AI-powered A&R dashboard · est. 2007

The shortlist, before the signing war.

AI agents scout local TikTok and Reels feeds 24/7. Chad Hillard, the A&R credited with discovering Billie Eilish, picks the best by hand.

“He kind of gave us a career.”
— FINNEAS
Built by Chad Hillard, credited with discovering Billie Eilish, early to Lorde, Halsey, Dominic Fike, Daniel Caesar, LANY.
See the dashboard
Then $74.99/mo. Card required. Cancel anytime.  ·  Or $749/yr, save $150
On our dashboard early
Sammi HeaneySigned · Safelight Records90 days before signing
Tap an artist · See the Record
All six were on our dashboard before they signed · See the Record
The head start
99days

12 artists signed after we flagged them. On average they were on the dashboard 99 days before the deal.
See the Record →
281
Unsigned artists tracked
18
Added this week
19
Countries

US 156·UK 43·Canada 13·France 13·Australia 12·+14 more

Live · updated every morning

Early results

“I’ve been using before the data for not even a month, and already signed an artist from it. We check it daily. Exceptional tool run by an exceptional talent.”

Two Feet477 Records
How it works

Three steps. No spreadsheets.

What actually happens between a TikTok post and an artist showing up on your dashboard.

01
Discover

AI scouts TikTok

AI agents in six cities scroll TikTok and Instagram 24 hours a day, flagging unsigned artists with real early signal. While you're asleep, they're working.

02
Filter

Chad listens

Most get cut. The ones with real voice, songwriting, and momentum move to the shortlist. 19 years of A&R instinct calibrates this step.

03
Deliver

You see it first

Approved artists hit your dashboard with daily streams, UGC, and social score. Spike alerts come to your inbox. Closing is on you.

Want to hear the ones Chad cuts too? The Raw Feed shows every artist our AI agents find, about 190 a day. Optional add-on.

Two scouting layers. One global radar.

AI agents find the signal.
Human scouts bring the context.

Our AI agents read local TikTok feeds around the clock, while human scouts add taste, cultural context, and discoveries from their own markets.

Loading live scout locations
01 / 07

World view

A distributed listening layer, built market by market.

02 / 07

North America

The first field comes into focus.

03 / 07

Nashville

Local TikTok signals, read around the clock.

04 / 07

London

The listening layer moves with the market.

05 / 07

Paris

A second European feed sharpens the picture.

06 / 07

Melbourne

Coverage continues while the other markets sleep.

07 / 07

One global radar

Six live agents. One global radar.

Preparing the network
NashvilleLive agent
LondonLive agent
ParisLive agent
MelbourneLive agent
TorontoLive agent
SeoulLive agent
One system, three signals

Let the alerts
keep watch.

One delivery surface changes with the signal, keeping the next place to look in your hand.

Tap a signal to preview 1 / 3
Before The Data Alerts mobile web view
Mobile web view · Fresh every morning
The Monday report

Your artists,
every Monday.

Follow any artist and they land in one email at 10am your time. Who's moving, who's heating up, and what changed that week, in a two-minute read.

  • LabelsEvery artist gets one clear label: Moving, Heating up, Holding, Cooling, New or Pre-release.
  • The whyA plain-English line on what drove the week, with the song behind it.
  • SignalsSpotify streams and monthly listeners, TikTok and Instagram followers and UGC.
  • ControlWeekly, monthly or off. Leave any artist out with one tap.
Start following artists

Included with every paid plan.

Numbers from a real week on the dashboard. Artist names hidden.

Inside the dashboard

One screen. Every signal.

Every number refreshes overnight, ready when you wake up. Click any metric in the live dashboard to drill deeper.

Spotify total streams
4.2M
+249.1KLast 7 days
TikTok followers
568.7K
+3.5KLast 7 days
Instagram followers
586.0K
+31.0KLast 7 days
UGC total
9.6K
+424Last 7 days
Spotify listeners
306.1K
-4.1KLast 7 days
Social score
64/100
Posting steadily on TikTok and Instagram
Momentum
Current score90.3
BTD rank#7
Last week#11
Score trend · 14 days

Tap any number to open it. Fictional artist and example numbers, real dashboard layout.

