Bypass: Music Industry News for Independent Artists

Friday edition - 2 min read

YouTube Music Launches Superfan Tools (Finally)

What's Up

YouTube finally caught up with its launch of countdown timers for your releases, exclusive thank-you videos for top fans, and merch drop features.

So What

For indies, super fans are 100x more valuable than casual listeners. Right now, YouTube is letting artists take advantage of that. Their new tools let you reward your biggest supporters with exclusive content and early access.

Now What

Set up your YouTube Music for Artists account if you haven't already. Start setting up countdown timers for your next releases and plan exclusive thank-you videos for your most engaged fans. Superfans are like your own unpaid marketing team, so give them a little something special from time to time.

[Read more on MusicBusiness Worldwide]

The Fan Conversion Toolkit: Temple by Groover

What’s Up

New tool alert: Temple by Groover is a new suite of digital tools that help you reach new listeners, engage with your fanbase, and centralize all your music, merch and social links (cool name, by the way; Amazon, take notes).

So What

Let’s be honest, getting streams is the easy part; getting actual fans is a whole other ball game. You might have thousands of monthly listeners, but how many email addresses do you have? Temple gives you microsites, email captures, and advertising tools to own your audience.

Now What

Check out Temple by Groover, especially if you’re already using Groover for playlist promotion. Start with their link-in-bio microsites to consolidate everything in one place. If you want a stable music career, relying on algorithms alone won’t cut it.

[Read more on Hypebot]

OpenPlay vs. The Data Kidnappers

What's Up

This rights management platform is raising millions. Sounds boring, but this is huge for indies.

So What

You know that nightmare where someone steals your keys to keep you locked outside your car, and you can't just leave without it, so you're stuck there? No? Well, it's the same thing distributors do. If you've been through this, you know how brutal it gets. OpenPlay is fighting the scummy behavior of distributors who trap you with your own data.

Now What

Start asking serious questions if you’re taking your music career seriously – who’s controlling my data right now? If you don't know, that's exactly what OpenPlay is solving. Word is they’re dropping new tools soon.

[Full story at Music Ally]