Reports Music

A field of all levels Strategizing music’s attention economy

Tatiana Cirisano
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20,000 foot view:  Over roughly the past decade, each stage in the evolution of the attention economy accelerated the pace of fragmentation and oversaturation in music, unearthing new challenges for each micro-generation of artists. With all these generations now competing in the same playing field, artist strategy depends strongly on the era in which they rose to prominence. On streaming, today’s new artists and releases face two unique challenges: competing with pre-streaming-era cultural moments, and competing with the growing volume of all music in history. 

Key insights 

  • Each stage            the attention economy has unearthed            entirely new set of circumstances            challenges for artists, with the            landscape growing increasingly over-saturated and            over time
  • On streaming,            are peaking faster: an annual            of            songs reached number one            Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart between            and 2017, and            between 2018            November 2022
  • Pre-streaming-era cultural            moments are lasting longer, and            remembered better
  • Only            of            say they listen to more            music than newer music
  • On streaming,            releases compete not only with            rapidly growing volume of other            music, but also with all            that has ever been released
  • The artists            rose to prominence over roughly            past            years fall into six            each necessitating a unique approach            today’s landscape
  • The environment            which artists first rise to            is as important to their            plan as the environment we            in today

Companies and brands mentioned in this report:  American Idol, Beyoncé, Billboard, Billie Eilish,            Boiler Room, Britney Spears, Chance the Rapper, Christina Aguilera, Discord, Doja Cat, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Fleetwood Mac, Fred Again…, Glass Animals, Harry Styles, Instagram, Jack Halow, Kate Bush, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Latto, Michael Jackson, Mr Beast, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, PewDiePie, Post Malone, Tai Verdes, Taylor Swift, The Kid LAROI, TikTok