This is sad and will have detrimental effects n the long term.
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Maybe I have been living on Mars or something. But I have friends in the music business, and the artist have never been paid fairly and/or well. Streaming music didn’t change that. I have heard this same topic for decades. Back when I was growing up we listened to music on the radio and a lot of times recorded off the radio. The record companies have always made the money, not the artist. This is no different than me creating a product for the company I work for. I’m the talent/creator but my company makes the “real” money.
Streaming music is the new radio stations to an extent. The difference is I control what I want to listen to. Do I still purchase music, yes I do but mostly LPs.
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I’ll be taking a break from listening to watch this series:
Serial Entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis takes a deep dive on iconic streets that define industries to see how they work and survive. The second episode features Music Row in Nashville, which should shed some light on this topic.
The production team is the same that produced Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown.”
Streaming has made an already not great situation worse.
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Well I guess it depends on how one looks at it. For example I’m a new Eva Cassidy fan. I was listening to an old favorite recording and realized Eva Cassidy was the singer on the recording. I immediately added her music to my playlist and started listening to all of her music. I have since purchased her LP “Nightbird”. Silje Nergaard is another artist I just found via streaming. I have since purchased some of her music. Without streaming chances are I wouldn’t have listened to or purchased either one of these.
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I am afraid you are in the vast minority.
The best way to support artists is to buy swag or anything else directly from them.
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Or sponsor them in town, and buy directly from them as well…
Looking forward to restarting this series:
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I agree 100%. Streaming doesn’t change this as all.
I might be in the vast minority of the group you hang out with. But streaming doesn’t change buying swag or buying directly from the artist. I would say streaming is one of the tools that allows one to find new music.
It allows one to find music, yes. But few buy music separate from streaming it.
80% of music revenue is streaming. Last year experienced a 12% decline in revenue from CDs and digital download sales fell 18%. It has nothing to do with whom I “hang out with.” 
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Sorry but people don’t buy music like in the old days. People don’t see the value of purchasing CDs/LPs, Storage for downloads, etc. Now you can make a case that people who spends thousands of dollars on stereo equipment do. But we are such a small number.
Precisely my point, “people do not buy music.” Those that buy are, as I wrote, in the minority.
For the consumer, streaming is a financial miracle that was inconceivable prior to the arrival of illegal torrenting. For most artists, streaming on the music sales side is a step backwards. However, if an artist has a developed live show department, the loss they take on streaming can be made up, or even surpassed in live show ticket sales due to an increased fan base (aka the Grateful Dead approach). Chance The Rapper has been successful in that approach. But for the mid tier to obscure artist, streaming is robbery as it erodes their ability to make money selling CD’s directly. Yes, there will always be a few noble souls willing to buy the CD and pay a streaming service, but that’s a narrow group.
As the saying goes, it is what it is. The music industry had to do something to halt torrenting less the entire thing collapse. A $10 per month fee for all the music in existence makes torrenting a hassle in comparison. And to the industry, millions paying a $10 (or so) monthly fee is heaps better than have zero revenue at all. And remember those $17 CD’s from 20 years ago? The industry is not without it’s own sins in this gumbo.
Such a shame.
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Again, precisely my point. People like you who listen to streaming and then go out separately to buy the music as a CD or download are rare.
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Entire Super HiRez store is automatically marked down.
So was this intended to be about the choice of streaming / or not … or was this thread about censorship mike? It seems the latter. To censor this seems a bit ridiculous. Who ARE these people anyway? Oh right… the same ones that told jim Morrison he couldn’t say the word ‘higher’ on national tv - then he put his mug right in the camera and belted it out. I really feel we have regressed - everything feels 1967 all over again. Pathetic.
First, I’ve been subscribing to a music streaming service for a while.
MOG (2009 - 2014)
Beats Music (2014)
Google Play Music (2015 - 2018)
Spotify (2018)
TIDAL (2018 - 2020)
Qobuz (2020 - present)
Second, to use a term that’s becoming common, the “Menace Economy” is appropriate when describing music streaming; at least for Apple Music and Spotify. Michael Lavorgna has written about Spotify’s greed and I agree with him even though I’m still streaming.
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Streaming is inexpensive and convenient. It is difficult to resist if it meets one needs for music.
I cannot find anything on Mr. Lavorgna’s site other than a brief editorial criticizing Spotify’s CEO stating a modern artist’s success depends on “creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.” “[Y]ou can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.”
I believe Spotify’s CEO is correct and immediately think of Taylor Swift’s continual engagement with her Twitter followers and other artists like her. It is not just about the music. (It never was. Pop artists in the 1950’s and 1960’s marketed personas as they do today. Elvis Presley was more than his music.)
Mr. Lavorgna interprets the comment to mean artists need to be continually churning, creative process be damned. I do not read the CEO’s comments as does Mr. Lavorgna.
I agree that it isn’t just about the music. However - not a good thing when personality / looks / your twitter feed take away or take priority over the art.