Linkfire Strikes Apple Music Deal to Provide Artists Additional Streaming Data

Music marketing firm Linkfire has struck a deal with Apple Music to provide artists with additional attribution data from the streaming service, according to a new post on the company’s website.

“Discover which of your links, channels, and activities are actually driving streams on Apple Music, and where those streams are coming from,” the post reads. "You can now match your off-platform campaigns with on-platform behavior and cut down on budget burners."

Linkfire allows artists to create “smart links” that direct fans to a landing page listing links to their music on different streaming services and retail sites. Under the new Apple Music deal, artists can now view data breaking down what fans listen to after clicking through to the service via the smart link. Indeed, though Linkfire has allowed artists to track click-throughs to streaming services from their smart links for some time, they’ve only recently been striking deals with streaming services including Pandora, Anghami and Boomplay to track fans' activities once they land there.

Artists can now view a detailed breakdown of Apple Music streaming activity by releases and geography -- the latter to “get a detailed picture” of their “worldwide fanbase” in order to better target tour dates and promotions. The specific release data includes both “direct products” (i.e. an artists’ own music) and “indirect products” (i.e. the music of other artists) that users listen to after clicking through the smart link.

The company notes that if a user navigates away from a “direct product” like a song targeted in a smart link but then goes on to play that same song through a different “inventory reference” like a playlist or album, the stream will be counted as an “indirect product.” 

Notably, Linkfire states that in order for artists to see Apple Music streaming insights, they must place Apple Music in the No. 1 position on their landing pages or, alternatively, drive fans to Apple Music using direct-to-service links. Additionally, 10 or more Apple Music users must have taken the same action -- i.e. streaming one of the artists’ songs -- for activity on a particular release to show.

Apple Music streaming data is updated daily and tracked for 30 minutes after a fan clicks through to the service via a smart link. A song must be streamed for 30 seconds or more to be reported.