Today we're going to break down some of the most important metrics for a label including streaming data and social media reach. The goal of sharing this information is to help artists best decide where to sign their tracks in 2020. Different Records (DFFRNTRCRDS)
Established: 2015
Owner: Jared Moreno Location: Spain Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 6,632 Instagram Followers: 10,704 (0.4% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 121.05 Average IG Comments: 5.70 SoundCloud Followers: 6,091 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 370 YouTube Subscribers: 1,930 YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: 74 Facebook Likes: 827 Genres: Bass House, Electro Groove, “STMPD Style,” House, Future House, Pop, Future Bass, Midtempo, Hardstyle. Summary: Different Records seems to be a very open-minded label which gives new talents an accessible label to release their tracks and achieve some decent exposure. While I’ve heard a few complaints about poor communication, it’s nothing that raises a red flag for me. The technical merits of their releases is a bit of a mixed bag, the label seems more focused on the track’s ideas which is sort of the pop-approach to music and caters to a more mainstream audience rather than EDM-purists. One thing to note about their social media strategy is that there is very little emphasis on Facebook as they have not updated it in two months as of this writing. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBEGeneration Smash
Established: 2018
Owner: Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Location: Belgium Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 14,945 Instagram Followers: 4,848 (3.99% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 101.50 Average IG Comments: 5.05 SoundCloud Followers: 136,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 1,211 YouTube Subscribers: 276,000 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 3,940 FaceBook Likes: 1,253 Genres: Everything Summary: From the outside, Generation Smash seems like a pretty fair label to try and sign a track. They accept a wide variety of genres and are always debuting new faces. It’s difficult to say which sort of track would be more likely to sign there, but it never hurts to shoot your shot to try and get on the talent imprint of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOKGlow Records
Established: 2018
Owner: ElectroDanceMixes Location: Norway/Germany Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 21,212 Instagram Followers: 1,617 Average IG Likes: 263 Average IG Comments: 14 SoundCloud Followers: 9,999 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 3,818 YouTube Subscribers: 1,410,000 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 4,300 FaceBook Likes: 973 Genres: Progressive House, Big Room Summary: Under the massive YouTube channel, ElectroDanceMixes, Glow Records has been primed for success since its launch two years ago. With a fair demo review system, progressive producers have a decent shot of getting on the label if their track is up the standards of the A&R. The label pushes the releases across all platforms with a good rate of engagement. Their focus seems to be on small and medium-sized talents and giving them good exposure to a niche and mainstream audience. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBEHalla Recordings
Owner: Winning Team
Location: Finland Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 41,011* (Largely skewed by Crito & Janger - Chili which netted 253k+ streams. Without it, the average would be closer to 16,000 per release) Instagram Followers: 169 Average IG Likes: 25 Average IG Comments: 2 SoundCloud Followers: 37 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 334 YouTube Subscribers: 10 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 26 FaceBook Likes: 110 Genres: Progressive House, Big Room Summary: While the numbers might not seem all too big save for the Spotify performance, Halla Recordings has the potential to become a major player in the festival music scene if they continue signing talents like TBR and merge their roster of artists with others making moves on the scene. Right now, Winning Team is pushing forward with some insane tracks like their latest official cover for "You Give Love A Bad Name" and tracks of this quality could give the label some serious exposure. INSTAGRAM | SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBEIntensity Recordings
Established: May 29, 2020
Owner: Christopher Lao Location: United States Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 12,718 Instagram Followers: 1,164 (24.2% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 262.55 Average IG Comments: 28.95 SoundCloud Followers: 602 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 1,432 YouTube Subscribers: 401 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 311 (7,568 Average Reach on Re-Uploads) FaceBook Likes: 605 Genres: Big Room, Electro House, Bass House, Electro Groove, Future House Summary: Intensity Records is a fairly closed off label which focuses on big room and big room adjacent releases. The methodology for track selection is geared towards what could be played on festival stages and enjoyed by fans who like that genre. The label looks for fairly specific styles but the emphasis is very much on the artist’s signature sound. The producers signed to the label all have a very distinct sound and history in the underground scene which the label seeks to amplify. Despite some recent controversy surrounding the closed-circle approach, the owner and A&R actively seek out and promote new talents based on their production skill, work ethic, personal mindset, and industry outlook. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBEMaxximize Records
