Independent labels have always faced the challenge of reaching audiences in a crowded and ever-changing music industry. With limited resources and manpower, it can be difficult to navigate the landscape and identify potential opportunities. But what if there was a tool that could help these labels better understand the streaming data and listener behaviour that drives success in the modern music world? Say hello to Every Noise At Once.
The website that aggregates data from Spotify to create a comprehensive genre map of the music streaming platform. The site’s creator, Glenn McDonald, worked as a software engineer for Spotify before creating Every Noise at Once in 2013, and the platform has become a valuable resource for music fans, journalists, and you guessed it, even independent labels.
At its core, Every Noise at Once offers a visual representation of the vast array of genres, sub-genres and micro genres available on Spotify. Users can explore the genre map, clicking on individual genres to listen to samples and discover related artists. But the site’s true value lies in its data-driven insights.
Every Noise at Once compiles data on the most popular artists and songs within each genre, as well as information on listener demographics and behaviour. This information can come in really handy as you look to identify potential new audiences or target your marketing efforts more effectively.
For example, let’s say your independent label specialises in psychedelic rock. By exploring Every Noise at Once, you might discover that your audience is predominantly male and between the ages of 25 and 34. You might also discover that listeners to their genre tend to be fans of other genres such as shoegaze, noise pop, and post-punk. Armed with this information, you can target your social media ads to men in the 25-34 age range who have expressed an interest in these related genres. You can also use this data to guide your artist development, seeking out artists who fit the profile of your target audience.
Of course, there are some limitations to the data offered by Every Noise at Once. As the site only aggregates data from Spotify, it may not be representative of the wider music landscape. It also doesn’t provide information on listener behaviour outside of Spotify or data on physical music sales, so be aware that despite how far you can dig on this site, you won’t be getting the full picture of any of the genres you’re looking into.
Despite this, for labels operating in the digital realm, the insights offered by Every Noise at Once are just about invaluable. In a world where streaming dominates the music industry, understanding listener behaviour on platforms like Spotify is essential, and there aren’t many tools that can provide better insight if you know how to use it than Every Noise At Once.
One independent label that has found success using Every Noise at Once is King Pizza Records, a Brooklyn-based label that specialises in garage and punk rock. In an interview with Rolling Stone, label founder Greg Hanson explained that he regularly uses Every Noise at Once to identify potential new audiences and explore related genres. Hanson also noted that Every Noise at Once can be useful for identifying international audiences.
Even if you just go on the site to mess around with it, it’s worth getting your head around. Worse case scenario you might find yourself a couple new artists to add to your playlist rotation, and best case scenario… Well, best case you find your next big star!
If you’ve found this relevant and helpful, visit Instrumental to see how we can help you further grow your label!