Audio Up & WME Partner To Support Musical Artists From Its Podcasts

 Streaming companies have also had a large impact on the music industry as a whole, making up 83 percent of revenue from music purchases. However, streaming is still a relatively new format, and the relationship between streaming services, record labels, music artists and listeners ebbs and flows on the uncertain currents of market, technology, and user adaptations.

What does that mean? In effect, no one is really sure what streaming music and its relationship with artists will look like a decade from now.

Right now, Apple Music pays artists $0.01 per stream. After the record labels take their cut, artists make approximately $0.002 per stream. It can look advantageous to forgo the record label, despite the benefits that they provide.

The fact that some record labels have ownership shares in streaming services makes their relationship with artists more complicated. The low pay per stream does not hurt the record labels as much as it hurts the artists because record labels make more money from their shares than from the pay per stream. Lower pay per stream is advantageous for them since they gain directly from the profits of streaming services.

So streaming music can help major artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, but can make it harder for artists and groups struggling to attain greater notoriety.

That's why it's encouraging to see that Audio Up, a well-known  brand in the audio entertainment space, has announced a new strategic partnership to support the development of artists from Audio Up’s podcast slate with WME.

WME is a global entertainment company -- created when the William Morris Agency merged with Endeavor in 2009 -- will advise Audio Up on its touring and content opportunities across film, television and digital. WME will provide the company access to its network across music, entertainment and brands to support the growth of Audio Up’s artists and projects. 

Among the first initiatives under the partnership is the development of up-and-coming Latin artist Balam, who stars and contributes original music to the Audio Up scripted podcast Dia de Los Muertos in Hell, which was simultaneously the #1 series in all categories across Mexico and the #1 music podcast in the United States during its first week of release and features some of the biggest names in Latin music.  

To run in conjunction with the podcast’s promotional efforts, WME served as an advisor on booking Balam’s upcoming December 10^th debut performance at Vibra Urbana, the largest Reggaeton festival in the U.S.  Balam will open for luminaries such as J Balvin, Nicky Jam, Maluma and countless others, and will be timed to the release of the official Day of the Dead podcast soundtrack, which will also act as Balam’s debut EP.  This unique form of synergy allows Audio Up to identify talent, create content and marketing opportunities through their Sirius XM, Audible and iHeart slate, and immediately put the music into a radio and digital streaming ecosystem while growing artists at the live level.

“This unique partnership is aimed at fast-tracking music development in a crowded marketplace where discovery is one of the most challenging and difficult tasks for new artists,” said Audio Up Founder and CEO Jared Gutstadt. “There is a special alchemy at play here; mixing Balam’s outsized talent with our ability to open-up an incredible range of media access points. All of this culminates with Balam’s first array of songs featuring co-writes with Poo Bear, 24kGoldn and SAINt JHN. This combination will make him a mega-star.”

Balam and Day of the Dead mark only the beginning of the partnership’s possibilities.  Coming up, the strategic alliance will also take Audio Up’s recent well-received podcast The Ballad of Uncle Drank, and turn fictional character Uncle Drank (played by Will Sasso) into a real life touring country experience featuring comedy and music. 

Gutstadt stated, “This is the perfect vehicle for our music vertical and a way for folks to discover our deep and rich catalog of music says.  Vegas, cruise ships, and summer festivals will be our first port of call for this unique offing. With WME in our corner, we hope to get there quicker.”

Supported by major distribution partners including SiriusXM and Audible, Audio Up focuses on creating hit tracks, using the podcasting space as its launch pad. 

Both audio formats, music and podcasting, are natural partners in delivering sonic entertainment to listeners. The collaboration between podcasting and music offers a more immersive and enriching experience for listeners.