Elliot Kim
Next Big Sound is a platform that provides detailed online music analytics of streaming services and social networks. Artists can use Next Big Sound to track their Spotify plays and other data, such as Wikipedia page views. While Next Big Sound used to collaborate with Spotify, the platform discontinued this collaboration in 2017, with Spotify deciding to focus its attention on Spotify Fan Insights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Next Big Sound | Provides detailed online music analytics of streaming services and social networks |
| Allows artists to track Spotify plays | |
| Allows artists to track Wikipedia page views | |
| Launched a major redesign in 2014 and made all profiles free | |
| Spotify | Ended collaboration with Next Big Sound in 2017 |
| Spotify decided to focus their attention on Spotify Fan Insights | |
| Spotify Songs of Summer tradition involves a midseason wild card update and a big end-of-summer reveal | |
| Spotify's Top 5 Songs of Summer in 2025 included Alex Warren's "Ordinary" and Ravyn Lenae's "Love Me Not" |
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What You'll Learn
Next Big Sound's tracking of Spotify plays
Next Big Sound (NBS) is a Pandora-owned service that provides detailed online music analytics of streaming services and social networks. Artists can use NBS to track their Spotify plays and other data, such as Wikipedia page views. This can be useful for determining where in the world an artist's music is most popular, which can inform decisions about booking tours. Additionally, record labels can use this information to decide which artists to invest in or drop and which new artists to sign.
While NBS provides valuable insights, it has been criticised for not including all social media and streaming platforms, such as Instagram, YouTube, and SoundCloud. In 2017, Spotify discontinued its collaboration with NBS, opting to focus on Spotify Fan Insights instead. This decision was met with some disappointment from users who found value in having all their artist stats in one place and being able to compare an artist's evolution across multiple platforms simultaneously.
Despite this setback, NBS remains a useful tool for artists and labels alike, offering a comprehensive overview of an artist's performance on Spotify and other streaming platforms. By tracking Spotify plays, artists can gain valuable insights into their audience and make more informed decisions about their careers. For example, an artist might discover that their music resonates strongly in a particular country or region, influencing their marketing and touring strategies.
In addition to tracking Spotify plays, NBS offers a range of other features and analytics. For instance, artists can monitor their Wikipedia page views, providing another dimension to understanding their popularity and reach. NBS also enables users to set goals and track their progress over time. While sales data from other platforms like iTunes and Bandcamp are currently not included, NBS nonetheless provides a robust platform for artists to promote their music and make data-driven decisions.
Overall, Next Big Sound's tracking of Spotify plays offers artists and labels valuable insights and analytics. By understanding where their music is being played and by whom, artists can make more strategic decisions about their careers, and labels can identify emerging talent and trends. While NBS has faced some challenges, including the discontinuation of its Spotify collaboration, it remains a powerful tool in the music industry for tracking and analysing Spotify plays.
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Next Big Sound's discontinuation of Spotify collaboration
Next Big Sound (NBS) was a service that provided detailed online music analytics of streaming services and social networks. It allowed artists to track their Spotify plays and compare their performance across multiple platforms. While it was a useful tool for artists, labels, booking agencies, and other industry professionals, NBS's collaboration with Spotify came to an end in 2017.
On October 17, 2017, a user on the Spotify Community forum inquired about the discontinuation of the collaboration between Next Big Sound and Spotify. A response from Next Big Sound confirmed that their Spotify offering was no longer available. The statement explained that while they had worked closely with Spotify for years, Spotify had decided to shift their focus to Spotify Fan Insights, leading to the change.
This decision left artists and industry professionals without a single platform to access all their stats and compare their performance across different platforms. The user who initiated the forum discussion expressed the importance of having all an artist's stats in one place, highlighting how Next Big Sound allowed them to track the evolution of an artist across multiple platforms simultaneously.
Despite the discontinuation of the collaboration, some users continued to express interest in reinstating Next Big Sound Insights. Spotify Community forum moderators encouraged users to repost their ideas in a slightly different form to gain more support from the community. However, as of 2020, there are still discussions and reviews about Next Big Sound and its potential benefits over other music analytics platforms.
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Next Big Sound's tracking of Wikipedia page views
Next Big Sound (NBS) is a music analytics company that provides detailed online analytics of streaming services and social networks. While NBS does not track Spotify plays anymore, it does track Wikipedia page views.
