Music Marketing Playbook: Campaign planning and measurement

Music Marketing Playbook: Campaign planning and measurement

Analyze the data. Understand the audience. 

Narrow the target. Activate strategically. 

Measure the results. Analyze the data again.


That’s effective marketing. (Easier said than done). 


Music marketers in particular need a data-driven understanding of global and local trends, the ability to reach niche audiences and precise tools to measure campaign effectiveness.


CONNECT provides the first-party consumption data that music labels, distributors, management companies and others use to plan and optimize their marketing. From artist marketing and album launches to tour and festival promotion, marketing professionals throughout the industry rely on our data and analytics tools to plan campaigns, measure outcomes and uncover new opportunities for targeted audience engagement. 






Back to Playbooks 

Back to Solutions 

Campaign planning

Activity by Location | Market-level data | Analysis


Where does my artist overperform? What markets love this song? Which formats make the most sense for this region? What subgenre is having a moment? 


Start with Dashboard data—especially Activity by Location—to understand consumption at a global, local or market level for specific artists and products. 


Use Analysis for a zoomed-out view of the entire music industry. 





Dashboards: Activity by Location 

All Dashboards—Artist, Album and Song—display Activity by Location based on your selected Activity Type.  


Location data can help you understand country-level consumption patterns or plan worldwide campaigns. It can also help determine where to launch brand partnerships, activate in person, schedule tour stops or release different product formats. 

What if an artist I want to track has no Dashboard?

Some artists—especially newer ones—don’t have an Artist Dashboard in CONNECT yet, even if we’re tracking activity for their ISRCs. Refer to our A&R Playbook for strategies to track consumption for artists with no Dashboard. 

You can also use the Luminate Artist Registration Form to submit new artists to our database. Include all required ID codes and metadata fields.


Go to: Music registration: Add entries to our database





Marketing applications 

With Activity by Location, you can…

    1. See consumption data for 60+ countries 
    2. Identify your artist’s top global markets 
    3. Create your own list of countries to compare 
    4. See how Activity Type affects regional consumption patterns


Get started 

Go to any Artist, Album or Song Dashboard. Set your desired parameters and adjust view options to customize Activity by Location. 


Go to: Dashboards: Data controls and view options



Tips and tricks

Get more out of CONNECT’s country-level data with these tips.

Mouse over the heat map to see country-level detail
By default, Activity by Location displays a global heat map with a list of top countries at left. 


Hover over any country on the map to see a breakout box with complete figures for your selected activity and breakout. 

Build your own comparison list
Build your own focused comparison using the search bar at left. Add up to 6 countries to narrow your analysis and compare priority countries to each other. 


View and export all countries in grid format
Click ... at top right to switch to a Grid View and/or export data. All countries with activity will appear in your grid, even if you narrowed your list in Graph View as shown above. 


Expand or collapse columns using > and <. 

Exported grids include all columns and breakouts. Open the Data Controls menu to apply filters and add even more detail to your grid.


 



Market-level data 

Market-level location data is available on Dashboards for the U.S. and Canada.


Marketing applications 

With Activity by Market, you can…

    1. Drill down on consumption at the market level in the U.S. and Canada
    2. Create custom regions by selecting multiple markets
    3. Decide where to activate at the local level
    4. Use Airplay data to plan station partnerships and radio campaigns


Get started 

Go to any Dashboard. From the top menu bar, open the Location dropdown and choose the United States or Canada. Then use the Markets menu to make additional selections. 


Go to: Data Controls: Location and Market selection



Tips and tricks

Get more out of CONNECT’s market-level data with these tips.

Toggle the Markets map on or off
Change your Location to the U.S. or Canada, then scroll to the Activity by Location map. Toggle the Markets switch at top right to the On position. 

The global heat map will change to a domestic heat map.


Markets are identified by ZIP code and centered on the largest city within that market. Hover over any market to see a pop-out box with consumption figures.


Include or exclude markets from Dashboard data
From the top menu bar, set Location to U.S. or Canada to enable market selection.


Then use the Markets dropdown to check or uncheck the markets you want to include in your combined totals. 


Your selected markets (and only those markets) will be reflected in Activity Over Time and other Dashboard displays.

Build a custom region with multiple markets
Open the Markets dropdown and uncheck "Select All." Then use the Search bar to add specific markets. When you're satisfied, click APPLY CHANGES to refresh the page. Your Dashboard (or Report) will display combined data from your selected markets. 


