — means it’s harder for new and emerging artists to get discovered, build an audience and get paid. And while Spotify currently offers over 100 million tracks, AI tools could lead to a flood of AI-generated music over time, creating things. worse. Spotify’s new royalty model with a minimum threshold for song streams further complicates an already difficult situation, forcing artists to look to brand deals as a means of increasing their income.
“Spotify is always looking for ways to leverage our music ecosystem to deepen the connections between artists, brands and fans,” said Jeremy Erlich, VP of Music Content at Spotify, in a statement. “AUX is a natural step for us to help brands strengthen their music strategy and better connect with new audiences through our expert insights and observations from our music team, tailored to the needs of brands,” he added.
