Fan Data Directory - Music Managers Forum (MMF)

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WELCOME TO THE MMF DATA DIRECTORY

The ‘MMF Fan Data Guide’ identifies the ten key categories of fan data that artists and managers should be aware of and have access to. This ‘MMF Data Directory’ lists some of the specific digital platforms where this data is being gathered and/or can be managed.

The aim of the ‘Data Directory’ is to provide an online resource that MMF members can both utilise and input into. These lists will evolve as new services launch. Which means we’ll keep updating the directory and we encourage members to get in touch with additions and amendments. Email info (at) themmf.net to contribute.

MMF also runs regular events, seminars and training courses that showcase and demo some of these platforms, and/or provide practical advice on how to employ them. Information about upcoming events is available here.

1. EMAIL DATA

Fan email addresses are gathered in an assortment of places, including via artist websites, ticketing platforms and direct-to-fan stores. Most managers ultimately use a mailing list service to manage this data. This helps meet obligations under data protection laws and also provides extra data about how fans interact with any email communication.

Mailing list services commonly used in music include:
Constant Contact
MailChimp

2. WEBSITE DATA

You can access data about how fans are interacting with the artist’s website via both the content management system of the site itself – which will depend on the platform used to build and host the site – and also any analytics tools that you add to the site.

Platforms commonly used to build artist websites include:
Squarespace
Wix
WordPress

Analytics tool commonly employed on artist websites include:
Google Analytics

Artists should also look to register and therefore be in control of their own domain names (eg bandname.com). Some commonly employed domain registrars include:
123reg
GoDaddy

3. SOCIAL DATA

This is the data available from the artist’s social media profiles. Basic data is available from each social media site via the artist’s account, though much better data is often available if you sign-up to any accompanying business or advertising services.

Key social media for artists include:
Facebook
Instagram
Soundcloud
Snapchat
Twitter
YouTube

4. STREAMING DATA

Your primary source of streaming data will be the artist’s label or distributor. Most distributors have portals and/or apps through which some or all of this data is available. Some labels also provide portals of this kind.

In addition to that, some streaming services also provide services or portals directly for artists and managers that enable them to access some usage data directly.

Services where you can be accessing data directly include…
Apple Music For Artists
Pandora AMP
Soundcloud Pro
Spotify For Artists
YouTube For Artists

5. TICKETING DATA

Ticketing data will, of course, come from the ticketing platform. Often it is the promoter who has direct access to this information, so the artist and manager need to confirm access to this data when negotiating their initial deal (possibly via the agent).

Where artists are promoting their own events they may use a ‘self-service’ ticketing platform. These are available to anyone with tickets to sell and often share lots of data about ticket-buyers with the event organisers.

Self-service ticketing platforms include:
Eventbrite
Music Glue

6. ADVERTISING DATA

This is data generated when artists and their business partners run advertising campaigns with online platforms.

Online advertising platforms commonly used in music include:
Facebook
Google
Snapchat
Spotify
Twitter

7. SMART-LINK DATA

There are a number of smart-link services that make it simpler to provide links to tracks, playlists, tickets or other online content and which also return some great data about how fans interact with those links.

Smart-link services commonly used in music include:
bit.ly
Feature FM
LinkFire
Smart URL

8. AFFILIATE-LINK DATA

These are the schemes where artists can earn a small commission if they send a fan to an e-commerce platform and that fan then makes a purchase. In addition to the commission, some of these services also pass back some data.

Affiliate-link schemes commonly used in music include:

Amazon
Apple iTunes
Affiliate Window
Ticketmaster/Impact Radius
Skimlinks

9. RE-MARKETING DATA

These are tools that track how users interact with your website generating data that can be then used to better target online advertising. They are mainly provided by online advertising platforms.

Re-marketing tools are usually provided by the online advertising platforms the artists use, which commonly include:
Facebook
Google
Twitter

10. D2F STORE DATA

This is the data you can pull from the artist’s direct-to-fan store, which can really powerful data that enables the artist to identify and better service super-fans

Direct-to-fan channels commonly used in music include:
Bandcamp
Music Glue
Shopify

DATA SERVICES

There are also a number of platforms and companies which provide data and analytic services. These often gather and/or curate data from multiple places and then provide tools to help managers access and understand all that data, or to better utilise the data and plan marketing activity. Some music distributors also now offer this kind of service.

Data services it is worth being aware of include:
Chartmetric
NextBigSound
Soundcharts
Spot On Track
VidID
WARM