THE INSIDE EAR.
ON OUR RADAR
→ The final stretch of the year is packed with opportunities to connect your music with fans in creative ways. As you plan for October through December, keep Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the holiday season on your radar. Whether it's launching a limited-edition merch drop, creating Halloween-themed content, or bringing new life to a holiday record in your catalog, planning ahead can turn seasonal moments into meaningful fan engagement. Start building your strategy now so you're ready when the moment arrives.
→ Direct-to-fan continues to create new opportunities for artists to monetize their most engaged supporters. Through our partnership with EVEN, eligible artists can give fans early access to music and exclusive experiences while creating an additional revenue stream around a release.
Interested in exploring EVEN for an upcoming release? Reach out to your ALS representative.
ALS Tip of the Month
Not every marketing moment needs a new release. We're keeping an eye on creative ways artists are bringing existing records back into the conversation. Think new visual content, live performances, collaborations, storytelling around older songs and organic moments that give fans a reason to rediscover the catalog.
DSP DOWNLOAD
Spotify has launched AI Persona badges to provide clearer context about who listeners are connecting with. Starting mid-September, AI Persona labels will begin appearing to Spotify users on artist profiles (in the banner and About section), in search results, and on track rows in playlists.
Spotify will now include music video streams as part of the Converted Listeners metric for any Marquee or Showcase campaign promoting a release with an associated music video. This update is intended to provide a more comprehensive measurement of listener engagement within campaign reporting data.
Marquee and Showcase display campaigns promoting Singles are now eligible to be served to Free users on Spotify.
WhatsApp is rolling out Usernames, allowing users to connect without sharing their phone number. Users can choose, change or remove a username at any time, while messages remain end-to-end encrypted. This gives artists and teams a more private way to connect and communicate with fans, collaborators and industry contacts.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Artist submissions for Bands at NAMM close September 16. Emerging and established artists can apply to perform on official stages during the 2027 NAMM Show, putting them in front of a large music-industry audience.
Billboard Latin Music Week takes place October 19–22, bringing together some of the biggest names across Latin music, including Pitbull, Fuerza Regida, Greeicy, Lola Índigo, Zhamira and more. Artists and industry professionals can attend for four days of conversations, networking, performances and opportunities to connect with leaders shaping the global Latin music industry.
Artist submissions for SXSW 2027 close November 20. Signed and unsigned artists across all genres can apply to perform as an Official Showcasing Artist during SXSW, taking place March 15–21, 2027 in Austin, TX, with the opportunity to perform in front of music industry professionals, media, and fans from around the world.
