TCNJ

28 The College of New Jersey Magazine Why college students are important to the work she does Gen Z and college age consumers are a core demographic for the majority of our artists. And a key part of how we develop artists. Gen Zs are consuming more content than ever so understanding how their behaviors are evolving and changing on social and streaming platforms is critical. "I saw that there was a lot happening around music and technology. That's where I locked in, and that's been my trajectory." What drives a record label Artists and creators will always drive our business. The label's role is to bring partners to the table to help us develop and expose our content, build expertise and tools to optimize revenue, and innovate and drive investment in areas that will create value for artists and creators. companies. When I finished, they offered me a full-time position — this was a month before I graduated. It was a dream scenario. What else spurred her to accept the position I don't think my parents would have let me back in the house, so I had to find something that actually paid me. The all-important career flip When I entered the business, I very quickly pivoted to digital because I saw that there was a lot happening around music and technology. That's where I locked in, and that's been my trajectory. I knew that radio wasn't something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The bigger artists she caught at TCNJ Edie Brickell in 1990 and Violent Femmes in 1992. How streaming numbers get converted to sales data for gold, platinum, and diamond certifications The industry follows a fixed set of ratios and formulas to convert streams and downloads to track album equivalents. The certifications are based on all consumption activity (physical purchases, streaming, downloads). Streaming is typically the biggest The two megastars who were booked at TCNJ as openers Billy Joel [1974], who had Piano Man under his belt and a more established presence, was headlining a year after performing here. Springsteen [1973] would take longer to break through. Other artists who performed early in their careers Bonnie Raitt, who started in the early '70s, also had a little bit more runway when she played TCNJ in 1975. It's pretty cool that she played with Buddy Guy on campus. It's awesome. Nearly five decades later, her 2022 album Just Like That hit #44 on our chart, but it got some love when its title track won Song of the Year at the 2023 Grammys, a big surprise. It was one of the few Song of the Year winners that was not a chart hit. I also knew about Megan Thee Stallion as an up-and-coming rapper in 2019, the year she performed on campus. In 2020, she went from hip-hop star to national, A-list star. She collaborated on the single "WAP" with Cardi B, already a star, and it debuted at #1 on the Hot 100. It was an enormous hit out of the gate. Groups that came to TCNJ later in their trajectories Cheap Trick's biggest hits were in the late '70s — "Surrender" and "I Want You of months." It's "I'm going to show you a behind the scenes video. I'm going to have a remix. I'm going to have a slowed- down version." It's just making sure modern fans with shortened attention spans are aware of everything going on. How Billboard automatically factors streaming numbers into its charts The good thing about the charts for the last decade is that they take streaming numbers into account and how music is being consumed. Every year, our charts team recalibrates our chart formula. So in 2012, if 10% of people were using streaming as their primary source of music — I'm just making up a number — then that factored in 10% of the Hot 100 singles chart. Now that streaming is much more prevalent, it's a much bigger part of the formula. … and for album sales in particular Our primary album chart, Hot 200, tallies the biggest albums of a given week. Because there are so few albums actually being sold now, that chart looks at equivalent album unit sales. If someone listens to an album straight through enough times on Spotify, it'll earn what we call an equivalent album unit. We still count physical album sales into that chart, but it's a mix. Jason Lipshutz on … Jason Lipshutz on … Continued from page 22 Jennifer Fowler on … Jennifer Fowler on …

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