In the ongoing war on music piracy, music labels have taken another step in the form of streaming music services. The question is: Is it a step too far? Aside from the threat of piracy, labels have been drawn to streaming music services by people’s embrace of digital music acquisition and the decline of CD sales. Streaming music is by no means a new concept, but it has recently taken off with Spotify, a popular streaming service, leading the charge. Spotify’s recent collaboration and integration with Facebook only strengthens its position. It seems safe to say that streaming music is the way of the future.
Spotify is a service that offers three different packages for streaming: free streaming of unlimited music at low quality, a five-dollar monthly fee for the same service as the free but without the annoyance of ads, and finally, the ten-dollar monthly fee allows the user all of the features of the lesser packages plus high quality, the ability to play music offline and on mobile devices, and “exclusive content,” which Spotify defines as early listening parties for unreleased albums and contests for concert tickets. Sounds great, huh? It actually is for the consumer in the short-term. The problem comes in the long-term and with the effect Spotify and its ilk have on the music industry.
Today, ten dollars is the average price for a CD, which is still the main source of music purchases, and artists that don’t fall into the mainstream are still having trouble making a living on their craft. With Spotify, though the consumer can listen to infinite albums for ten dollars per month (which compares to one album per month), the artist only gets $0.00029 per play (Source: informationisbeautiful.net). This is opposed to $1.00 per retail album sold and $0.94 per each iTunes album download. The less money artists make, the less time they will be able to devote to crafting more music; some artists may even have to stop making and performing music altogether due to a lack of time and funds. It is obvious why this is negative for the industry, the artist and the consumer.
Besides these clear detrimental effects, it is simply insulting that these streaming music services (and even the retail albums sales and iTunes) pay the artists so little for the painstaking work, energy and money they put into creating music for the consumption of the masses. Essentially, the music industry is a service industry. Artists create music for the enjoyment of all people, just like movie stars cater to their audiences, chefs cook/bake for their patrons and athletes compete for their fans’ satisfaction. Why should musicians be any different?
Some argue musicians – and indeed all artists of any persuasion – have not been paid well in times past, but the fact is that times have changed. Today is a time when people appreciate art and pay handsomely for it. As previously stated, athletes and actors are paid exorbitant amounts of money for their work while their musician counterparts share the poor lifestyles of days past. It seems as though every service and entertainment industry has advanced to the point that its performers and artists are compensated for their contributions to the industry and society – except the music industry.
Spotify and its competitors, while possibly a good deterrent (or alternative) to piracy, are a step in the wrong direction. All hope for music isn’t lost, as many independent labels have pulled out of Spotify, namely metal labels Century Media and Metal Blade and a whopping 200+ labels under the umbrella label STHoldings, which focuses mainly on electronic and dance music. Still, the future looks grim for music if the Spotify model remains in full swing.
In order for artists to continue creating music for all to enjoy, they need the means to do so. The love of music is certainly enough of an incentive for most, but the problem comes in actually having the time and money to follow through with that passion, especially when the craft does not get artists the earnings they need (meaning they must then devote a portion of their time to a side job). The entire music industry needs to take a long, hard look at the musicians that they are shorting, back out of streaming music and give a fair shake to those who put forth the material that puts food on their table. Ultimately, the consumers must decide what the soundtrack to their lives is worth, because without their purchases, music’s swan song remains the same.
Regen McCracken is a junior intending to major in journalism. Send questions and comments to [email protected].
