Next up in our predictions series, we welcome Downtown Artist & Label Services President, Ben Patterson...
How do you predict technology will impact the business and the industry at large in 2024?
BP: Algorithmic and AI input into what content is presented to people will accelerate greatly in 2024. Artists and labels will have to navigate their authentic output with the opaque goals (or not - more engagement time for most social apps) of the algorithm to reach existing and new fans.
This will lead in some ways to more artistic collaborations because it is a way artists can influence their reach. However, it also can compress creativity if the algorithms can’t turn over new music in a compelling way. Our work at A&LS will be to thread the needle of promoting new and catalog songs to a global audience that has an ever-increasing amount of content fed to them daily.
What do you think presents the biggest opportunity for creators and their teams?
BP: 2024 feels like the year of the artist label. So many great artists are spearheading their own imprints now and the tools are there for artists and songwriters to build their own label ventures of like-minded artists and projects. They can collaborate on songwriting, production and audience building for their roster in ways not too dissimilar from the role opening acts level up on concert tours - but in this case, it’s online and directly connected to the listening fans. This will likely lead to an increased number of collectives releasing music together, writing together and growing audiences together. The ability to own this output and partner with the right service providers creates a financial upside that is still groundbreaking in the music industry.
What is the most important thing the industry should look to achieve in 2024?
BP: Continued focus on financial equity for creators. Artists have the leverage and tools now to maintain ownership and income but that requires faith in their own capabilities and the right partners. It requires those partners to offer strategic terms that work for both sides and that those partners are aligned in fighting threats to fair compensation of Artists - whether that comes as fraud or two-tier rate systems for independent artists.
Your artist to watch in 2024.
BP: Very excited about Delux Music Group’s Daniel Garcia who kicked off 2024 with an EP featuring “ALFOMBRA ROJA” that is getting a lot of attention. Also, we are happy to be part of Jasiah’s entrance into the independent sphere and anticipate his upcoming releases.
