By Richard Hinkley, Co-Founder, Repped Music
The recorded music industry has undergone a seismic shift in what success looks like. We must now recognise the fundamental changes in how that success is achieved.
A fundamental change
Historically, an artist’s rise to prominence hinged on pivotal “tentpole” moments – getting signed by a label; a highly anticipated release date; being added to a radio playlist; or delivering a key TV performance. These moments were meticulously planned, creating discrete spikes in an artist’s trajectory and culminating in measurable sales outcomes. The pinnacle was millions of albums sold – a reflection of collective efforts (always underpinned by the timeless prerequisite of an outstanding artist producing exceptional music).
While marketing remains as crucial as ever in building awareness and engagement, the metrics and drivers of success have fundamentally changed. Today, success is measured not in millions but in billions of streams. Songs are played continuously around the globe – intentionally and unintentionally, often through search or algorithmic suggestion. In this new world the old formula of discrete moments leading to consumer action is no longer sufficient. Instead, the key to modern success lies in shifting the balance of probability in an artist’s favour and increasing the likelihood of their music being discovered and played in a world driven by recommendation engines, curated playlists, and autoplay features. It’s no longer just about singular moments; it’s about building and nurturing an ecosystem of discoverability, interest, and shareability.
Life support
At its core, this ecosystem increasingly relies on a meticulous yet often overlooked foundation: operational excellence. Metadata standards, asset quality, full repertoire availability, scalable content creation, and optimisation of music and social platform features are no longer optional – they are essential. These elements form the hygiene and housekeeping necessary to maximize an artist’s or catalogue’s chance of being discovered, streamed, shared, and rewarded in a hyper-competitive digital environment. Their absence results in significant financial disadvantage.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of new songs are uploaded to platforms, and billions of streams are generated. Each of these competes not just with the latest releases but also with the sum total of all recorded music. In this paradigm, where value-generation (in the form of listening rather than purchase) occurs without active label or artist intervention, every recording must fend for itself. Those aforementioned points of operational excellence are a recording’s life support.
The hidden challenges and opportunities in catalogues
The issues are especially acute when dealing with catalogues – despite driving the majority of listening and streaming revenue, recordings and assets that were delivered some time ago almost always lack the intensity of attention that new releases receive. They remain frozen in time at the standard when they were delivered – often missing from platforms or territories and with outdated metadata, lower video standards or incomplete tagging. But platforms themselves are not frozen in time, and their attributes and algorithms continue to evolve to prioritise recordings that meet the latest standards such as accurate genre tagging or high-resolution video and subtitles. This reality amplifies the need for thorough catalogue maintenance to ensure classic tracks remain discoverable and relevant, unlocking their full potential to connect with new generations. In a world where all music is new if it’s not been heard before, it is the quality of the recording’s infrastructure rather than the song itself that becomes dated.
Encouragingly, some record companies are already making strides in this area, as are emerging support service providers who specialize in metadata management, rights tracking, and scalable asset optimisation. Their efforts are helping to lay the groundwork for an industry that is better equipped to meet the demands of this new paradigm.
Recognition where it’s due
There is much more to do. Labels and artist teams must recognise this shift and devote proper resources to the operational infrastructure that underpins long-term success. The very culture of the industry needs to recognise this. We need a world where industry awards celebrate not only the best marketing campaigns, promotions teams, albums and artists but also excellence in metadata cleanliness, catalogue management or royalty transparency. It might not be the circus that so many of us ran away to join, but it is foundational to ensuring artists and their teams reap the full rewards of their creativity.
This isn’t about replacing the art with science; it’s about supporting the art with the science it needs to thrive. Even small disadvantages in the ecosystem of a recording result in disadvantage: in a business generating over $20 billion per year in revenue to rights-holders, hundreds of millions of dollars are not being earned by songs and artists that could be earning them. By embracing this shift, we can build a future where artists are not just discovered but truly sustained.
Small is beautiful
Success in today’s music industry is no longer a series of discrete victories – it’s a game of probabilities. The artists and catalogues that succeed will be those optimised to maximise their chances of success. It’s time for the industry to catch up, rethink its priorities, and invest properly in the future. Because in this age of billions, it’s the small, foundational actions – not just the big moments – that make all the difference.