Streaming music has become the most popular format for listening to music these days, but the format is very degrading to the musicians themselves in the way they are paid for their work. Some 84 percent of American and over 67 percent worldwide of music is accessed through streaming, according to the Recording Industry of America and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
One of the most popular streaming services is Spotify with over 30 percent of the market. They offer listeners millions of songs, literally at their fingertips.
Approximately two-thirds of the money Spotify collects from its subscribers and advertisers goes to the rights holders via recording and publishing agreements.
But right’s holders doesn’t translate to artists and songwriters – record companies (Sony, Warner, Universal, Merlin), distributors, aggregators, and collecting societies get the money and then are responsible for passing the royalties along to the artists and songwriters. Artists who self-distribute their music fair better since they get to keep a larger portion of the royalties as opposed an artist who depends on their record label who takes their “cut” before paying the artist.
In the end, it boils down to the fact that artists must have their song played some 1,500 times to equal what they would earn if the song was actually purchased via physical or digital formats.
Billboard Magazine counts 1,500 streams to equal the sales of ONE purchased album.
Streaming music may be more convenient for the listener, but it is detrimental to the artists who create and perform the music.
With more and more print media shutting down; journalists are facing the same dilemma when it comes to getting paid for their work.