overview

(purpose, video and sections)

The Metrics of Music is designed first for college students who are pursuing a major or minor in the music business. However, its goal is also to be useful to those working in the industry who are interested in specific aspects of music research. Watch our overview video below to get a sense of the content.

This site is currently in flux and invite-only, so if you're interested in gaining preview access to The Metrics of Music, head over to our Request Access page and fill out the form at the bottom. Thanks for your interest!

The Metrics of Music consists of the following sections, which you can navigate to from the home page or below:

1. Audio and Radio
   Covers all three main forms of radio: terrestrial (AM/FM/HD), Internet radio and SiriusXM. Also discussed are radio playlists, airplay charts and online audio as a whole, as well as related technologies such as smart speakers, Sonos, TuneIn Radio and business-to-business applications.
2. Music Streaming
   Here you’ll find the basics of digital distribution and consumption, streaming playlists (both editorial and algorithmic), the pitching and promotion process to earn exposure, certain pitfalls in the industry and details of several leading DSPs.
3. Social Media
   Learn several key metrics involving social media: brand awareness, brand usage, followers (both real and fake), engagement ratios, algorithms, the demographics of leading social media platforms and much more. You’ll get a better understanding of social media as a music research resource.
4. Copyright and Royalties
   What’s a stream worth? There are many important details covered here on how streaming, performance and mechanical music royalties are structured, calculated and paid. Vital to the royalty process are the many organizations involved in collecting and distributing them. Also discussed are recordings made with AI and how downloads are counted for research purposes.
5. Music Licensing and Sync
   Here you’ll learn the five main licenses involved in music, including the vital and dynamic synchronization (“sync”) license for use in television, film, advertising, gaming, podcasting and more. Whether you’re involved in buying or selling, the sync side of the business offers its own set of categorizations and research resources. You’ll get to know how sync pitching and procuring works, not only to generate revenue, but also increasingly to help break artists or revitalize a track, sometimes seemingly overnight.
6. Music Analytics Platforms
   Discussed are companies that collect, organize and display a wide variety of music consumption and related consumer behavioral data in the form of “dashboards.” They track and trend artist and song-by-song activity such as streaming, artist “followers”, social media presence and other engagement across various DSPs, television, touring and radio airplay.
7. Airplay and Music Charts
   Coverage of the leading airplay charts that are published weekly, along with brief descriptions of scores of both major and lesser-known music charts watched closely by industry professionals.
8. Audience Research
   Get to know details of three key forms of audience music research: callout, online and auditorium music tests. Each works differently, but all can have an impact on both current and catalog repertoire.
9. Touring
   In this section are details about the size of the touring marketplace, the businesses that drive it, the key players when artists are on the road, the software and analytics they use, the importance of Pollstar and concert/radio market rankings.
10. Executive PROfiles
    Read personal histories of industry professionals involved in one way or another with music research. They tell how they got their start in the business, what they do now and how research plays a role in their work. They offer valuable advice to those seeking work in the business.
11. Chartmetric
    Chartmetric is an example of the services in the Music Analytics Platforms tab above. But because its research offerings are so vast, widely used and, in many cases, unique, it warrants its own tab. Here are the details, purpose and significance of the searchable information in every section in the Chartmetric professional platform.
12. Resources and References
    See lists of annual music industry reports, studies and trends, along with suggested reading, sources of music databases, an extensive glossary, calculations for international stream- and track-equivalent albums (SEA/TEA), a variety of reference statistics, demographic trends among music consumers and much more.

Acknowledgments