Spotify has launched a new interactive career advice portal for artists-MBW

Spotify has launched a new interactive career advice portal for artists called In Focus.

The music streaming service says that the portal has been launched to “help artists and their teams achieve their career goals”.

On the ‘In Focus’ site, artists can choose from 21 ‘focus’ areas across five career categories defined by Spotify, including “create, promote, connect, earn, and learn”.

For each of these five categories, Spotify says that In Focus will “recommend the tools, resources, and educational materials to help them accomplish their goals and make the most out of every stage of their career”.

Spotify claims that the Spotify for Artists team “is on a mission to put artists at the center of the music industry, providing the tools and insights they need to build thriving fan bases on Spotify”.

The company cites other tools like its playlist submission tool, Canvas, and Soundtrap Capture app as all being “intended to put more control in the hands of artists”.

Spotify also lists its ‘Marquee’ feature as one of these tools. Marquee is Spotify’s paid for in-app recommendation tool, which allows labels to pay cash to Spotify in order to directly advertise priority releases to customers on the platform.

In a blog post going into more depth about the new education site, Spotify claims that In Focus “is like an artist manager in your pocket that arms you with the tools and guidance you need to nail each of your career goals”.

On the actual In Focus site, the five career categories defined by Spotify, including “create, promote, connect, earn, and learn” provide resources on everything from how to “level up your songwriting”, to how to “grow your superfans”.

Under the “Earn Revenue as an Artist” category, sub-sections include information on how to sell more merch, sell more tickets, earn streaming royalties, create new revenue streams and “understand the music business”.

Under the ‘earn streaming royalties’ tab, Spotify states that, “Streaming royalties represent nearly two-thirds of the global recorded music business. So let’s make sure you understand the system, have the right label or distributor, and are set up to collect your piece of that pie.”

Under the “Create new revenue streams” section, Spotify writes: “Rapid changes in media, live performances, and technology are creating more and more opportunities to monetize. Discover how you can diversify your revenue streams as an artist like never before.”

Rob Fink, Senior Brand Marketing Manager, Spotify for Artists, said: “We get it, the music industry today is complex — requiring artists and their teams to take on more responsibility than ever before.

“We’re always chatting with artists about the biggest questions and aspirations they have in their personal career journeys, and we designed In Focus as a direct result of that feedback.

“We want to remove the guesswork, and help artists focus on what matters most to them so they can reach their music goals.”Music Business Worldwide