Apple Music has added free streaming data for artists. For now the program is in beta, as Apple plays catch up with Spotify, Pandora and YouTube, who have all offered artists robust analytics for years.
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Several thousand artists who have tracks on Apple Music and iTunes. have been given beta access to Apple Music For Artists. A new dashboard will show artists current plays, spins, iTunes song and album purchases, as well as key milestones, like cumulative plays and purchases for individual tracks.
Geotargeted data from all 115 countries that Apple Music and iTunes operate in is also available. This data is particularly helpful when artists are planning tours.
All data will reach back to June 2015, when Apple Music first launched.
Canadian R&B singer Daniel Caesar told Billboard that the new analytics dashboard gives smaller artists the tools they need to compete:
“As a truly independent artist with a small team, music analytics is something we can’t do without. We don’t have the luxury of deep major label market research to rely on to help us make important decisions like where to perform and how to advertise the things that we make. Apple’s analytics tool helps to level the playing field for artists like myself.”