Wikipedia page view statistics can be accessed in two ways. Firstly, by clicking "Page Information" under "Tools" in the sidebar and then "Page View Statistics" at the bottom. Secondly, by clicking the history tab and then "Page Views" near the top. These statistics can show how popular a Wikipedia page is, but they do not indicate a topic's notability. For example, an article about a well-known musician is likely to get more views than that of a local street performer. Additionally, current events can also cause spikes in Wikipedia page views. For instance, an article about a disaster or military engagement is likely to receive more views during the event than at other times.
NBS allows users to track their Spotify plays and Wikipedia page views in one place. This can be useful for artists to determine where their music is popular and make decisions about their investments, scouting, and tour bookings. For example, an artist may discover that they get the most Spotify plays in Sweden and can then use that information to plan their tour.
While NBS provides valuable insights, it does not include all social media and streaming platforms. Additionally, it does not provide sales data from platforms like iTunes, Bandcamp, or TuneCore. Despite these limitations, NBS can still be a helpful tool for artists to track their online presence and make informed decisions about their careers.
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Next Big Sound's absence of certain social media platforms
Next Big Sound (NBS) is an online music analytics service that tracks streaming services and social networks. While NBS has been praised for its ability to track data across multiple platforms, it has also been criticised for not including certain social media platforms such as Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, Vevo, and SoundCloud.
One reason for NBS's absence from certain social media platforms may be due to competition. For example, NBS is owned by Pandora, a streaming service that competes with Spotify. Therefore, it is unlikely that NBS would endorse a competitor by monitoring their stats. Additionally, Instagram was removed from NBS due to API changes.
Another reason for the absence of certain social media platforms on NBS could be the challenge of moderation. Audio-based social media platforms, for instance, present a unique challenge when it comes to moderation as they lack closed captions that can be used to flag inappropriate content. This has been identified as an issue for accessibility, with platforms like Twitter and Discord introducing real-time closed captions to improve accessibility and moderation.
Furthermore, NBS may not have access to sales data from certain platforms, such as iTunes, Bandcamp, CD Baby, or TuneCore. This limits the ability of artists and labels to track their success and make informed decisions about investments and tour bookings.
Despite these absences, NBS still offers valuable insights for artists and labels looking to track their performance across multiple platforms. It provides a comprehensive overview of an artist's popularity and reach, allowing them to set goals and make strategic decisions. However, to make the most of NBS, users might have to complement its data with other sources.
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Next Big Sound's utility for record labels
Next Big Sound (NBS) is an online music analytics platform that provides detailed analytics of streaming services and social networks. It tracks artists' popularity and profitability across major platforms such as YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. NBS offers predictions on funding, acquisitions, IPOs, and more, making it a valuable tool for the music industry.
NBS was particularly useful for record labels as it helped them make informed decisions about their artists and investments. Record labels could use NBS to determine which artists to invest in or drop, scout for new signings, and choose tour locations. The platform provided insights into fan density, sales, and site traffic through powerful graphs and weekly email reports.
Additionally, NBS allowed users to track their Spotify plays, although this feature was discontinued in 2017 when Spotify decided to focus on its own Spotify Fan Insights. Despite this, NBS continued to be a valuable tool for the music industry, with over 3000 investors and strategists using its predictions to forecast the next big startup.
Next Big Sound's analytics could also help brands like Pepsi, American Express, and Absolut identify up-and-coming artists and understand their target audience better. This shift in focus to brands was a result of the changing economics of the music business, where sponsorships had become a significant revenue stream for artists.
In conclusion, Next Big Sound offered a range of utilities for record labels, from tracking artist performance to making data-driven decisions about investments and tour locations. Its detailed analytics and insights provided valuable information for the music industry, helping record labels and brands alike navigate the changing landscape of the music business.
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Frequently asked questions
Next Big Sound is a service that provides detailed online music analytics of streaming services and social networks.
Next Big Sound used to work closely with Spotify to provide insights for artists. However, Spotify decided to focus its attention on Spotify Fan Insights and discontinued the collaboration.
No, Next Big Sound's Spotify offering is no longer available. However, there are alternative platforms, such as Musicmetric and ChartMetric, that offer similar insights and analytics.
