Searched for its own genre, the band didn't appear
A search for "psych rock" returned 107 artist profiles and 315 albums. Melotone weren't in any of them. As far as I could tell, results matched the words in names and titles, not the music.
From music-industry research to a venture
In January 2022 I started researching why streaming pays most artists so little. My first piece of work was a Spotify design study, using a product designer job ad as an informal brief to design a space for creators. It led me into my own venture work, and to the question I kept coming back to: how does an unknown artist get found at all?
In 2023 I tested it on a real case: Melotone, a psych-rock band from Birmingham based in Bristol, with good music and no label push.
Every free route was a dead end
- Browse
Psych rock wasn't one of the genres suggested on the search page, so listeners who didn't already know the genre never met it.
- Search: artists, albums, songs
Results seemed to match text. The band didn't put "psych rock" in their name or titles, so they didn't show up.
- Search: playlists
The only route left. Melotone's profile showed they were in a festival playlist and two fan playlists, and none of Spotify's own psych playlists.
- Reach a playlist curator
No filter for professional curators and no way to message one. SoundCloud had messaging; Spotify didn't. Artists had to hunt for contact details in playlist descriptions and leave the platform.
This discovery problem works both ways. The band can't reach new listeners, and listeners who'd love them can't find them.
What I got wrong, and what's true
In 2023 I believed bands could pay, through a lower royalty, to get into Spotify's own playlists. Checking it properly, that isn't how it works.
What I thought then
- Bands accept a lower royalty to get into Spotify-made playlists.
- Two of the similar bands I found were "premium" and two weren't.
What's actually true
- Discovery Mode lets artists prioritise a track in Radio, Autoplay and Mixes, in exchange for a 30% commission on those streams.
- It doesn't touch editorial playlists, which can't be bought.
The core finding still holds. The fast free route to new listeners runs through text matches and playlists the artist can't control, and the boost comes at a cost to royalties.
A test outside the platform
I offered Melotone a free growth test: promote them alongside similar artists, grouped by the genre tags they actually belong to, across social channels rather than inside Spotify. It became the first user test for my 2023 venture, and formed part of my case for a university summer enterprise fund.
Follow one real user through the whole journey
Then → Now
Then: I filled gaps with what other bands told me. Now: I check the platform's own terms before building an argument on them.
Then → Now
Then: I framed the platform as the villain. Now: I frame it as a design trade-off: what the system rewards, and who pays for it.
Then → Now
Then: One band. Now: the same walk-through became the method for my SoundCloud and Skate. studies.