We’re not gonna solve the Spotify debate overnight…
A handful of artists — major artists — are choosing to withhold their music from Spotify whilst opting for competing streaming services, like Apple Music and Tidal. But why?
It always seems to boil down to the fact that the platform offers a free tier. Artists simply disagree with fans listening to their music for free the second it’s released. So, instead they choose to launch their music initially on a service like Apple Music for example, where there is no free option. This way, artists can allow their music to gain revenue, as the per-play royalty rate is typically higher.
Gwen Stefani is now the latest artists to withhold her music from Spotify.
Gwen Stefani’s latest album, ‘This Is What The Truth Feels Like,’ is available on Apple Music and other streaming services, but is nowhere to be seen on Spotify. In a video interview with LinkedIn regarding streaming, Stefani spoke out on the massive devaluation that has occurred over the past twenty years.
”It sucks that we’re in a place where the value… of what you do… is less now.”
These comments are sure to annoy Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, who is rumored to be frustrated at the non-stop vilification that his platform has weathered. That sentiment is only being amplified by the stats: just today, the RIAA announced that streaming revenues from paid subscription services are at an all time high, and Spotify has the largest number of paid subscribers. Spotify also has a ‘freemium’ crowd of approximately 70 million, according to estimates, and argues that its ‘freemium funnel’ is effective.
Meanwhile, Ek and Spotify have been under pressure from major content owners to ditch their free tier, according to sources to Digital Music News. But Spotify has aggressively pushed back on those demands, especially given the extreme advantage it would offer rival YouTube.
You have to wonder why many artists even bother with Spotify.. check your royalty statements .. it pays pennies.. The only real money in the recorded music business is still iTunes paid downloads..
Hear Hear for Apples iTunes! Always there, and from the beginning!
Exactly
How about having the majors doing a deal where they benefit through an equity arrangement with a streaming company.. It’s like a scenario where “you let us use your content and we will give you an acceptance fee of $100 Million”, and the best part.. it’s not a royalty payment so the executives of the major label get to pocket the hundred million themselves.
of course making your music available for streaming is optional. But if you want to stay relevant, build an audience, and get most people to actually pay something for your music, rather than copying it for free…you make it available on streaming platforms. If spotify doesnt pay as much as their competitors, they might have to reevaluate the free option. But if you think you as a musician can stay in the golden 80s/90s while other people move forward, youre wrong….I mean broke.
Down With Free Streaming!
Up With Paid Streaming!
Free The Artists! Free The Music! Everybody Else Pays. No One Gets A Free Pass.
They already do all of this. Spotify pays out huge licensing fees up front, which we’ve learned from the leaked Lady GaGa contract doesn’t make it back to artists, and they also all have equity in Spotify.
So all of that is already going on…minus the labels not just hording all of that money, of course…
The Major Labels Already Own SPOTIFY. It’s already bootstrapped, yuh dig?
Excellent. The millions of streams of top-of-the-heap acts just skews the math when it comes time to calculate activity at the end of the reporting period. Distorts, then sucks like a leech.
Buh-Bye, Gwen.
Stefani spoke out on the massive devaluation that has occurred over the past twenty years. ”It sucks that we’re in a place where the value… of what you do… is less now.”
American wages have been losing real ground since 1973.
How does it feel?
No Doubt was OK, but her solo stuff is garbage.