The product

Built for the desk. Useful on the phone.

One workflow: hear the artist, follow the movement, know when the signal changes.

Momentum score

Every artist we follow. Ranked every day.

We score every artist on Before The Data from 0 to 100 on how fast they are moving right now. One board shows who is rising across the whole catalog, and who is cooling off.

Streams+Followers+Fan videos+Posting=One score
Momentum board · all artistsLast week
    Showing the top 8 of 300+ artistsFictional names, real dashboard photos, example numbers
    Artist Intel

    Know the context behind the movement.

    The signal tells you who is moving. Artist Intel shows who is already around them, what is in motion, and what they are actually looking for. Every field is sourced directly and shown only when verified.

    Musician playing guitar on a smoky stage
    Demo profile Mara Vey Alternative · United Kingdom
    Direct artist-sourced context · Updated Jul 24

    Artist status at a glance

    Verified
    Recording dealNo deal confirmed
    DistributionIndependent distribution
    PublishingSelf-published
    ManagementNone confirmed
    Current positionReleasing independently while building the next project.
    Direct askOpen to publishing conversations and sync opportunities.
    How we compare

    Other tools give you data.
    We give you the shortlist.

    Chartmetric, Soundcharts, and Viberate are research tools, you still have to find the artists yourself. Before The Data does the filtering first.

    Before The Data Chartmetric Soundcharts Viberate
    Human curation✓XXX
    24/7 AI scouting layer✓XXX
    Global scout network✓XXX
    Daily data refresh✓✓✓X
    Pre-release artist access✓XXX
    Artist Intel + context✓XXX
    Social consistency score✓XXX
    Price$74.99/mo$116/mo$129/mo$19/mo
    Three differences that matter

    Why this beats a spreadsheet.

    Eight bullet points is a list. Three is a pitch.

    01 / CURATION

    You see the shortlist, not the firehose.

    Every artist on the dashboard has been heard, vetted, and approved. The noise is gone before you arrive.

    02 / COVERAGE

    AI agents that never sleep.

    While you're asleep, the agents are scanning TikTok for the next Billie. By morning, the best finds are vetted and added to the dashboard.

    03 / SIGNAL

    The Social Score, only here.

    A 0–100 consistency index updated daily, built from TikTok posting cadence, Instagram posting cadence, and whether an artist keeps showing up over time.

    PROOF

    Here's what early looks like.

    Same dashboard. Same alerts. Nothing changed about the artist. The data just told us first.

    Jerri
    JerriSigned · Boom Records
    Spotify streams · flagged Jan 28 → today
    2K→9.6M
    On our dashboard 82 days before signing.
    FLAGGED · JAN 28 SIGNED · APR 20
    Monthly listeners254K → 764K
    TikTok UGC2.3K → 140K
    Instagram UGC752 → 18K
    12 signed. Same story. Tap an artist.
    See more
    Chad Hillard
    Built by Chad Hillard
    Founded Hillydilly in 2007. Credited with discovering Billie Eilish. Early to Lorde, Halsey, Daniel Caesar, and LANY. Shut the blog down in 2020. Now runs Dreams Never Die and Before The Data.
    Subscribers include A&Rs and scouts at
    Universal Music Group Sony Music AWAL Kobalt Range Create Music Group UnitedMasters The Team Universal Music Group Sony Music AWAL Kobalt Range Create Music Group UnitedMasters The Team
    Logos reflect individual subscriber affiliations. No company endorsement is implied.
    Pricing

    Try the full dashboard free for 3 days.

    One live scouting board. Daily movement, spike alerts, and the artists worth acting on.

    Monthly Yearly SAVE $150
    Before The Data Pro
    Free for 3 days
    $74.99/month after
    Card required · Cancel before day 4 and pay nothing
    • Daily movement alerts
    • Streaming and song data
    • Social traction
    • Momentum score
    • Artist Intel
    • Watchlists and filters
    • Trial leaves out Momentum, Artist Intel, the Raw Feed and the newest 14 days. Pick a paid option to unlock.
    By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service.
    Add-on

    The Raw Feed

    Want to dig deeper than Chad's picks? The Raw Feed shows every artist our AI agents find, about 190 a day, so you can review them yourself and keep your own shortlist.

