View of the cover of the 45rpm single 'Yesterday' b/w 'Act Naturally' by the Beatles, which features a portrait of the band members, 1965. Pictured are, from left, Paul McCartney, John Lennon , George Harrison , and RingoThe music biz is hot, but new restrictions on commercial use of personal data could chill, if not kill, the buzz.
The music business is addicted to data. Festivals use it to sell sponsorships to brands. Bands in buses use it to rally fans at their ports of call. Music publishers use it to find out which songs connect, and which don’t. And labels use it to determine which artists to chase and which to drop. The labels obtain data showing them where fans are streaming, buying and discovering music, but they don’t know who the fans are by name. But labels can still tailor ads and target, say, Adele fans who might like a similar singer the label suggests. The new laws can restrict that kind of marketing.
“A lot of very reputable artists are creating real communications with their fans,” says Greenberg. “The model works the more the artist gives something to the fans, but if it becomes seen merely as marketing, then the fans will get turned off and opt out.
“on the heels of the Cambridge Analytica scandal” are you suggesting the GDPR rules had something to do with the Cambridge Analytica situation?