Believe-owned indie distro company TuneCore has released the second edition of its ‘TuneCore Accelerator Report’, which reveals new stats about the company’s TuneCore Accelerator platform.
Launched in 2023, TuneCore Accelerator gives DIY artists access to promo and marketing programs on DSPs. The company claims that the Accelerator sits at “the center of TuneCore’s pivot from an automated distribution service for independent artists to an audience growth and development platform”.
Accelerator also gives self-releasing artists access to Believe Group’s proprietary “catalog optimizer” tool which is claimed to be able to select an artist’s tracks with the highest potential for growth to be included in promotional opportunities.
The first new stat revealed as part of the report, which you can read here, is that more than 250,000 independent artists globally have signed up for TuneCore Accelerator.
The report also claims that in the first half of 2024, tracks within TuneCore Accelerator “gained over 3 billion new discoveries and experienced nearly 10 billion new streams”.
The discoveries element is defined by TuneCore as the “total number of times TuneCore Accelerator program was the source for a listener to discover a track”.
TuneCore’s Accelerator platform consists of four development segments, which the company says are “specifically customized to serve artists at different stages of their careers”.
The Start tier is for artists at the “early-stage” of development (tracks racking up fewer than 1,000 streams per year).
Amplify is for the “emerging stage” of development, with tracks reaching 1,000 to 9,999 streams per year.
TuneCore claims that artists starting out in the “Start” and “Amplify” levels increased their earnings 5x and 3x on average, respectively, in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
The ‘Break’ level, meanwhile, is aimed at artists in what TuneCore defines as an “accelerating stage” of development, with tracks reaching between 10,000 and 99,999 streams per year.
Finally, the Maximize tier is for self-releasing artists at the “top stage” of development, with tracks achieving between 100,000 and 1 million streams per year.
According to TuneCore, the latter level “optimizes catalogs of artists whose tracks already have significant audience reach and streams to deepen fandom while also maximizing exposure and catalog value”.
If artists meet the eligibility criteria, they will automatically be opted into TuneCore Accelerator but can opt out at any time.
According to TuneCore, “for tracks included in TuneCore Accelerator, a 20% commission will be applied to net royalties generated on the streams of tracks included in specific TuneCore Accelerator programs, and only during the period they are included and promoted in such programs”. Artists keep 100% of revenue for streams that aren’t generated through TuneCore Accelerator.
Elsewhere in the report, TuneCore says that in the first half of 2024, tracks from nearly 85,000 artists were selected by TuneCore Accelerator’s “proprietary catalog optimization technology” to be included in one or more of its audience development programs, with almost 30,000 of those artists participating in the program for the first time.
In the same period, TuneCore claims that 1 out of 12 artists within TuneCore Accelerator moved to a higher segment level and, on average, “more than doubled their monthly royalty earnings compared to the first half of 2023”.
TuneCore also claims that its Accelerator initiative is “driving triple-digit growth for both frontline releases and back catalog”.
According to the company: “TuneCore Accelerator’s catalog optimization tools helped significantly increase the value and exposure of artists’ catalog releases, with tracks released more than 18 months prior to inclusion within the program accruing an average 338% increase in streams in the first half of 2024 compared to their baseline average prior to inclusion in the program”.
TuneCore’s Report also highlights regional streaming growth it says Accelerator is driving for indie artists.
According to the report, in the first half of 2024, the US showed a streaming growth rate of 33% for tracks within TuneCore Accelerator compared to the same period in 2023.
Internationally, West & East Africa, Eastern Europe, LATAM, and Southeast Asia showed the most significant growth, posting 91%, 86%, 68%, and 55% year-over-year streaming growth rates, respectively, for tracks within TuneCore Accelerator. (This Streaming growth is measured across DSP platforms where TuneCore Accelerator is actively running programs).
“With TuneCore Accelerator, we are providing artists with unparalleled access to marketing and promotional opportunities that fuel streaming growth, support audience development, and ultimately help artists make more money.”
Andreea Gleeson, TuneCore
Andreea Gleeson, CEO, TuneCore, said: “Throughout TuneCore’s years operating as a digital distribution platform, the industry has been constantly evolving, both providing new opportunities and creating new challenges for artists to get their music heard.
“It is apparent now more than ever that self-releasing artists—especially those in the early stages of their careers—need more from TuneCore than just distribution; they need access to programs that can help get their music in front of the right audiences to lay the foundation for long-term career growth.
“With TuneCore Accelerator, we are providing artists with unparalleled access to marketing and promotional opportunities that fuel streaming growth, support audience development, and ultimately help artists make more money.”Music Business Worldwide
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