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Entry 8; Monday February 22, 20212/22/2021 Greetings. There is no question that music streaming services are raking in billions in revenue while paying next to nothing to the artists their businesses rely on - all while cannibalizing what was left on the market for recorded music. Due to the demand by listeners on these platforms, it would be a challenge for any band willing to be heard if they don’t participate. These days, music is basically free in the eyes of the public and as such, many of the ideals from the 70s and into the late 00s regarding buying a bands music to listen them has all but vanished, making way for the today’s platforms. I suppose a question to ask would be “would you rather have low proceeds or no proceeds?” Of course that answer is clear to any artist: we want the profits from the selling of our art. Like any other job or profession, the money we earn from our work goes toward supporting ourselves and our families, paying bills, feeding our families, etc. I believe that if all music lovers truly knew how little their favorite artists were paid, primarily due to these streaming services that dominate the market today, they would abandon them completely and find a different means of attaining the artist’s product. It wasn’t so long ago that piracy was a major concern in the music industry and although that concept is still abused today with such things as movies, television shows, games, etc., which also still includes music, we have essentially abandoned an illegal system that pays nothing for a legal system that pays nothing. Bands that refuse to list their music on such streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, Amazon Music, Google Play, YouTube Music, and a plethora of others, all have fewer listeners, fewer record sales, and dramatically limit their exposure. Let’s break things down a little bit. Most bands have 4+ members, but for the sake of argument, we’ll say 4 members, which would mean that whatever is the total net pay (before taxes) of all of your streams exclusively, that total is divided into 1/4. For now, we’ll take three of the top dogs: Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music.
All three of these streaming platforms also get paid for playing ads, so they’re benefiting even more from the artist. How many streams would a band need to have per month in order to make a living wage? Of course that’s entirely dependent on what your expenses are per month, however for the sake of argument, we’ll say 100,000 streams. Don’t worry, I’ve already done the math. For 100,000 streams:
For 500,000 streams:
For 1,000,000 streams:
Take each of those totals and divide them by four, since there are 4 band members. Then each of those members also has to pay taxes on them. Again, this is how many streams are needed PER MONTH for the artist to make the figures above, then those royalties are divided into fourths, or sometimes more depending on what cut the label or management take out, which cuts that number down even further. If a 4-member band I worked with had 1,000,000 streams on Spotify, assuming I was in the band from stream 1 to stream 1,000,000, each member would earn $827.50 excluding taxes. In Texas, the state tax is 8.25%, so after taxes, each artist is making $759.23. Again this is excluding any additional fees the band may be paying such as merchandise, management, legal representation, etc. I think we can all agree that 1,000,000 streams on any platform is quite an accomplishment. However, looking at the total amount made off streams exclusively, it costs many, many times more to create that content. Most professional albums on a fairly low end would cost $10,000-$25,000 per album only, again excluding anything else such as merchandise, management fees, etc. You also have the expense of gear which can range from thousands into tens of thousands of dollars, then thousands into potentially tens of thousands of dollars in merch as well. The expenses go on and on and on. Next time you’re at a show, go up to any of your favorite local musicians and ask them how much they’ve spent on gear and if they have made their money back from playing shows. 99.999% of them will say no and the other 0.001% are lying. The way the industry is set up for us is to not only fail, but crash and burn and shit all over us while the bigger companies continue to make their money on us. There needs to be a change, but like so many things not only in this country, but throughout the world, the bigger corporations dominate with an iron fist and there is seemingly nothing or no one who can or will stand up to them and if there are, they are swiftly shut down. There’s a saying that “the richer get richer and the poorer get poorer” and in the music industry, we’re all treated poorly. I have been drumming since I was 6 years old (24 years), taking it seriously since I was 12 (18 years) and playing professionally since I was 16 (14 years) and throughout that time, I’ve put in tens of thousands of hours into my profession and as my dad and others that know my level of dedication, that is not an exaggeration in the slightest. We as musical artists don’t do this for money, although when you get to a professional status, we shouldn’t have to do anything without getting paid. Sometimes we don’t choose the music; the music chooses us. So when others say “music isn’t making you money so you should drop it and do something else,” while that may be true, for many of us, music is all we have - not that we’d want anything else anyway. The next time you’re at a show and see your favorite bands, especially local bands, who are charging $10-$20 for a CD, you’re not just buying the music, you’re buying our loyalty, all of the combined hours of writing, recording, practicing, money for gear and for studio time, you’re helping to put money in our pockets to help support our families, and so many other things that we as artists appreciate more than we can ever express. We have done all the work and foot all the bills to create a product that will entertain you at your leisure. All we ask is to be compensated for it Comments are closed.
Author - Vinnie E. ParmaThis page is a dedicated blog page where I touch on various topics that are on my mind. The comments, thoughts, and opinions are entirely my own and are not intended to be directed toward anything or anyone in particular, unless stated otherwise. Archives |