Search by U.S. or Canada state using the two-letter abbreviation. The above example adds all Texas markets (found by searching "TX"). 

Every ZIP code in the U.S. and Canada is covered by a market. Markets are identified by the nearest metro. Some markets span multiple states.

View and export market grids
Set your location to the U.S. or Canada, go to Activity by Location and toggle on the Markets map. Click ... to change to a Grid View. 


Grid Views display all markets and activity types, even when there's no activity in a market during your selected time frame. Click ... to export the Markets grid. 


Note that if you excluded markets or activities by unchecking them from the Markets dropdown or Data Controls menu, values for those markets and activities will appear in your grid as 0. 

 



Analysis

The Analysis feature offers a high-level view of the music industry over time. It displays aggregated music consumption by location, genre and (for some account types) provider. 


Analysis data can help marketers isolate seasonal patterns and analyze trends by genre, region, product format and release age. 



Marketing applications 

With Analysis, you can…

  1. View combined activity for the entire industry
  2. See Album and Song Equivalent KPIs
  3. Rank total consumption within genres and markets 
  4. Filter by Release Age to compare Current and Catalog music
  5. Derive benchmarks for YOY % growth 


Get started 

From the CONNECT sidebar menu, go to Analysis.


Go to: Analysis: Music industry pulse







Tracking and measurement

Activity Over Time | Trend Reports


How did my artist perform immediately before and after the campaign? How did the Grammys impact streaming for this album? How did weekly product sales change from Week 1 to Week 30?  


On any Dashboard, Activity Over Time provides a consumption snapshot for a selected date range (which you can adjust with Data Controls). 

Apply custom filters and create more detailed exports with Trend Reports.




Dashboards: Activity Over Time

On all Dashboards, Activity Over Time shows consumption at the daily or weekly level during your selected date range. It provides a useful snapshot of artist, album or song performance within a given activity.



Marketing applications 

With Activity Over Time, you can…

  1. Measure consumption before and after a campaign
  2. Look for spikes around key dates (tour stops, TV appearances, viral moments)
  3. Set different date ranges to track changes over time
  4. Compare consumption across Activity Types
  5. Segment data with Breakout Views


Get started 

All Dashboards (and Analysis) display Activity Over Time. Change the Time Frame from the top menu bar to see a different date range. Open Data Controls to further refine what you see. 


Go to: Dashboards: Data controls and view options



Tips and tricks

Dashboard controls let you filter and analyze data in real time. If you apply the right filters, you may not need to run a Trend Report to measure consumption. 

Change Time View from Daily to Weekly
Choose Daily or Weekly increments using the Time View dropdown at top right.



Set a Breakout View to see segmentation
Activity Over Time displays different data depending on your Activity Type selection. Some activities offer Breakout View options as well.



Choose a Breakout View to see color-coded segments in your bar graph. Breakouts also add detail to Grid Views. 



Export Activity Over Time grids
Activity Over Time exports provide useful snapshots of artist, album and song consumption in a given time frame or location. Use them to compare performance before and after a campaign or among different locations and markets.

You can also use Activity Over Time exports to set benchmarks and predict performance by comparing your focus artists and comp titles with other artists and titles in the same genre, region or time of year. 

Click ...  to switch from a Graph View to a Grid View and/or export the data with your filters applied.


Exported grids include all activities and breakouts.

 



Trend Reports 

Trend Reports offer custom performance snapshots for up to 500 artists, songs and/or albums at once. They allow for detailed tracking and custom comparisons of anything in our database.


Use them to track comp artists and titles or see details on consumption before, during and after key dates in your marketing calendar.



Marketing applications 

With Trend Reports, you can…

    1. Analyze high-priority artists and releases in detail
    2. Compare activity across an artist’s discography or between comps
    3. Run reports for different dates and locations to track changes
    4. Build your own aggregate of artists, songs or releases


Get started 

From the CONNECT sidebar menu, open Report Builder and choose Trend. Then follow the steps in our guide:


Go to: Build a Trend Report



Tips and tricks

Refer to our A&R Playbook for tips on how to use Trend Reports to track artists with no CONNECT Dashboard.






CONNECT in action: Marketing effectiveness case study

Recently, Luminate and Warner Music Group used CONNECT to measure marketing lift immediately after a seasonal promotional campaign for Cher’s hit Christmas album.


Read more: Case study: Measuring marketing lift around a major holiday release











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