We’re Streaming More than Ever, and Musicians Are Struggling as a Result

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I have a few friends who are musicians. Some are actually quite popular. Still, many of them found themselves scrambling for odd jobs during the pandemic. They posted millions of plays from Spotify’s artist recap, but in the end, the money from streaming isn’t enough to replace what they need to get by each year. Artists usually rely on ticket sales for live shows and merchandise as their primary source of income. While 2020 changed how we enjoy our music every day, it didn’t change how we pay the people making this art for our enjoyment. Musicians, even larger and more popular ones, are struggling. Your favorite indie musician or small band likely struggled and needed to find additional work to get by.

This isn’t what streaming should be, especially since listening to streaming music has never been more popular. Record labels are making more money than ever, while artists that make the music fueling their industry are struggling to make ends meet.

2020 sent more money to streaming companies. A pittance went to the artists.

The State of Music in 2020

With 2020, we had to give up a lot of the things we love. Bars, eating at restaurants, dating, friends, camping trips, road trips, and even family! But for music fans, we lost something else: live shows. I love live music, especially at small venues. Pile in with some friends, enjoy a few drinks, and listen to some awesome music with all of the energy and soul that only live music can bring. But we can’t have that in 2020. In 2020, that would be called a “superspreader event.” So, instead, we’ve had to go without live music. Some bands have played live shows in states like Florida, contributing to the overwhelmingly high infection and death statistics in those states. However, for the most part, live music was canceled in 2020, as it should be, given the mismanagement of everything else related to COVID-19.

Though, the fact that it’s saving lives doesn’t mean that it hurts any less. Music lovers have taken to streaming their favorite musicians in record numbers, but it’s not the same.

The pandemic didn’t just hurt music lovers though. Something people may not know about the music industry: musicians have never made as much off of radio plays, record sales, or streaming that they did from live shows and merchandise sales. Live shows and merch are the lifeblood of musicians. 2020 killed that.

COVID-19’s Effect on Artists

“There will be places to play. But the landscape won’t ever look the same. I imagine that a lot of the more intimate music venues will be gone, just like a lot of small businesses and restaurants.”

– Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, on returning to music in 2021

Touring was a primary source of income for artists. It was also the best place to sell their merchandise. These were their two forms of making money that didn’t involve the intervention of a record label. Record labels take the bulk of music listening profits. They take the money from album sales, streaming, and radio plays. Streaming services and record labels have had a record year, but artists have lost everything.

Earlier in the pandemic, in May, as many as 19% of musicians said they would give up music as a result of the pandemic. That was before the second wave took hold, and before Thanksgiving and Christmas in the U.S. will send COVID infections skyrocketing. It’s possible that, by the end of this year, many other musicians will have given up on music for the foreseeable future. There just wasn’t any support from the government to support the arts meaningfully during the pandemic. As a result, they needed to find other jobs in a market that’s already dialing back on hiring due to the pandemic. For some, especially those up-and-coming artists, it may have ended their careers by stealing away their momentum.

People have been streaming more than ever, right? Surely that’s made up for the lack of revenue from live shows and merchandise, right?

Due to the way our streaming services split out revenue, no, they haven’t.

Paying Per Stream in Fractions of a Penny

Where do you think the monthly fee you pay a streaming service goes? It goes to Spotify, Or Apple Music, or Pandora… maybe even Tidal. It doesn’t go directly to the artist. Instead, Spotify and other streaming services have a deal set up with various record labels. They get a percentage of plays per stream. The above graphic is a bit of an oversimplification. Deals with different labels mean some labels may get more money for the number of times people played the music their companies got from musicians. From there, more individual deals decide how much the artist gets. The artist may even still owe their record label, manager, and other people involved with the production and promotion of their music. At the end of the month, even a popular artist could be looking at less money than they need for food, let alone rent and other expenses.

Streaming companies, through this pipeline, end up paying artist fractions of a cent for each play of their music. As a result, someone would have to stream their songs hundreds, even thousands of times to generate just $1. Think about that. Say someone on the train platform is playing some music. You may through a few dollars into their hat or guitar case. For a song, maybe two (or as many as 5 in NYC), you just paid a few bucks. Even if you only gave the spare change you had in your pocket, you still paid the artist hundreds of times more than Spotify, Pandora, Google, Amazon, or Apple does.

According to a study in the U.K., a disappointing 8 out of 10 musicians make less than £200/year via streaming. That’s $271 U.S., as of this writing. Per year. Even popular artists with over a million plays can be looking at perhaps $5,000. For the entire year. Millions of times their music was enjoyed, and they barely have enough to make it through a few months, let along an entire year.

Streaming services are literally starving our musicians.

The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Thieves

 

Not all streaming services believe artists deserve the same amount. Some pay out less for each stream, which means even less gets to the artists who actually make the music. Some, like Napster, give out almost 2¢ per stream. That’s enough to earn a dollar in 53 plays. However, others, like YouTube, pay out well under a fraction of a penny, $0.00069. You’d need to play a song 1,449 times just to get $1.

