Downtown’s Ben Patterson: ‘Ultimately, the access to music afforded by the internet has cracked the gatekeepers of popular culture…’

In April this yr Downtown Music Holdings (DMH)-owned Downtown Music formed a new Artist & Label Services division and introduced that it will be headed up by Ben Patterson.

The phrase ‘new’ is, in fact, barely deceptive for each Downtown and Patterson, as it is extremely removed from ‘first rodeo’ territory for both with regards to the ultra-competitive providers area.

An announcement was warranted, nonetheless: for one factor, Downtown Artist & Label Services (DA&LS) merged the capabilities and rosters of the (beforehand individually run) DashGo and Downtown Music Companies.

Previous to turning into President of the ‘new’ division, Patterson had been COO of Downtown Music Companies. He initially joined Downtown in 2019, when DashGo – based by Patterson in 2004 – was acquired by Downtown as part of a $200 million deal.

On the time of the DA&LS launch, Patterson commented: ”Artist independence has been the central driver of my profession, and empowering artists is on the core of the whole lot we do at Downtown. With a world workforce targeted on artists’ success in the course of the lifetime of their tasks, the Artist and Label Companies division allows artists to succeed on each platform and construct a listening fanbase to maintain careers.”

Within the under interview, he discusses Downtown’s distinction within the aggressive indie providers house, in addition to subjects together with ‘artist-centric’ royalty fashions, the ‘consideration wars’, and – why the hell not – what’s artwork, anyway?

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You’re at present utilizing the tagline ‘One Dimension Doesn’t Match All’ to advertise Downtown Artist & Label providers division. What do you imply by that phrase while you take a look at your house in such a aggressive area?

It is a tagline we’ve had on our web site for years. It got here from a time when the variety of distribution choices was pretty restricted between DIY choices and main label-type offers.

Within the late 2000s, there weren’t as many hands-on choices for artists and I discovered quite a lot of our shoppers had distinct wants, whether or not it was a brand new act like Sick Puppies or a label like Scrumptious Vinyl.  Getting music into platforms was simply desk stakes – including advertising and promotion and supporting demand was distinct.

Downtown Artist and Label Companies’ lean-in, holistic providers method is an space the place we get to work with probably the most dynamic artists and label groups and complement one another’s strengths.

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The long-argued imaginative and prescient of a ‘full stack’ distribution firm – like Downtown Artist & Label Companies – is that an indie artist can be part of with not-many-fans and not-many-streams and work their approach up over time to compete with artists signed to main labels. Does that truly occur in actuality?

You’ll be able to take a look at the Spotify Prime 20 to see that taking place throughout the business, not simply at Downtown.

Finally every shopper decides the scope of what they want and who’s the very best associate to supply that. We’ve been blessed to serve a large number of these artists through the years from Sadie Jean to Los Tucanes de Tijuana to TV Woman (pictured) to Kartel Music’s artists Luis R Conriquez and Tony Aguirre.

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For these artists who construct a big fanbase and streaming earnings, what would you argue are the principle benefits of an unbiased distribution system like Downtown’s vs. the key label system?

Two main solutions: the primary seems inside your query! ‘Important streaming earnings’ deserves to be saved by the artist. Downtown strives to each make sure that the artist captures and controls that income themselves and to present them a assist construction that grows it in the way in which a significant label traditionally might have completed versus a whole DIY providing.

The second is inventive management. Even in 2023, I hear tales of artists being unable to launch the music they need once they wish to. Downtown has thrived by championing our shoppers’ inventive imaginative and prescient – not by dictating one to them.

Do you will have any case research that reveal important progress for an artist who left the key label system for no matter motive and selected to go down the unbiased/providers route?

I’m very happy with our work on behalf of Los Tucanes de Tijuana – who regained their catalog from UMG a number of years in the past and subsequently tripled their streaming quantity and viewers.

They proceed to search out new followers and reached an all-time excessive on Spotify this yr with over 12 million month-to-month listeners.

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Knowledge exhibits that the ‘center class’ of artists releasing artists immediately is rising their market share vs. the ‘superstars’ on the high of the market. What do you count on to occur to this development sooner or later? May we be a superstar-less future?!

Traditionally the celebrity period encompasses a restricted scope of human historical past – primarily the mainstream broadcast interval post-WW2 of about 75 years, when slender leisure choices gave many entry to a restricted few. Right now’s entry to leisure is extremely customized and self-curated.

“there’ll at all times be artists that attain a large viewers, however fortunately for followers and artists alike, it received’t solely be celebrity or bust.”

Individuals love collaborating in group occasions so there’ll at all times be artists that attain a large viewers, however fortunately for followers and artists alike, it received’t solely be ‘celebrity or bust’.

What out of your perspective are probably the most beneficial instruments and providers wanted to speed up an unbiased artist’s profession – and the way do you count on expertise to affect on these sooner or later?

