ARTIST MIXES: Phase 2 of Proton’s DJ Mixes on Spotify & Apple Music
The story so far.
At Proton, we power distribution for 1450 independent electronic music labels and 30,000+ artists. Almost every track we release is meant to be heard in a DJ mix. But when fans listen to a DJ mixing tracks in the club or on SoundCloud, the music labels and artists who released the tracks don’t earn any royalties. So there’s massive potential for electronic music creators to increase their earnings, if only we had platforms that paid fairly…
Since 2018, Proton has been working to convert Spotify & Apple Music into exactly that: platforms that fairly pay creators for DJ mixes. Combined, these major platforms already have ~170 million paying subscribers.
In October 2018, Proton launched Phase 1 of our DJ mix beta on Spotify & Apple Music. We called this phase “Label Mixes” and gave our own music labels the ability to release mixes featuring their own catalog. Mixes had to be uploaded by the music label, and could only feature their own tracks. But it was a big step because everyone got paid fairly: even the DJ.
In under a year over 150 mixes have been released and generated nearly 3 million paid plays. We learned a few things. On average, each mix boosted a track’s paid plays by over 7% — and in some cases, over 1000%. To our knowledge, more DJs have uploaded mixes to Spotify through Proton than any other platform.
Phase 1 was just the beginning. So what’s next?
Phase 2: Artist Mixes
The next chapter of our beta begins now, and we’re calling it “Artist Mixes”.
- Any artist that has music released on a Proton label is invited to the beta.
- Artists can upload mixes directly, without needing help from their label.
- Artists can play any track from any Proton label they’re signed to so far.
This means whenever an artist has a new release on a Proton label, they can easily publish a DJ mix on Spotify & Apple Music featuring their new music to help it reach a wider audience and increase their earnings.
Uploading mixes to Spotify & Apple Music is not as easy (yet) as uploading mixes to SoundCloud or MixCloud: it requires a bit more work, including tracklisting your mix and slicing that mix into WAV files. This is beta though, and we’ll be making things easier as we go.
If you’re a Proton artist, click here to read our guide & get started!
How do artists, labels, and DJs get paid?
In Phase 2, earnings from DJ mixes are handled in the same way as Phase 1:
- For each track in the DJ mix, artists & labels earn the same money as an unmixed play from their original release.
- DJs earn money too, coming from Proton’s share. DJs earns 10% of all revenue for their mix. This 10% is on top of any earnings the DJ might already have on a track. This means if a DJ plays their own tracks in a mix, they earn 10% more than they normally would from an unmixed play.
I’m an artist on a Proton label. How do I get started?
We’ve written a helpful guide any Proton artist can read that explains everything they need to know to start uploading mixes immediately. Artists can also contact our support team for guidance at support@protonradio.com, but please read the full guide before reaching out. If you send us an email, please include your artist name and the Proton labels you’re signed to.
I’m an artist, but my label isn’t distributed by Proton. Can I still join the beta?
Artists can only join the beta if their music label is distributed by Proton. But if your label is not distributed by Proton yet, speak to your label manager and ask if they’d be interested in switching distribution to Proton — we make it very easy for electronic music labels to switch over from other distributors. You can share this link with your label manager and ask them to write jason@protonradio.com for more details.
I’m an artist but not signed to a Proton label yet. Does Proton accept demo submissions?
You must be signed to a Proton label before you can join the beta. However, Proton makes it very easy to sign a track with our labels. If you’d like, send us a demo and we’ll share to our 1450 music labels to help you get started.
To send us a demo, prepare a private SoundCloud link (with downloads enabled) and send to: demos@protonradio.com — feel free to send a short clip of your demo, it doesn’t need to be the full track.
I run a music label, but not distributed by Proton. Can I still participate?
Only music labels distributed by Proton can join the beta. However, we make it very easy to transfer distribution if you’re interested. Read our FAQ, and email jason@protonradio.com to chat more about switching over.
I’m a DJ, not a Proton artist, and I don’t run a music label. Can I still participate?
Not yet, but keep an eye on this blog as we expand the beta…
