By Brooklyn Fears
As physical music sales continue to steadily decline, streaming sales are ever-surging and prospering. Popular streaming platforms include Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and SoundCloud. Labels, management teams, and musicians are aware that they must subject themselves and their discographies to these streaming services to compensate for the lack of tangible music mediums currently being sold. This is a necessary venture in order for artists, bands, producers, songwriters, and engineers, to successfully practice their profession and make a living while doing so. Within the past few years, musicians have begun to speak out against these platforms, accusing them of underpaying artists as well as exploiting their art for profit. Some of the biggest names in music such as Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke have urged these companies to pay performers fairly for their craft. When musicians are not paid an equitable amount, not only do the artists themselves suffer, but the producers, songwriters, engineers, studios, and additional aspects of this ecosystem that is the recording industry face anguish.
In recent years, data and research have proven that streaming platforms have helped the recording industry flourish dramatically. In 2019, the Recorded Music Association of America (RIAA) displayed statistics proving that in 2018, popular streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music assisted the recording industry by helping sales skyrocket 12%, making the recording industry worth nearly $10 billion (Ingham). With revenues peaking beyond the billions, it begs the question: how much are artists getting paid? In 2018, both RIAA and the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) found that just under $7 billion was paid to musicians and their labels. Over 30% of the $10 billion sums went to record stores and streaming platforms (Ingham). However, corporations like Spotify and YouTube have been paying labels and artists less in recent years. In 2018 it was found that music platforms have paid management and musicians 1.1% less than in 2016. 1.1% of that $9 billion, equates to $108 million dollars. In its initial development, Spotify had begun to work with record labels to help with margin relief in order to help the now corporate giant gain a sustainable profit. In 2019, Spotify, as well as Amazon, Pandora, and Google, had all opposed raising royalty rates for musicians (Ingham). This has damaged the credibility and trustworthiness of these companies. Artists put their entire livelihoods into their craft, and these billion-dollar corporations are exploiting their diligence for economic gain. Without these musicians and podcasters, these platforms would not have skin in the business.
In 2017, YouTube found itself under public scrutiny when it was revealed that the company was paying artists significantly less than their competitors, Spotify and Apple Music. Cary Sherman, the CEO of RIAA, shared that YouTube has been known to dance its way around the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and use disgraceful legal means of escape in order to pay talents significantly less than what their art is worth (Kharpal).
Additionally, YouTube allows for the publishing of music that has been illegally recorded, pirated, or remixed. This means excessive work for the artist’s publishers that have to actively file copyright claims due to YouTube’s blatant laziness and relaxed policies (Resknikoff). YouTube also makes it incredibly easy to monetize uploads, meaning that thousands of users are making money off of piracy. Illegal and unmonitored content is hurting artists directly and exhausting their label’s resources, further draining profits. It gets worse: YouTube will not block these offenders. They can and will most likely continue to repeat their crimes by publishing pirated music under different accounts. Thus, the sequence repeats. Until YouTube decides to conduct ethical practices, artists and labels will continue to suffer at the hands of this multi-billion dollar corporation that has the resources to put a stop to this vicious cycle.
Let the retaliation begin. When speaking out against streaming companies on social media was not enough, musicians like Taylor Swift pulled their discographies from the platforms altogether. In 2014, Swift told Yahoo, “I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music." (Welch). Swift sacrificed her own revenue in order to protest the rights of all musicians.
Flashforward to 2020, the globe has been struck by Coronavirus and the music industry has been left in jeopardy. Tours, award shows, recording sessions, promotional gigs, were all canceled due to a widespread pandemic amongst all nations. Labels’ and musicians’ incomes were greatly affected. Studios, producers, songwriters, backup dancers, choreographers, vocal coaches, tour managers, and crew members; the list of people affected by the recording and touring industry goes on. Now more than ever, streaming services should be assisting musicians and paying their artists more. However, Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek is advocating for the opposite. Ek was recently publicly condemned for his comments on streaming during the pandemic, “You can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough. The artists today are making it realize that it’s about 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.” (Richards). Music is an art form that cannot be rushed. Music is a taxing job physically, emotionally, and mentally. Because of this, many bands and artists take hiatuses in order to take a break and recuperate from years of touring, making records, and being subject to public opinion. There are plenty of artists that choose to stay out of the spotlight and refuse interviews and album promotional stunts because they value their privacy. To say that revenue growth or lack thereof is a direct correlation to fanbase engagement is preposterous. Many classic rock legends have not put new records out in decades and choose to avoid the public eye, and still generate millions of dollars from physical sales and streams. For Daniel Ek to make these ignorant and senseless statements is just a sad excuse to not pay artists fairly for their profession.
As tours and festivals were continuing to be rescheduled or canceled, streaming services continued their stingy practices. The pandemic left many indie artists starving. Leave it to Bandcamp to come to the rescue, the LA Times deemed the independent streaming platform, “The Anti-Spotify.” Bandcamp was transparent, honest, and explicit with music royalties and pushed merchandise sales to the forefront. Since the pandemic struck the United States in March 2020, Bandcamp had publically disclosed that the company would be sacrificing both digital and physical sales every first Friday of the month throughout all of 2020. From March to September, Bandcamp had generated over $100 million in revenue for independent musicians (Roberts). Ethan Diamond, the Chief Executive of Bandcamp publicly shamed billionaire CEO Daniel Ek for hoarding profits and hurting the self-supporting artists who make a majority of their living from playing live gigs. Diamond knew that die-hard music heads would make the effort to support and help feed their favorite small artist. The fans proved him right, with 40% of consumers paying more than the retail price for music and merchandise (Roberts). This sort of striving to help the artists that allow the platform to thrive in the first place is exactly the kind of support and morality that should be practiced in the age of a global pandemic that has ultimately left the recording industry in turmoil.