The largest historic bills for unbiased artists – distribution and messaging followers – have been closely democratized.

As soon as an artist has recognized the distribution choice that works for them – and even earlier than that, when they’re sharing demos and gathering suggestions – ensuring that the artist is aware of the place their followers spend their time on-line and easy methods to talk with them is vital.

“The largest historic bills for unbiased artists – distribution and messaging followers – have been closely democratized.”

A number of viewers monitoring instruments exist from Downtown’s personal found.ee to platform-offered instruments like YouTube Studio and Spotify for Artists. This may be bolstered by capturing [fan] e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for direct communications – as a result of, finally, social media will ask artists to pay to succeed in bigger blocks of their followers – however even these promoting prices are a lot decrease than prior to now.

I’m distinguishing right here between a profession unbiased artist and a hobbyist. Whereas all of those instruments can be found to everybody, investing in paid variations and promoting [spend] is probably going not acceptable for all.

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What are the most important challenges out of your Viewpoint that even established artists are beginning to face within the present music economic system – and what would you wish to see completed about them?

One of many largest challenges can also be an enormous alternative for artists – the competitors for consideration and time from leisure choices, be it streaming video, short-form video, video video games, music, and so forth.

The upside for artists is that music performs a component in practically each type of leisure and the plethora of it offers artists quite a lot of probabilities to succeed in present and potential followers.

“One of many largest challenges can also be an enormous alternative: competitors for consideration and time from leisure choices, be it streaming video; short-form video, video video games, music, and so forth.”

On a associated observe… the continued explosive progress of user-generated content material (UGC), plus inventive remix instruments which might be ever-evolving with AI and different parts, can imply that credit score for authentic works can get misplaced.

That is the place having robust metadata and digital fingerprinting – and a reliable administrative associate to guard and promote music in order that it isn’t misattributed or misplaced in translation – is vital.

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There’s been a whirlwind of dialog whipped up by the ‘artist-centric’ royalty mannequin adopted by Deezer in France – with enter from Universal Music Group – and related insurance policies being adopted by Spotify in Q1 2024. This can particularly affect artists with micro-audiences / tracks with 1,000 performs or much less.  What’s your view?

I feel an important fan forex is time – how they spend it. To that finish, I’m sympathetic to the artist-centric dialogues. However they lose me after I hear [the claim] that sure music is price greater than different makes use of of individuals’s time.

“in the end it’s how a lot time followers spend with music that needs to be rewarded.”

It’s an argument as outdated as artwork: what’s worthy artwork? What’s pulp?

Finally it’s about how a lot time followers spend with music that needs to be rewarded. That was an authentic distinguishing issue of streaming – artists needed to be streamed to receives a commission.

[That evolution] creates new challenges – bot streaming farms / click on fraud and so forth. – however the transfer away from $20 for a CD with one widespread radio single on it’s a big win for followers and artists.

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What steps would you set in place – if any – to enhance financial equity throughout streaming economics throughout platforms?

I feel platforms needs to be clear about music and content material that they maintain a stake in, whether or not it’s excluded from the royalty pool or if it’s being promoted to customers to scale back publicity to higher-cost content material.

“Platforms needs to be clear about music and content material that they maintain a stake in.”

Additionally, music needs to be extra pretty valued as to its contribution to short-form video and different choices. Attempt muting TikTok music and see how profitable the app could be…

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Downtown (and your self) have been early to identify the worldwide potential of unbiased music from LatAm, notably in Mexico. Do you assume that Latin music can proceed to develop its market share within the US? And what does the rise and rise of Latin music inform us about the place the business will go in future?

I’ve been fortunate sufficient to work with superstars in Musica Mexicana for over a decade. All through that point, I’ve seen and mentioned that the followers are within the US and Mexico; it’s not ‘regional’ and more and more it’s actually world.

Finally the entry to music afforded by the web has cracked the gatekeepers of widespread tradition; the streaming consumption [data] is unattainable to disregard.

There is no such thing as a doubt that [music from] different components of the world with giant native audiences will proceed to cross over, be it Brazil, Indonesia, or India. All have giant world communities that may nonetheless uncover and share the music of their native nations due to the worldwide attain of streaming platforms.

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The query we ask of everybody – with totally different solutions relying on the day! If we might provide you with a magic wand to vary one factor concerning the fashionable music business proper right here and now, what would it not be and why?

Right now, it’s fraud. That isn’t solely music’s drawback however is especially acute within the business immediately.

Dangerous actors erode the alternatives and earnings for all artists, large and small, and fraud has extra flavors than Baskin Robbins – relying on the platform and perpetrator.

Trade efforts and expense targeted on stopping [streaming fraud] in order that artists can obtain truthful compensation means extra prices and time that aren’t being spent making or advertising nice music.Music Enterprise Worldwide