This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
Apple Music adds new songwriter-centric portal
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 1 March 2021
Apple Music last week launched a new portal within its app putting the spotlight on songwriters, producers and session musicians. Behind The Songs collates playlists, videos and radio shows that celebrate those working behind the scenes in the music-making process, encouraging people to discover, search and stream tracks based on writer, producer or musician.
It’s the latest innovation by a streaming service seeking to better highlight the work of behind-the-scenes music-makers. Most streaming apps were initially built, of course, with the assumption that users would mainly search by track or album title, or main artist name. Though that was partly because, until recently, the streaming services didn’t really have much data about all the other music-makers involved in the creation of any one song or recording.
Spotify also has its songwriter-centric pages and initiatives, of course. And it also recently launched a specific behind the scenes hub for songwriters called Notable, providing easier access for writers to its various schemes, as well as data and educational content.
Although Apple’s tools for songwriters are not yet as expansive as Spotify’s, it nevertheless arguably enjoys a better relationship with the songwriter community than its rival. Because it turns out, while songwriters do want credits and pages and data, what they like most is streaming services not fighting US Copyright Royalty Board rulings that increase their royalty payments.