Established: 2015
Owner: Blasterjaxx Location: Netherlands Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 26,588 Instagram Followers: 122,918 (-0.13% Decline Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 898.20 Average IG Comments: 30.70 SoundCloud Followers: 52,300 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 13,832 YouTube Subscribers: 27,500,000* (Uploads Appear on Spinnin’ Records’ Channel) YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 131,200 FaceBook Likes: 39,723 Genres: Big Room, Psy-trance, Electro Groove, Tribal Summary: Once an iconic staple for Big Room, Maxximize seems to not be able to quite get its footing in the 2020 landscape. The sound in their recent releases varies largely leading to a less cohesive discography and “Maxximize Sound” compared to other labels which have found their identity. This lack of focus has also caused a dip in streams and social media engagement but nevertheless, many artists covet the fact that their release on Maxximize will appear on the main Spinnin’ Records YouTube channel. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUDNik Cooper Music
Established: 2010
Owner: Nik Cooper Location: Israel Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 10,945 Instagram Followers: 23,516 (0.40% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 265.30 Average IG Comments: 9.40 SoundCloud Followers: 49,100 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 2,514 YouTube Subscribers: 881,000 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 14,350 FaceBook Likes: 112,233 Genres: Big Room, Progressive House, Psy-Trance, Future Bounce, Melbourne Bounce Summary: With his iconic monocle and pipe, Nik Cooper is an easily recognizeable brand for anyone who has used YouTube to find new music in the past decade. Fostering a group of talented artists like Dirty Palm, WYKO, Deakin XD, and FABV to name a few, the label side of his operation has been a growing force in the past few years. Unfortunately there have been some growing pains as with many labels and entities who gained massive followings prior to the changes in organic reach on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram which has led to decreased engagement across platforms. However a recent expansion of the team looks to bring a strong second wind to the curator/label. The demo system has also recently been under fire for being too closed off, there is some truth as in order to send a demo, you must be in contact with one of the A&R. The biggest draw to signing with the label is certainly the slot on the YouTube channel, however his Spotify lists are steadily growing and are providing a healthy amount of weekly streams. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBERave Culture
Established: 2018
Owner: W&W Location: Netherlands Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 106,927 Instagram Followers: 152,156 (5.34% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 4389.80 Average IG Comments: 233.30 SoundCloud Followers: 103,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 14,866 YouTube Subscribers: 53,300 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 117,500 FaceBook Likes: 424.173 Genres: Big Room, Trance, Happy Hardcore, Hardstyle, Psy-Trance. Summary: Rave Culture needs no introduction. They’ve led the charge in the big room and festival music resurgence in 2019-2020 after finally opening their doors to more artists. Their success comes from their legendary status among the big room community aided by extremely effective advertising campaigns which push their social media pages, YouTube releases, and Spotify playlists to a receptive audience. They are a shining example of how to run a festival music label and have breathed new life into the industry. INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBERevealed Recordings (Main)
Established: 2010
Owner: Hardwell Location: Netherlands Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 217,609 Instagram Followers: 877,425 (1.02% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 2808.05 Average IG Comments: 29.05 SoundCloud Followers: 455,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 6,568 YouTube Subscribers: 1,520,000 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 25,130 FaceBook Likes: 1,099,218 Genres: Big Room, Progressive House, Future House, Electro Groove, Hardstyle, Psy-Trance. Summary: As far as artists are concerned, Revealed Recordings main label is very exclusive and difficult to sign without knowing the management or their regular artists. The label shows clear preference to pushing their Friday releases to hundreds of thousands of streams while apparently being content to let the Wednesday releases sort of grow on their own despite featuring many beloved names. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBERevealed Radar
Established: Jan 3, 2020* (Previously known as Revealed.DJ and Revealed Community)
