100,000 new tracks each day on streaming platforms...

We knew this symbolic mark was close, and now here it is crossed: 100,000 tracks are now released every day on streaming platforms 🤓😱 What can we conclude from this situation?

How can we stand out from this abundance? What is the ecological footprint?

It is tricky to answer too quickly.

If we look at the glass as half full, this situation is very exciting because it proves the vitality of a sector that has been growing steadily for the last 5 years or so.

If you look at the glass as half empty, it can seem quite staggering for those who want to make something out of it, because it is easy to feel drowned in this ocean of releases. How does one stand out?

On this matter, it is one of the prime objectives of Bridge.audio to facilitate the presentation of one’s music, and the exchanges with the whole ecosystem. And this, in order to optimize the chances to distinguish oneself, and to offer to the music the visibility it deserves.

If we look at the phenomenon from an ecological point of view now, it is then (very) worrying because these 100 000 tracks are only the tip of the iceberg. If we consider all the versions in motion (demo, v1, v2, stems, premaster…) and all the people involved (artists, sound engineers, managers, labels, media…) these 100 000 tracks generate more than one billion exchanges per month within the industry. And here again, Bridge.audio is committed to playing a key role in solving this problematic.

Indeed, by developing an industry standard for storage and exchanges, we strongly advocate for the de-duplication of files.

Looking at these astronomical volumes, our missions of standardization and facilitation of exchanges between all the links in the production chain are more important than ever.

When, for example, an artist or label share music via WeTransfer (which is still the main usage according to 75% of the pros surveyed), they often make as many uploads as they have recipients, to enjoy the full 7 days allowed, and the proof of download… Such method implies a considerable ecological footprint.

With Bridge, you can generate as many links as you want without duplicating files. We make sure that identical files are de-duplicated (so it is impossible to upload the same file twice by mistake). And if you only want to authorize streaming to some of your recipients, there again, it will be the same files. So there is no need to continue doing as we have been doing for almost 15 years in our industry: to make private Soundcloud links in parallel to WeTransfer or Google Drive links when you only want to authorize streaming.

In the exchanges between different users, there too, de-duplication is at the heart of our concerns since there is no longer any need to download locally (which consumes local disk space) and then share it again via WeTransfer/Google Drive… The files pass along between users as well as the associated metadata in a single click.

This is the main idea of our journey, you get it now. To be a bridge, without discontinuity, between all audio pros.

A standard that starts with a free version for up to 50 tracks 💜

Clément Souchier