【】

The formula for success in the Australian music industry is difficult to pin down, but you've got a good chance of achieving it if you get airplay by the nation's youth broadcaster, Triple J.

The desire for artists and bands to land on the radio station's playlists has led to accusations of the "homogenisation" of Triple J'ssound. Some argue the station is now catering to safe, popular music rather that taking on risky acts, which is what the station was originally created for.

For the acts that don't find themselves immediately courted by the likes of Triple J, the influx of subscription-based music streaming services can be a window of opportunity.

The global reach of services such as Spotify and Apple Music can get Australian artists heard around the world, long before they gain any support locally.

Exposure is the biggest advantage of streaming

Gordi, real name Sophie Payten, is a Sydney-based indie artist who has been releasing music since 2014. Payten has had her music on streaming services, including Spotify, since the start of her career, and believes its global reach and "discover" features are its biggest advantage.

"My first intro to the music world has been with streaming, I use streaming services as a consumer as well," Payten told Mashable Australia. "The exposure is so enormous these days that you can accept it's not going to be your main revenue stream, but it can be the main way you get heard around the world."

Getting heard around the world is something that Kllo, an Melbourne-based electronic duo consisting of cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam, has had plenty of success with.

The duo out of Melbourne, Australia has received support from local community stations and Triple J's project for up-and-coming acts, Unearthed, but have achieved most of their success with Spotify. 

"It's helped us so much. It's made it so easy for people to find us, if they're interested in a vibe or an artist we're related to, they can find us and listen to us. It's an extra fan, right there," Kaul told Mashable Australia.

Kllo have accumulated nearly 10 million streams on the platform so far, which can be attributed to being added to high-profile playlists such as "Evening Chill" and "Chillout Lounge," and were also one of Spotify's featured artists in 2015. 

The benefit of being added to a playlist on Spotify is something that Payten also espouses.

"The numbers on one of my songs has hit over a million, and that's pretty much due to getting highlighted on one of their playlists. It enormously boosts your plays and has a domino effect, which is a positive thing," she said.

Playlists aren't an instant path to success. Sean Duarte, from Sydney duo TEES, has been added to playlists, but the plays haven't come by the bucketloads. 

Duarte believes that getting added on Spotify playlists is still the main way to attain success on the platform, but it doesn't replace good old-fashioned buzz. "People talking about your stuff -- that fundamentally drives what people listen to on Spotify," he said. 

Spotify's discovery tools aren't geared to finding smaller acts like his, according to Duarte. He believes that SoundCloud is still the best for discovering fledgling bands and artists. "There's much more of a community," he said.

It's apples and oranges, however, as SoundCloud doesn't have the same amount of licensed music that streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music currently offer. SoundCloud is trying to rectify this with their own streaming subscription service, SoundCloud Go.

Who gets added to playlists?

Kllo came to the platform through Spotify's label relations team in Australia, which liaises with record labels locally to discuss new acts and releases. Spotify heard about Kllo from label Dot Dash, which is the in-house record label of Australian music company, Remote Control.

"Their song 'Make Me Wonder' did quite well. It was getting featured on [music discovery site] Hype Machine, and there was a bit of buzz. I remember my friends kept asking me 'have you heard of Kllo?'," Marcus Thaine from Spotify told Mashable Australia.

Spotify has an in-house music editor, who works alongside the label relations team, in order to decide what artists should be featured on playlists. However, being added on a Spotify playlist is no guarantee that an artist will do well. Kllo, in this case, has captured the zeitgeist of what listeners want.

"They're kind of a recipe for success, if you think what's been working in the music landscape," Thaine said. "Especially in the world of semi-indie music, it's spot on. It's electronic music ... it's very powerful, it's uptempo. Chloe has this beautiful, quite hooky, almost insatiable voice."

Thaine said that Kllo's recent track "Bolide" has the potential to find commercial audiences, thanks to its slick production and pop sensibilities. "It's just a beautiful song, because that's what drew us to it and made us think it could work, on so many crossover levels," he said. 

If Kllo do make the commercial crossover, it'll be a journey that echoes the rise of New Zealand indie-pop singer Lorde not too long ago.

Her hit track "Royals" was featured on one of Napster founder Sean Parker's Spotify playlists all the way back in April 2013, months before it was number one on the U.S. Billboard chart in October that year. 

Being strong on streaming can help with getting on the radio

Kllo's track "Bolide" was added to Triple J'srotation in late-April, long after Kllo gained popularity on Spotify around the world. It was a comparative challenge getting themselves heard on the youth broadcaster, compared to streaming.

"Triple J was a lot harder. I think it's because over the years they've become a bigger station and more commercial," Kaul said. "Although we're still up-and-coming, Spotify grew our audience dramatically and now we have millions of plays ... Just having that little bit of establishment made it not so much of a risk for Triple J to play us."

"These days especially with radio or labels, your streaming numbers are your currency."

However, one of the benefits you are not going to get from a local radio station is global airtime. 

"Strangely enough we've been played the most in Mexico on Spotify," Kaul laughed. "We've been added to a lot of chill and mellow vibe playlists. People listen to that, then they like your music and follow you. Then they pass it on to their friends in Mexico."

Kllo's other strong markets on the platform include the U.S. with 315,000 monthly listeners and Germany with 120,000 monthly listeners. 

Payten said her numbers on streaming services are scrutinised by radio stations and labels, just as record sales once were.

"These days especially with radio or labels, your streaming numbers are your currency. Stations or labels will go on and look to see if you have 500,000 streams, I guess the equivalent used to be record sales ... but not in the same numbers or quantities," she said. 

Despite the exposure, the money isn't always enough

Spotify has faced controversy for the amount in which it pays artists. Spotify ranges on average from $0.006 and $0.0084 per stream, which is "considerably higher" from premium subscribers. 

For Kllo, Spotify streams are surprisingly a major part of the duo's earnings.

"The good thing about Spotify is that it's actually one of our main incomes," Kaul said. "We do receive a bit of money for each play, and it's a small amount. But when you add up the plays, millions of plays, it adds up, and it definitely helps. That element is actually quite good, as unfortunately people don't buy music anymore."

"It's not like I'm waiting for my next Spotify cheque."

While it's good news for Kllo, Payten doesn't share the same sentiments when it comes to making money on streaming.

"It's not like I'm waiting for my next Spotify cheque, because that's not what I'm using it for. There's other ways these days, like merchandise or touring, to make a living in music. At this stage streaming isn't one of them," she said.

"It is moving in the right direction though. As a consumer, I recently got a premium subscription and I think a lot of people are moving towards that ... I don't think we should be relying on them at this stage for income, but maybe down the track that will happen."

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

最新评论