Andreea Gleeson on TuneCore’s Next Chapter

Today's episode continues our summit recap series. You'll hear TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson and Billboard's Taylor Mims. They talked about breaking through the noise, TuneCore's milestones, Russ' success, global growth, and more.

You can listen here or read below for the challenges of breaking through the algorithms.

It's never been easier, but it's never been harder. That's a sentiment I hear often about what it takes to break through.

Here's a quote from TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson at our 2025 Trapital Summit:

"There's never been a better time to be independent, and then it's also really hard. We talked about the super fans... The fragmentation of the market that has happened makes it so much more difficult to actually get in front of audiences. You can't do it in a mass way."

The nuance is the difference between getting started and breaking through to mass audiences. I used to talk about this often with the late Peter Sinclair, co-founder of beatBread. His take was that it's easier than ever to make a living in music because the gates are now open. He would reference Spotify's Loud & Clear report, citing the increase in artists worldwide who can make a career off their music. But his caveat is that it's harder than ever to reach superstar status in today's era.

I still believe this, but even today's superstars are struggling to maintain their position. Here's Lizzo in a recent TikTok video:

"...Now that we are in the digital streaming age, there is no control over the algorithm, and it is stressing people the f*** out, myself included... Every major artist from Lady Gaga to Drake has dropped albums this year, and yet everyone is saying there's no song of the summer. I'm gonna be completely honest with you guys: It's not because the music isn't incredible, it's because the way that the algorithm is set up, no one can serve the masses anymore."

This is coming from an arena-level touring act and multiple Grammy winner with chart-topping hits. To be fair, Lizzo took a hiatus from music amidst her misconduct allegations, which may have impacted the reach of her recent mixtape, but her point still holds. A lot has changed since "Truth Hurts" and "About Damn Time" topped the charts.

It may seem odd to talk about stars not breaking through when Taylor Swift just broke the record for most albums sold in a week, but that's how attention works. Even the top 1% of artists are subject to the power law, where a small fraction captures most of the rewards.

Later in that clip, Lizzo talked about speaking to "your fanbase" and not relying on the mainstream channels. That advice isn't new, but it's typically reserved for indie and rising artists. Today, Lizzo and her peers have more in common with the majority of artists on TuneCore than people think. The advice has become universal.

Listen here:​​ ​Spotify​​​ | ​​​Apple Podcasts​​​ | ​Overcast

Chartmetric Stat of the Week

Bad Bunny is set to take the stage at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, and the data proves just how global his reach really is. According to Chartmetric, Mexico makes up the largest share of his audience at 20.36%, but the U.S. follows closely behind with 19.37%. No other country even cracks 10%.

But some of the critics may not realize that Bad Bunny’s 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti, spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That’s a U.S. chart! Bad Bunny is global, but he’s also beloved in the U.S.