122677 plays (99259 paid), 11669 total likes, 4883 fans, 4090 profile views

Most importantly to me, 224 listeners shared their email addresses, and went straight to my ReverbNation mailing list!

Cheers.

I suggest measuring your success by the number of new fans and email addresses you get. The more money you spend, the more those numbers should go up.

I really don’t take the reports as exact science because many people don’t include their age or location, etc., on their profile. I recall having a pop score of 70, then the next day it dropped to zero. I only pay the minimum fee and market my own music because I could never figure how Jango does it. It did not seem profitable for me to spend more money. I like situations where there is a win/win deal. I just didn’t see any benefit in spending more dollars, so I thank you for trying it & giving us the results. But for the $10 a month fee I pay, Jango is worth it & I’ve honestly received some benefit from it. You can load tons of profile info (videos, bio, fans, comments, etc.) on one page. I have referred other radio stations to review my profile to see pics, comments, fan & listen to my music, etc. I just don’t understand the popscore calculations & how and when we get royalties! But keep in mind that Jango could still be working out the kinks for us!!! It is a great concept.

Best Wishes, Jay

I had a hunch that with careful targeting I could raise my score. I’ve just been too lazy to do it! After I wrap up my new album this month, I’ll have time to start focusing on the blog again. I definitely want to revisit Jango with a new article. Tons of features have been added since I wrote this post, like finally being able to email all your fans at once (though all I got back in response was chirping crickets).

I’m sure you’ll both love Britt. She’s really great to work with.

Anyway, I’ve been playing my daughter’s music on Jango. My daughter is Mariah Ver Hoef,
http://www.mariahverhoef.com
http://www.jango.com/music/Mariah+Ver+Hoef
I started in mid-January (by the way, I’ve followed your blog since last fall, and it’s really great — thanks). My daughter just turned 16, and released her CD last summer. The week before last, we made the top 5 in the Jango pop score,
http://airplay.jango.com/blog/2010/06/jango-popscore-top-5.html

First, without giving a lot of reasons, I really do like Jango. I’ve been frustrated at times, as has been amply demonstrated by others in these comments. However, in the end, it’s the only place where I can actually get my daughter’s music to an audience without depending on someone else deciding whether or not to play it. That’s the bottom line, and it’s the best value I’ve found so far (compared to, say, last.fm).

OK, on to the pop score, the real reason that I’m writing. I have a Ph.D. in statistics, so I’m always fascinated by numbers. Look, there’s simply a lot of great music out there. To win the pop score, you have to have an incredibly amazing song (which every musician thinks they have), or you can do your due diligence and look for patterns. After experimenting with different similar artists, certain days of the week, certain times of the day, etc., I could improve Mariah’s score. I also experimented with targeting for sex and age. Then, the week before Mariah made the top 5, Jango released a new feature on the statistics of ratings by country. I jumped right on that using targeting for sex, age, and geography (the US was not her best country, by a long shot), along with time of day (need to turn off pacing for that) and time of week , and we made the top 5.

Before I get flamed too badly, let me say that I only tried to “win” the pop score about every other week, and I would abandon it if I didn’t get a good score on the very first day (more on that later). I’m not obsessed by it, and I fully realize that it’s an imperfect measure. For example, I notice that certain ages, sexes, and nationalities increased the pop score, but they *never* leave their email addresses. Other groups (younger in general) are much more likely to leave an email address. So, which is the better barometer of a “true fan?” Which would you rather pay for?

The main reason I wanted to get Mariah in the top 5 was 5000 free plays, plus I was curious about any promotional effect it might have. I must say that I’m not sure what is going on yet. In the week that the top 5 was announced, Mariah’s organic plays went from about 30/day to 50/day, with a spike around the two days of the blog announcement on Jango. However, suddenly, this week on Tuesday, she jumped to over 250 plays/day. I don’t know if Jango is promoting her somewhere, or some algorithm kicked in and just started inserting her into more radio stations. That alone has generated another 1200 plays this week, and 100′s of profile views per day and the most new fans she’s ever gotten.

One final tip, to win, the fewer plays the better. It’s a statistical thing. Fewer plays means more variation. One week you might start down, but the next, you’ll start high. If you start with a good score based on only 50 plays (say 96 or better), then stick. Your score will go up as everyone else’s averages out. The popscore was explained in its basics, and it is normalized every day. Think of it as a percentage ranking. You can actual improve your score by not playing because everyone else’s “favorable” statistics average out, and you float to the top.

So, now hopefully you see, as I see, that the popscore may be imperfect, but it was worth trying to attain. That being said, now I’ve gone back to general plays, and we’re getting a lot of email addresses again and I don’t spend 2 credits per play. Anyway, my advice is to pay attention to your stats, try to win the popscore occasionally for the free plays and promotional effect, but I wouldn’t attach my artistic ego to it.

There is, of course, a lot more to say about Jango, and I really appreciate all of the comments about payola and Jango’s place in general. However, I just wanted to give my perspective, and a few tips, on the pop score in particular.

Best Wishes, Jay