December 30, 2009

More On PopScore - How It Works

After two weeks of PopScore we're thrilled with how much interest it has generated. We have awarded hundreds of thousand of Play Credits and have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback. There have also been a fair number of questions. Three recurring questions that we will try and answer below are:

- How is the PopScore calculated?
- What’s a good PopScore?
- How can I improve my PopScore?












So here's the lowdown:

How is the PopSc
ore calculated?

As some of you probably know, each time we play your song to one of Jango's 7 Million listeners we ask them to rate your song. We do this through the use of a pop up window (the Make’m or Break ‘em overlay).










When listening to your song the listener can give a thumbs up, thumbs down, become your fan, leave a comment and more. We enter all these listener reactions into a formula to determine which songs, and therefore which bands, are most popular with our listeners. In simple terms the PopScore is a ratio computed by total number of plays as well as ratings, both positive and negative.

To go into further detail:

You need at least 100 paid plays in the calender week (Mon – Sun) on at least one song to receive a PopScore. In other words, your band will get a PopScore if you have two songs with 100 paid plays each, or one song with 100 paid plays, or 5 songs with 500 paid plays each, but your band will not get a PopScore if you have three songs with only 99 paid plays each. So, if you want to make sure you get a PopScore each week make sure you allocate a minimum of 100 plays a week to at least one of your songs.

With that said, the more plays you have in a week, the more people will hear your music and the more new fans you will get. Also, the more paid plays you have in a week, the more accurate your PopScore becomes. However, because we look at both positive and negative ratings, you simply can not buy your your way to a higher PopScore.

What’s a good PopScore?

The best possible PopScore is 100 and the top 1000 bands receive some amount of bonus Play Credits. The higher the PopScore, the more bonus Play Credits.

How can I improve my PopScore?

Good question (and one that is difficult to answer). There are many things that affect your PopScore. This includes:

- Basic Targeting
At the most fundamental level it does not make sense for a country artist to target fans of Metallica. Similarly, a hip hop artist should not expect to fare well if targeting fans of Kenny Rogers. Your targeting is important so make sure to examine your Fan Overlap Report which is accessible from within your Reports Tab.

- Premium Targeting
Premium Targeting allows you to target specific groups of people. By targeting your plays to people in certain states or countries age groups or gender, you make sure that your songs are only played to people that correspond to your selected targets. Premium Targeting may help you achieve a higher PopScore so keep trying. Premium Targeting is available under your Targeting Tab.

- Presentation
Overal presentation is always important. This can be anything from high quality mastering of your tacks to a great press shot or album cover. When we ask listeners to rate your music we tell them not only your band name but we also show your default picture. Being visually interesting and sounding great always helps.

- Your Music
This goes without saying perhaps but your music is obviously of great importance. Some of us Jugglers play in bands in our spare time so we know that writing music is hard and writing music that people respond to is even harder.

- Experiment!
You know this, music is an art not a science, and while there is some science at work within the Jango PopScore a lot of it has to do with subjective tastes of millions of people. So how do you write a number one hit? Perhaps by never giving up.

We're here to help, answer any questions you might have and to listen to your feedback but we see our role as providing great tools for the emerging band. How you use the tools we provide, and what you do with them is up to you.

Our ears are open !!!

- Jango Jugglers