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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Business How Much Cash Do Your Jams Earn Via Streaming??

Posted by Mike Nipper on Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 11:17 AM

No shock, it ain't MUCH. Note these are independent label totals, which will obviously get a lower rate than a major labels.

The endless bitching about the LACK of cash continues in the link's comments section, natch, but really...it has always been this way. Performers get screwed out of money via the business end...always! Playing live is the only way any band can, if they can, actually make a living at playing music. Derp. By the time the artist/s get any money from their recordings it is PENNIES, or via streaming outlets, percentages of a penny. Blah, blah blah...

Sidenote: I'm a record nerd and I mostly only listen to records or recordings of my records, so I ain't connected to any streaming services. I prolly won't ever connect either. However, as a record nerd I find it interesting streaming currently seems the best way to "collect" music not on hard media, while still having it at your ear's fingertips.

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By contrast, how much do they get for radio play?

Posted by TheMisanthrope on June 7, 2012 at 11:30 AM

@1:
Radio, in the prehistoric music industry age (pre-1998), was a free or payola-driven way to garner sales of a physical product. Additionally, songwriters would earn money off of ASCAP or BMI when songs are played on the radio.

Profits from streaming media are low, but the people who complain about it are comparing it to the heyday of the music industry, which is an unfair comparison. Sure, you might make $0.005 from Spotify per play, but it's slightly better than the nothing you'd make when someone torrents your music. The real comparison should not be against the heights of the music industry's power, it should be against zero.

Posted by cosby

on June 7, 2012 at 12:11 PM

@1 Good question, tho today I'd guess getting any radio play would be a huge accomplishment. Less willing stations and all that. The rate of streaming play has gotta be more than radio, tho. With radio it's one song played for 100K vs 100K songs played for 1 person. Well, kinda/sorta...streaming can be more directed to an individual.

Posted by nipper on June 7, 2012 at 12:51 PM

So based on yesterday's post, a group of artists are mad about piracy (and by extension any endeavor that does not pay the artist for their product). And now an article about how a group of artists are mad about how little they make off of services that DO pay them for their product. I thought this was an interesting comment:

I wonder how many artist have put their music on hold for a better day? I know I have. I get requests all the time to release more music, but as much as I love music, it is a busines.

Do these artists really think there is going to be a better day? I agree with @2, the comparison should be against zero.

Posted by sisyphusgal on June 7, 2012 at 1:07 PM