Among the best streaming services for artists are Napster, Tidal, and Apple Music, in that order. Unfortunately, Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube are far more popular. They also pay artists the least. Perhaps they’re able to spend more money on marketing and sharing features since they’re paying artists so little. Spotify, the most popular streaming service, is towards the bottom of this list. They’ve also argued against paying songwriters increased royalties.Not only is Spotify underpaying artists, they’re also fighting the U.S. government to allow them to pay songwriters less. Meanwhile, YouTube has the highest average number of plays per song, but, by a very wide margin, pays artists the least. Fortunately, when it comes to a streaming subscription, rather than individually played songs, YouTube isn’t in the lead.

Now here’s the real tragedy. Apple Music is likely the most popular streaming service that’s paying artists a little more than the rest. However, they’re still paying artists less than a penny per play. Paying a significant amount more to artists than Spotify is a low bar. Napster, who pays artists almost 2¢ per play? They’re not even in the top 10. Tidal, paying artists just over a penny per song, takes the 10th spot, even below Google Play Music and YouTube Music Premium, both owned by Google and both severely underpaying artists.

Data like this comes from artists. No streaming service is transparent about what they pay musicians (or how much they’re ripping them off). Instead, we have to collect data from a variety of artists and labels and put that information together. Some labels make more, others less. Some artists actually report receiving less than these numbers. Transparency is a serious problem. As a result, artists are ripped off and consumers don’t realize they’re using a “bad” product, one that actually hurts the musicians they love.

Do you think knowing how much an artist makes per play would influence which streaming service you use?

What Can I Do?

I can’t ask you to switch to Napster. The truth is, their catalog is more limited than the others, in part because of the fact that it used to be a website for illegally downloading music. Whoops! My best suggestion would be Tidal or Apple Music. Both work on any platform (yes, even Android has an Apple Music app). Tidal pays more, but it also costs more. You may also find that you don’t need the benefit of high quality music. However, if you’re an audiophile, it’s your best choice for streaming music. For most people, especially Apple users who can bundle it with Apple One, I recommend Apple Music. While other streaming services complained about higher rates for songwriters, Apple was one that stood out to keep the updated, higher wages for songwriters.

Worried about losing your followed artists, playlists, and more? There are services and websites that help you transfer your music from one service to another. You could check out Songshift, Tune My Music, or Soundiiz.

Already using a streaming service that isn’t quite as bad at paying musicians? You can also support artists in other ways. Buy music on Bandcamp, which gives a much larger percentage (80%-85%) to artists. You can also follow artists on Bandcamp to check out their latest releases. While you’re at it, subscribe or follow your favorite artists on your services. Favorite them in Apple Music or follow them in Spotify.

Social Media Bump

Go beyond following on streaming services though. Follow their social networks. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, for example. Music labels look at these to decide who to promote, and managers, especially those with multiple clients, can use this information to decide who to promote more. Following your favorite artists helps them gain new followers as you like and share their posts as well. I once approached an artist after her band’s set and said I couldn’t find them on Instagram. She actually took my phone (with permission, of course), to make sure I was following them. It’s that important. Followers become bigger fans and help spread a fandom, so definitely give your favorites a follow and lots of likes.

Staying up-to-date with a musician can also help you see when they have new releases, merchandise, or when they’re doing something else. A few artists have done live shows that accept donations. Some have branched out into other mediums, like giving music lessons, or creating and selling visual art. Definitely try to find out if your favorite artists have been trying to make it through the pandemic in creative ways, and support them if you can. We’ve all been struggling this year, so don’t overextend yourself. You’ve got you to worry about too.

Building a Future for Musicians

“[R]esponse from certain corners of the industry has been as cold as we expected: ‘You’re just musicians and don’t understand business,’ is the basic gist of it. To which I would say: The problem we are calling attention to is precisely that musicians have been left out of the conversation! We always come last in payment and in consultation — even though our work is what the streaming business is built on.”

– Damon Kurkowski, Galaxie 500 member and Justice at Spotify representative

The truth is, this is like climate change. Yes, you can do little things, like going vegetarian or having “meatless Mondays,” you can drive an electric car or start cycling more. If every single one of us did that, we’d make a dent in the problem, but we wouldn’t solve it. The truth is, we need the assistance of government and corporations. The same is true of fixing the music industry. Consumers alone cannot fix this.

Justice at Spotify has a few good ideas, part of the Union of Musicians. Their ideas include transparency, paying artists at least 1¢ per stream, revealing existing and previous payouts, and ensuring all artists are credited who took part in recording and making the music, from songwriters to bassists.

We need to ensure that every artist, regardless of their label, gets a fair share. This could be monitored by or payments could even be carried out by a third party. Whatever it takes to keep payments transparent and fair.

2020 destroyed live music, and, for many musicians, it spelled the end of their career. We can’t let this be normal. Megacorporations in charge of the music industry like the record labels shouldn’t get to report record profits while the people responsible for those profits, the musicians, are struggling to pay rent and buy food. If we don’t protect the arts, we’ll lose them. Life without art just isn’t a life worth living. We’ve got to make sure we keep our priorities in line. Stay safe and keep creating. Right now, that might not be profitable without some help, but it’s necessary, and therefore, that help is too.

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Sources:

• Hayleigh Bosher, The Conversation
• Ben Heater, Techcrunch
• Dmitry Pastukov, Soundcharts
• Pitchfork
• Nick Routley, Visual Capitalist
• Jack Schofield, The Guardian
• Amy X. Wang, Rolling Stone