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How You Profit from Beyoncé and Bieber? (7) – How Are Songs Managed?
Continuing from the last post, how are songs managed?
Tim said they indeed don’t handle this; it’s all managed by the artists’ management companies. For new songs, they plan various promotions and chart rankings, while for older songs, they explore opportunities in movies, TV shows, and entertainment programs to see if they can be reused, adapted, or remixed by other artists. There’s all sorts of hype. He ended with a joke, “It’s all fate.” For instance, those viral videos on TikTok that suddenly become popular for no reason. They may feature amateurs and randomly chosen songs. Once the video goes viral, the song’s play count experiences a sudden surge, and it can remain popular for years. It’s all so coincidental.
Well, at least songs have these “forced appreciation” methods. It’s really eye-opening.
So, is it better to be a living artist or a deceased one? I’m curious because this depends on the actual asset types. For example, living painters can produce new works, participate in exhibitions, and gain more traction, but some artists only become famous after death. What about singers?
Tim said, generally, it’s better to be alive because you can release new songs, maintain popularity, and go on tours to promote old songs. But there are also many uncertainties. “For example, the singer we bought, who turned out to be the most profitable, was purchased for around 10 times the long-tail cash flow. However, after his death, his songs became popular again, and his streaming numbers doubled, doubling the return on investment. This thing, you see, it’s also fate. Let me show you a lifecycle chart of a song’s value prepared by Goldman Sachs” (also in the video series we produced).
I took a look and it was quite clear. The chart clearly marks that a song’s streaming (income) peaks in the first ten months or so, then rapidly declines, forming a long tail that remains somewhat stagnant. This portion is where Tim and his team trade copyrights.
Now, is it good to stay in the long tail? How do you exit? Let’s continue this discussion next time!