    +$75/month on Pro ($149.99 total). Desktop only. See The Raw Feed →
    The Raw Feed: newly found artists with links, follower counts and Shortlist buttons. Names are made up.
    Need to see it first?

    Get a 30-minute walkthrough before you subscribe.

    Chad will show you the live dashboard, the artist vetting process, spike alerts, and how BTD fits into your scouting workflow.

    Book a demo
    Enterprise · API

    Build on our data.

    The artists, metrics, spikes and signing signals behind the dashboard, piped straight into your own tools. Built for labels, management companies and platforms.

    Read the API docs Request a key
    What we watch
    • StreamsSpotify
    • Monthly listenersSpotify
    • UGCTikTok + IG
    • FollowersTikTok + IG
    One API call
    $ curl -H "Authorization: Bearer btd_live_..." \ https://beforethedata.com/api/v1/artists 200 OK { "data": [{ "name": "Ava James", "signing": { "status": "unsigned" }, "metrics": { "monthly_listeners": 189300, "tiktok_followers": 48210, "social_score": 67 }, "date_added": "2026-10-12" }], "meta": { "api_version": "v1", "count": 1 } }
    Where it lands
    • Label CRMsync
    • Internal toolsbuild
    • Sync workflowspitch
    • Scouting platformsfeed
    FAQ

    Questions.

    Before The Data is an AI-powered A&R scouting dashboard built by Chad Hillard, founder of Hillydilly. It tracks Spotify streams, TikTok UGC, Instagram followers, and social score for unsigned artists Chad is watching. Members get the live scouting dashboard, data spike alerts, weekly tracker email, and every new artist add before it goes anywhere else.

    Chartmetric and Spotify for Artists are research tools. You go looking for artists. Before The Data does the filtering first. Chad listens to thousands of songs, applies 19 years of A&R instinct, and only adds artists that have a real shot. You get the shortlist, not the firehose.

    The Raw Feed is every artist our AI agents find, the day they find them, before anyone picks. Your dashboard shows the shortlist Chad picks. The Raw Feed shows everything: artist, TikTok, sound, TikTok followers and TikTok sound uses in one row, with added-per-day counts and your own private shortlist. Before The Data Pro + The Raw Feed is $149.99/month or $1,499/year total (Pro alone is $74.99/month or $749/year). Buy it at beforethedata.com/raw-feed, or upgrade from The Raw Feed tab in your dashboard; if you are already a member you only pay the difference for the rest of your billing period. Remove it anytime and you go back to Pro. On a yearly membership, you can also try The Raw Feed month to month for $75/month and keep your yearly plan. A&R Teams can choose A&R Team + The Raw Feed for all 5 seats at $599/month or $5,999/year instead of the $299 Team plan, with one shared queue and every teammate's shortlist visible. Desktop only.

    Spotify streams and daily velocity, TikTok UGC count, Instagram followers and post consistency, Social Consistency Score (0-100 updated daily), song-level breakdowns, 14-day trend charts, and spike alerts when an artist crosses a threshold.

    The Social Score is a 0-100 consistency index we calculate daily for every artist on the dashboard. It factors in TikTok posting frequency, Instagram posting frequency, and consistency over time. It is designed to show you which artists are actively building, not just who had one viral moment.

    Before The Data is $74.99/month or $749/year, with a 3-day free trial on the monthly plan. Card required at checkout. Cancel any time before day 4 and you won't be charged.

    Yes. Cancel from your account settings at any time. If you cancel during the 3-day trial, you're not charged. No hoops, no questions.

    We currently don't offer this, but email chad@beforethedata.com if you'd like to discuss custom tracking options.

    A&R reps, managers, music supervisors, sync licensing teams, indie label scouts, and anyone whose job is finding artists before they cost a fortune to sign. If you're still using playlists and algorithms as your only discovery tool, this is the upgrade.

    See all FAQs →

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