Spotify is a popular online music player favored by Facebook and general Internet users alike. Most users of Facebook have seen Spotify updates on their friends’ walls that show what they’re currently listening to. Sean Parker, investor in Facebook and founder of Napster, has been heavily investing in the service. Despite the rise in popularity over subscription-based Internet radio, however, many artists and even some music labels are pulling their support and their product from Spotify.
Recently, the Black Keys have pulled their newest album, El Camino, from the popular subscription music website. Patrick Carney of the Black Keys found issue with Sean Parker and Spotify, and he doesn’t want his music to be available through this venue. He feels that Spotify does not offer the level of revenue returns that artists expect and need from their music. He also questioned Sean Parker’s business ethic. Carney was quoted as saying, “He’s an asshole. That guy has $2 billion that he made from figuring out ways to steal royalties from artists, and that’s the bottom line. You can’t really trust anybody like that.”
There was a backlash against Spotify just five months after its founding. Lady Gaga’s popular song ‘Poker Face’ had been listened to over one million times. However, Lady Gaga only received $167 from Spotify for this hit song. Spotify countered that they don’t sell music on a per-song basis but on a subscription basis. They also argued that they negotiate individual contracts with record labels and artists. There has been some speculation that Spotify is paying artists around $0.0013 and $0.002 per play on their site. The fact of the matter is that most artists and songwriters are forced into non-disclosure agreements, meaning we will never learn the exact amount of the royalty proceeds. Patrick Carney explained his frustration, “For a band that makes a living selling music, it’s not at a point where it’s feasible for us.” Many artists, who want to make money from their music, just cannot sustain themselves on the meager earnings from subscription-based music sites.
Despite artists’ discontent, many mainstream, popular labels do not mind the rates they receive, because they are fairly favorable to the labels. Many labels have been touting subscription sites as an alternative to piracy, but perhaps some artists would prefer to have their music pirated, rather than be ripped off by Parker and Spotify.
the first and most fundamental rule when it comes to music distribution today is this: like it or not, music is free. as soon as one person with an internet connection purchases an album, that album can be available to the rest of the world for free. spotify, like other services, offers a chance for artists to recoup some of that lost revenue. it is stupid to have your music pirated if there’s an opportunity to regain even a percent of that money.
Even though I am not a fan of the Black Keys, they have a legitimate point. Bands deserve more royalties than fractions of a penny per song. At the same time, they must adapt to the new music business model. They should embrace live performances, merchandise, and more interaction with their fans. The days of being able to become rich from one album without touring are over. Finally, they should be aware of music services like Turntable.fm, which allows fans to interact with their users in chat rooms with user-chosen streaming broadcasts. Fans need connection, and without that will probably not have much devotion or willingness to pay.
Bands need to realize that people simply will not pay for albums anymore. There is no incentive. Most bands hardly receive any money from record/single sales anyways. Stick to making money from tours and merch and cut out the middleman. If your music is good enough you don’t need the a.r.m hype machine.
Yeah, some major bands have caught on to this fact. I don’t know these people, but i can only assume that their management team simply isn’t that good?
No need to name names, but its public knowledge that several artists have made it to the forbes richest lists because of giving music away for free at some point in some way.
Diversity is how you get your money back. Everyone else on the planet is adjusting to the new economy but i guess this segment of the 1% isn’t willing to diversify
How about for a fee:
-intimate back stage memorabilia
-more fan communication
-drive trfx to website w/free stuff
I mean wow, octomom is getting money from that dial in service…
Yes, music is generally free, if you know how to get it. And most people seem to and this because of the internet/filesharing/etc.
But at the same time it has become easier than ever for an artist to publish their music independently. Skrillex is entirely independent of any label and keeps all the money his music brings in.
A lot of people still buy music. That being said, I don’t.
Yes, music is free because it’s information and information is free. It’s true that artists have to depend on touring and live shows, or else sell out and make money on big corporate licensing deals for advertisements, film, whatever… BUT, that’s not the point. The Black Keys aren’t complaining that people can listen to their music for free. They are complaining that a Spotify is making their music available for free and at the same time making bank.
The Black Keys become an appendage of Spotify’s datamining consumer profiling corporate minded ad-geared platform which makes millions while giving nothing back to the artists. It’s totally different than somebody uploading an album and having it be pirated.
The real sell out is Sean Parker profiting from music he didn’t create. Nothing is free. Someone is paying for the music to appear and to do so he is ripping off the musicians substantially. I choose to support the artists not the guy that steals from them. They are the creative minds and they need a way to make a living producing their a href=”http://mosttalentedartists.blogspot.com/”>rock music. Who said it is alright to steal music? Have you not heard of this case where a guy is being sued almost $800,000 for admitting to stealing 30 songs off a free download website. Artists may promote a single to get you to buy an album much like amazon gives you music samples of an album or page samples of a book. However, they don’t want to give their album away for nothing. And the argument they can sell their music at concerts. Well if they can’t convince you to buy music when it is convenient for you, how are they gonna get you to drop down $15 for an album at the table outside the concert when you are drunk?