Owner: Hardwell Location: Netherlands Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 8,239 Instagram Followers: 16,124 (1.34% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 419.15 Average IG Comments: 19.55 SoundCloud Followers: 455,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 1,040 YouTube Subscribers: N/A (Subscribers set to Private) YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 1,112 FaceBook Likes: 101 Genres: Electro Groove, Future House, Bass House, Progressive House, Big Room. Summary: It’s nearly impossible to tell which tracks will or won’t be signed onto Revealed Radar. After talking with many artists and hearing what they have accepted and rejected, it’s difficult for me to find any rhyme or reason to what gets signed. Genre, previous releases on the label, other notable label releases don’t seem to have any bearing on what they accept. The only noticeable trends is that they have a preference to progressive house and more modern house genres like bass house, electro groove, and future house. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBESmash the House
Established: 2010
Owner: Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Location: Belgium Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 198,166 Instagram Followers: 136,314 (0.36% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 1,913.55 Average IG Comments: 27.75 SoundCloud Followers: 136,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 6,485 YouTube Subscribers: 276,000 YouTube Average for Last 10 Releases: 18,710 Facebook Likes: 284,363 Genres: Everything Summary: Similarly to Revealed Main, Rave Culture, and Maxximize, your chances of getting on Smash the House is pretty slim in 2020. However if you do, they have some of the best Spotify promotion for festival music. INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBEUnderground Label AddendumThese averages were taken on September 1, 2020 Quartzo Records
Established: 2014
Owner: Dopers/Pedro Location: Brazil Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 3,149 Instagram Followers: 3901 (0.13% Decline Over 30 Days Average IG Likes: 122.35 Average IG Comments: 4.85 SoundCloud Followers: 201,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 16,280 YouTube Subscribers: 8,300 YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: 1,062 Facebook Likes: 10,941 Genres: Big Room, Progressive House, Festival Music Summary: Once a staple of the underground big room movement, hosting artists such as SaberZ, R3SPAWN, Declain, Steven Vegas, AXMO, OUTRAGE, TBR, GMAXX, Krimsonn, MountBlaq, STVW, and Marnage, Quartzo never quite made the full transition once EDM fans migrated from Soundcloud to Spotify. While their SoundCloud remains their best-performing platforms, many artists are looking for bigger numbers on Spotify which has left Quartzo in a bit of limbo in 2020. This year they’ve put out some decent tracks from WYKO, EMKR, and Jasted, but overall they haven’t reclaimed the throne they once had in the underground. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBEBLVCKBØX Records
Established: February 20, 2020
Owner: Hazen, Nakka (BR) and Dopers Location: Brazil Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 1,088 Instagram Followers: 1,005 Average IG Likes: 67 Average IG Comments: 1 SoundCloud Followers: 42,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 6446 YouTube Subscribers: 8,300 (Uploads on Quartzo’s main channel) YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: 701 Facebook Likes: 139 Genres: Big Room, Electro House, Progressive House Summary: Born as a sub-label of Quartzo, BLVCKBØX has essentially filled the slot left its parent label as it has shifted towards less frequent releases. While the quality can be hit or miss, their heart seems to be in the right place and is a decent platform for new festival talents to have their music heard by other producers and underground big room fans. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUDFeelQ Recordings
Established: 2016
Owners: AJORIES, SNI, PLUSPLAY Location: India Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 4,616 Instagram Followers: 2,473 (6.46% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 227.20 Average IG Comments: 34.85 SoundCloud Followers: 7,695 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 1,043 YouTube Subscribers: 1,040 YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: (N/A - Channel Missing Recent Uploads) Facebook Likes: 3,824 Genres: Progressive House, Electro House, Future House Summary: Once a staple of the underground bigroom movement, fostering new talents such as Krexxton, Ranqz, Jaybox, BonRen, and Gaspar, the label has moved in a more mainstream direction to try and attract a larger fanbase beyond their current one. To this end, they’ve continued to do a good job of shining light on up-and-coming producers with well-written press releases and decent promotion on Spotify. While it still seems they’re in a bit of a transitional phase as they move away from big room, their future seems bright for those looking for a home for their more experimental house tracks. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBEMadox Records
Established: 2017
Owner: Stephan Tosh Location: Germany Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 39,738 Instagram Followers: 1,238 (2.23% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 169.85 Average IG Comments: 6.40 SoundCloud Followers: 5,329 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 8,753 YouTube Subscribers: 331 YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: 411 Facebook Likes: 1,250 Genres: Dark Progressive, Big Room, Electro House Summary: Madox Records has always been an ambitious label, creating sublabels like Madox Network and the now defunct label from TBR, Crosstime Recordings. In 2020, they’ve really stepped up their game in terms of Spotify numbers and artwork quality and projecting a competent face to the world. By slowing down on releases, they’ve done a good job of making sure each release gets a fair shot and have had two releases close or past 100k on Spotify this year. Soundwise, they’ve always been known for consistently pushing dark progressive tracks and has created a solid family of producers around the label which they frequently bring together for EPs and collaborations. *Note - We did not include the 4 tracks from the Madox Family EP in the averages as it has only been out for 3 days as of this writing. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUDSeal Network
