Streaming Singles, powered by Proton
With over 2000 electronic record labels running on our platform, we’ve had a front row seat to the massive growth of music streaming over the past decade. Before Spotify, our artists & music labels earned the most from individual track downloads on Beatport. Now, streaming is king.
In 2021 major music labels are earning $2.5 million per hour from streaming. But if you run a small independent electronic music label, it can be difficult to punch through the noise & get the exposure (and earnings) you deserve.
One reason for the struggle: streaming platforms like Spotify give preferential treatment to singles: individual releases with just 1 track.
But electronic music labels often (if not always) have multiple tracks and multiple artists on every release: various artists compilations, EPs with multiple remixers, or albums with several collabs/featured artists.
When a release has more than 3 artists, it simply gets buried on Spotify:
- Not all the tracks can be pitched to Spotify’s curators.
- Only 1 track per release can get featured in New Release Radar.
- The release gets dumped in the “Appears On…” section at the bottom of the artist’s profile, never to be seen again.
Increasingly, as electronic music labels feel the pain, they’ve returned to the classic tradition of releasing individual singles: selecting some (or all) tracks to get released on their own, then the full release comes out later.
In the past, this “solution” has been painful, time consuming chore. Creating tons of separate releases, re-uploading cover art & masters, and configuring singles not to release on the DJ shops. (DJs hate seeing the same song re-released multiple times — original artists don’t like it either!)
So, Proton built a better way, to stop the pain.
Proton’s new Streaming Singles tool gives all our music labels the ability to quickly & easily release individual tracks from larger releases, without re-sending them to DJ stores like Beatport.
- After scheduling a release with multiple artists, labels can easily select individual tracks to get their own separate release as a Streaming Single.
- Streaming Singles are setup automagically, no need to re-upload WAVs, cover art, metadata, or anything else. Just schedule a release date! 🙌
- Even better, Streaming Singles are hidden from DJ platforms by default, so they won’t clutter shops like Beatport. Streaming Singles also help recoup costs from the original release, without any extra configuration. 👍
Streaming Singles can all be pitched to Spotify’s curators, get considered for New Release Radar, and be prominently featured on artist’s profiles — helping your next release get the exposure it deserves, without tons of extra work.
Already powered by Proton distro? All our labels have access now to Streaming Singles for free. Get started here!
Run an electronic music label not powered by Proton yet? Learn more about us! Hundreds of music labels have switched to Proton from other distros because we make it super easy to make the jump. Our crew is waiting to hear from you: launch@protonradio.com