Ek continues to bask in the problematic spotlight in the court of public opinion. For it seems that his reputation and public persona are being tainted by no one but himself. Ek remained silent after artists and industry professionals globally protested in early 2021 for the rights of musicians. The Union of Musicians and Allies Workers held the protests under the campaign name “Justice at Spotify,” where protesters held signs that read “Be Transparent” and “Fuck Yo Greed Spotify!” in response to embarrassingly insulting rates per stream. Organizer Zack Nestel-Patt relayed in a statement, “Spotify is threatening musicians’ livelihoods everywhere, and it’s way past time that we stand up together to demand more.” (Graves).
Not even a year later in November of 2021, artists and fans were outraged by Ek’s decision to invest $100 million in military defense technology. Instead of adequately paying musicians and helping aid them in a time of peril, Ek has decided to disperse his wealth into funding war. This enacted folks to cancel their Spotify subscription and take their business to platforms such as Bandcamp. Twitter went up in flames and #BoycottSpotify spread across the platform. Musician Sameer Gupta even offered a discount code on Bandcamp to entice music connoisseurs to delete the Spotify app and take their business to a platform with substantive ethical practices (Jones).
For many, the abuse of corporate funds and the exploitation of musicians was the final straw that broke the camel's back. However, a new surge of music fans were canceling their Spotify subscriptions after the American comedian, podcaster, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan signed a $100 million exclusivity contract with the streaming platform (Bahr and Krisher). Spectators were quick to shine a light on Rogan’s use of racial slurs and consistent spread of misinformation about Covid-19 and the vaccine. Ek “strongly condemns what Joe has said,” and the platform took down dozens of podcast episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience that contained his gross behavior (Bahr and Krisher). Following Spotify’s decision to side with Rogan, respected legends such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have since removed their discographies from the platform in protest. By Spotify siding with Rogan on this matter, it is blatantly screaming to the public that wealthy, white men like Rogan are able to spread misinformation and bigotry and still be paid millions while maintaining their colossal platform.
Million-dollar exclusivity contracts do not end at podcasts. Apple Music has signed a contract with Irish rockers U2, and if fans wish to stream their discography on Amazon Music or SoundCloud, they are unable to (Resknikoff). This is a new marketing technique that strips music of its purest integrity. Music platforms gatekeeping material for profitable gain is a new low, that as a music enthusiast is sickening to witness.
The abandonment of independent artists is just as painful to watch. Across many platforms, at least 4 million songs have never been streamed (Resknikoff). Spotify and Apple Music have proven to only care for the giants or the household names that draw in the most revenue. This is why they craft their algorithms to shove the most profitable artists in fans’ faces, or more explicitly, their curated mixes or genre-specific radios. This ultimately leaves talented and independent artists at the bottom of the streaming platform barrel. Your “accurate” daily playlists are flooded with the same material over and over. That new album you just cannot get enough of by your favorite artist will make its appearance continuously, neglecting their four other LPs and two other EPs in that artist’s catalog. They will continue to show you only the most popular singer-songwriters in that same arena, while “forgetting” to show you, lesser-known gifted artists, with smaller followings because they simply do not bring in enough revenue.
The recording industry has changed drastically within the past decade with streaming
services generating billions of dollars. Musicians are making the necessary sacrifices in order to keep up with the ever-changing times of the music industry but at a major cost. Indie artists especially are faced with the biggest hardships. Streaming services are severely underpaying musicians for their hard work, making excuses, and finding loopholes in order to keep the status quo. Even in times of peril, streaming services have proved to not care for their artists that have launched their platforms into the stratosphere. Musicians put their heart and souls into their craft and they rightfully deserve to be paid efficiently for it.
References
Graves, W. (2021, March 16). Musicians hold worldwide protests outside Spotify offices. Consequence. Retrieved February 27, 2022. https://consequence.net/2021/03/musicians-worldwide-protests-spotify/?new=true
Ingham, T. (2019, April 08). Streaming Platforms are Keeping More Money From Artists than Ever (and Paying Them More, Too). Retrieved October 21, 2020, from
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/streaming-platforms-keeping-more money-from-artists-than-ever-817925/
Kharpal, A. (2017, March 31). YouTube 'exploits legal loopholes to pay artists poorly, US music body claims, as streaming revenues hit a record high. Retrieved October 21, 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/31/youtube-artists-pay-streaming-revenues-riaa.html
Resnikoff, P. (2017, September 8). Streaming services have 99 problems. and they are... Digital Music News. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2014/09/18/streaming-services-99-problems/
Krishire, Tom. & Bahr, Lindsey. (2022, February 6). Rogan's use of racial slurs adds to pressure on Spotify. ABC News. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/rogans-racial-slurs-adds-pressure-spotif y-82711870
Richards, W. (2020, August 03). Spotify CEO says it's "not enough" for artists to release albums "every 3-4 years". Retrieved October 21, 2020, from
https://www.nme.com/news/music/spotify-ceo-says-its-not-enough-for-artists-to-release albums-every-3-4-years-2719272
Roberts, Randall. (2020, September 22). The anti-Spotify: How online music company Bandcamp became the toast of the COVID age. Retrieved October 21, 2020, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-09-22/bandcamp-anti-spoti fy-streaming
Welch, C. (2014, November 06). Taylor Swift says Spotify doesn't pay artists fairly. Retrieved October 21, 2020, from
https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/6/7170663/taylor-swift-says-says-spotify-doesnt-pay artists-fairly