This is in no way for me to rant but since it's a financial situation I'd like to bring it up.
Sevdaliza is not the first artist to say it and she certainly won’t be the last one. Streaming pays artists next to nothing, but it demands everything from them.
I always have a problem with a system alor platform that demands way more than it offer users and I believe that's the problem of centralization right?
A million streams should mean something at least. It should mean stability, security and most importantly the ability to take a week off without worrying about bills. Instead of all thisz it actually means scraps.
James Blake, Lauren Jauregui, Nadine Shah, so many artists are saying the exact same thing. Music today is everywhere, more accessible than ever, just go on YouTube, skip some ads and you're watching a music video.
Infact there are loads of videos and audio downloads to get the music for free, all it'll cost you is a phone and Internet access.
That's a good thing for music lovers but the people making the music are drowning financially. They would say, oh don't use A.I be natural and natural comes with a lot of effort and that's effort that could have been put into another job to pay but was spent on making a song and not enough earnings from over a million streams.
Streaming just doesn’t pay properly, labels sit around waiting for virality and touring is too expensive too. That's happening meanwhile Spotify adds 31 million premium subscribers and rakes in billions.
How I wish we had a Decentralized Spotify for these musicians, I kinda feel for them though. If Spotify makes billions, it only means there’s money in the system, just not where it should be.
The numbers are almost insulting. One million streams for $2,500 before taxes and fees. Spotify paying fractions of a cent per stream. Compare that to the old days when album sales and downloads actually put money in artists’ pockets. Nowadays unless you’re at the very top, it’s a serious grind with no end.
Sevdaliza talked about a music artist union and I think that'll be interesting. You see it's not just music, it's centralization. This same thing happens in Banks where you put all your funds, they give you peanut interest rates and use your cash for heavy loans. Even when you ask for your money they say all we don't have enough cash for now.
No wonder crypto is winning.
Back to the music. If musicians don’t fight back, who will? Right now, people equate streams and followers with success. They don’t see the financial struggle behind it. But how long can artists keep making music if they can’t afford to live in the first place? If music keeps being treated as disposable, one day, the well might just run dry.
However I doubt because there'll always be someone to make another music and perhaps this is why AI music will thrive, because it'll be easier and make more money since they can literally over produce with ease.