Photo Credit: Sound Credit
Drip allows artists to offer private, limited previews of songs to get early listener feedback. The feature combines AI analytics, short-term streaming, and scarcity to deliver data-driven insights into listener behavior. According to Sound Credit, “Drip Before You Drop” will “give artists the opportunity to make wise decisions about releases and promotions.”
at its core, good credit is a leading provider of music metadata collection and file transfer services for music creators. The company’s goal is to lose over $1 billion in royalties to musicians each year.
But Sound Credit founder and CEO Gebre Waddell told Digital Music News that the company has identified a key missing link in the technology-driven music world: releasing songs with limited access to encourage publicity, fan engagement and track refinement. DMN quickly agreed to help launch this new publishing option for artists.
With the advent of streaming services, pre-release exclusive rights and scarcity of content became forgotten privileges. Sound Credit’s new functionality, “Drip”, aims to revive the lost pre-release hype. For core fans, this short-lived streaming could offer a chance to hear their idols’ work before everyone else gets their hands on it. And for artists, Drip could potentially drive track refinement, streamline album releases, and boost targeted advertising — all with a data-driven approach.
Aside from traditional songs, everything goes for Drip: special versions, remixes, demos, outtakes and more experimental tracks. It is also low-risk and inexpensive; Instead of expensive focus groups that are usually a luxury of larger labels and companies, Drip allows for endless experimentation and pre-release testing.
Waddell believes Drip will revive the long-lost concept of teasing music as it used to happen on radio. Speaking to DMN, he explained, “Artists can use modern technology to understand their audience in depth while creating anticipation and excitement for a new release.”
By capping the number of participants, drip campaigns can provide a sense of urgency and scarcity to encourage engagement (photo credit: sound credit)
Waddell believes artists with short-lived streaming and limited user access can generate urgency, interest and online engagement from fans.
As fans engage and debate the tracks, Waddell believes this process could generate just the right amount of buzz to propel an album release to more promising heights. He added, “Drip grants listeners a limited window of time to enjoy a track before it disappears, providing a sense of urgency and exclusivity that enhances the listening experience.”
Pre-sale promotions are nothing new – streaming platforms have been giving artists this option for years. But these pre-release tracks are just teasers for albums and they usually remain available to everyone at all times. Waddell predicts that limited-time access through artists’ marketing channels will drive user data and analytics — that’s how Drip wants to change the game.
Drip allows identifying the regions that have achieved the highest levels of engagement alongside in-depth analysis (Image credit: Sound Credit)
“Bespoke drip links collect detailed data, including geolocation data, track-specific likes and plays, listener demographics and more,” explains Waddell.
The latest functionality provides in-depth, in-depth analysis, identifying which title resonated more with fans. The data can also help identify regions that attracted the highest fan engagement – information that can be used for targeted tours and promotions. According to Waddell, this analysis ensures that artists plan tours and promotions with more core information about fan interest in the selected region. It also reduces the risk of under-attended shows, which can be costly.
Every listener interaction via Drip yields data. Analyzing this data could help artists focus precisely on refining the final titles before release. It can also help artists identify fan favorites or even leave tracks. Waddell describes “exit tracks” as tracks that cause listeners to leave the playlist. This identification of exit tracks nominates top candidates that could/should be removed from an album altogether.
According to Waddell, starting a drip is quick and easy.
Artists upload all recordings to the Sound Credit portal and generate a drip link that can be published and shared via email, social media or other marketing channels.
When users complete a drip (or fail to attend), the drip creator can access their emails from their dashboard (image credit: sound credit).
Artists can set the maximum number of participants and set a time frame for availability. Users who click the Drip link will see a countdown timer for the exclusive preview, providing a sense of urgency and scarcity that encourages fan engagement, online discussions, reviews, and feedback. This data feeds into Drip’s AI-driven analytics. Additionally, the drip creator can access their emails from their dashboard when users complete (or fail) a drip.
According to Waddell, the power of “Drip Before You Drop” lies in these detailed data collection points and analysis. “Each interaction with a drip link is tracked and analyzed, providing insights into listener likes, reactions and engagement.”