Is obvious that the streaming music platforms are not the future of the industry but the present. However, every day artists from all over the world continue to make the same mistakes: confusing digital presence with direct monetization is one of them. Being present is important, but it is even more important to control that narrative and apply it efficiently to the interests and objectives of your brand. That’s why the new chapter of our series “How to make money with your music” is dedicated to Amazon Music.
What is Amazon Music?
Amazon Music is Amazon’s music streaming service and is divided into Prime, Unlimited and Free versions.
Amazon Music Prime was born in 2014 and, as its name suggests, it did so as a complement for Prime members. This means that all Amazon Prime users can enjoy this service at no additional cost. This version includes access to more than 2 million selected songs, thousands of stations and the best playlists.
Amazon Music Unlimited was created in 2016 as a premium service. Therefore, it requires an additional subscription (Amazon Prime users have discounts). This version includes access to their massive music library of over 75 million songs in HD, ad-free, and on-demand. In addition, it has offline mode, unlimited skips, news and stations, playlists and podcasts.
Amazon Music Free is the free version. It has the same catalog as Amazon Music Prime but includes ads.
How to get an artist profile on Amazon Music?
As a musician, the first thing you need to do is to claim your artist profile on Amazon Music for Artists. In previous articles we have talked about the importance of having this type of profile and the advantages they can bring to your career.
Once the app is downloaded, fill in all the required information on the verification page. It is very important that you don’t leave any field blank, including the company or distributor section. Finally, claim the profile.
After a few days you will receive confirmation from Amazon Music. From the moment you are verified, you will have access to the metrics that will help you to develop better marketing and promotion strategies. You’ll know exactly how many plays your music has, where your audience is geographically located, which playlists your songs have been included to, and even more interesting, you’ll have access to the Daily Voice Index. This report collects the number of times that Alexa has helped a user to find your music: searches that may have occurred using your name, the title of your song or directly the lyrics of the song!
How to include your music on Amazon Music?
As an artist you can’t do it personally. If you want your music catalog to be included on Amazon Music, you must contact your record company or, if you are an independent artist, you can use the services of a distributor. If the occasion requires it, Republic Network could be in charge of distributing your musical catalog so that it is available on Amazon Music and the rest of the streaming platforms on the market.
How to include your music on Amazon Music playlists?
Like any other music streaming service, Amazon Music has its own playlists curated by its team. And, unlike what we saw in the previous point, from your artist profile you can send songs to be considered for them.
To do this you have to access Amazon Music for Artists and from there the New Releases tool, where you must:
–Choose the song: remember that it must be new. You can only choose one per release, you must send it with the reproduction rights and it must not have been more than 14 days since its release.
–Explain why you have chosen it, why the public will like it and what type of campaign you have designed to promote it.
–Add a genre.
–Add the lyrics.
–Optional, but recommended: make a list of similar artists and what mood you identify your sound with. And although Amazon has its own metrics, it doesn’t hurt to indicate where you think your listeners are.
If your music is not finally selected by the curators to be included in one of these playlists, don’t give up. The time and effort you have dedicated will not have gone to waste. Your fans and followers will receive both publications and notifications with the release information, as well as alerts and notifications from Alexa when your music is requested.