Established: 2014
Owner: Marvin Location: Germany Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 17,405 Instagram Followers: 381 (8.86% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 50.45 Average IG Comments: 19.35 SoundCloud Followers: 48,000 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 2,936 YouTube Subscribers: N/A YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: N/A Facebook Likes: 113 Genres: Highly diverse. Summary: Once home to the likes of Krimsonn, Pessto, Sheezan, Div Eadie, and NAEMS, the Seal Team has shown that they know how to pick the next wave of talent. Nowadays, they’ve shifted to a more open-ended approach and releases stuff of all genres and pushes it through their promotional network for effective results on streaming platforms. The lack of a dedicated YouTube channel should raise a few alarms, but the consistent growth on their new Instagram channel is proof that those streaming numbers are equating to new real fans to reach in 2020. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUDHouse District Records
Established: 2019
Owner: Azetune Location: Spain Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 2,811 Instagram Followers: 666 Average IG Likes: 83 Average IG Comments: 22 SoundCloud Followers: 337 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 461 YouTube Subscribers: 247 YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: 169 Facebook Likes: 150 Genres: Big Room, Big Room Trance Summary: In this article we’ve talked a lot about the migration from Soundcloud to Spotify and how it thinned the herd a bit as far as big room labels are concerned. One of the new ones to rise up has been House District Records. Their releases have been supported by the likes of Maurice West and they work to create a welcoming atmosphere to new big room talents. Where this takes a hit though is on quality as many of their tracks are hit or miss, usually attributed to the artists not evolving their own signature sound which differentiates them from other big room talents. There’s two trains of thought here: one is that it’s good that they’re making an effort to put out tracks from newcomers and watch the organic response, but the second is that the artists might not be motivated to improve their craft since they now have a stable home for their releases. *In order to reach 10 of the most recent releases from the label for the stream averages, we used the top 3 performing tracks from the Azetune & Friends Festival EP on Spotify to add into this calculation. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBESpur Records
Established: October 2018
Owner: Bullistik Location: United States Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 6,108 Instagram Followers: 4,211 Average IG Likes: 60.40 Average IG Comments: 6.50 SoundCloud Followers: 16,500 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 9,171 YouTube Subscribers: 831 YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: 329 Facebook Likes: 1,120 Genres: Big Room, Big Room Trance, Progressive House Summary: With decent numbers on Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud and a willingness to look at new artists, Spur Records stands out as one of the better options for entry-level festival music producers. Their weak spots lie in their social media accounts where engagement is pretty low. But a quick scan of their streaming platforms would indicate that your music would be shown to an engaged audience who is receptive to the style they release. Overall a pretty strong imprint, especially if supplemented with a few ad dollars for social media. *We did not include averages from the 7-track Spur Roundup EP. **Averages for Spur Records were taken on September 6, 2020. INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBE
Peak Hour Music
Established: 2006 Owner: Billy Corritore Location: United States Spotify Average for Last 10 Releases: 2,731 Instagram Followers: 1647 (2.17% Growth Over 30 Days) Average IG Likes: 49.95 Average IG Comments: 2.95 SoundCloud Followers: 14,500 SoundCloud Average for Last 10 Releases: 375 YouTube Subscribers: N/A YouTube Average Views for last 10 Releases: N/A (Hasn’t uploaded in 3 years) Facebook Likes: 13,250 Genres: Bass House, Future House, Big Room, Progressive House Summary: There are only a few reasons to sign with this label and that is if you care about Beatport and perhaps the OG pull of the label head who seems to be connected with some established names in the industry. Don’t be fooled by his name-dropping and cameos on Peak Hour Radio, in this day and age, the numbers speak for themselves and the label has a lot to be desired in that regard. Peak Hour has dead social media accounts with little engagement, no clear Spotify strategy to serve as a bassline for its releases (included those of its owner who also sometimes doesn’t crack 1,000 streams on the platform) and even paltry SoundCloud numbers. The transition to Spotify weeded out many outdated labels and this one has struggled to stay relevant during this time. https://www.instagram.com/peakhourmusic/ https://soundcloud.com/peak-hour-music-official https://www.facebook.com/PeakHourMusicOfficial Notes: Chris W. LaoOwner of The QR Network
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