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> Ek claimed that a "narrative fallacy" had been created and caused music fans to believe that Spotify doesn't pay musicians enough for streams of their music.

> Ek claimed that a "narrative fallacy" had been created and caused music fans to believe that Spotify doesn't pay musicians enough for streams of their music. Fallacy? Scores of well-known musicians, from Bette Midler to Taylor Swift, have talked about how little they make through Spotify and other streaming platforms. IIRC Swift only joined the platform after cutting a special deal. Not everyone can do this. Quoting the guitarist for Mastodon, which has a much smaller following (https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/07/05/mastodon-guitarist-band-survive/ https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/07/05/mastodon-guitari...): I could live a thousand years, and Spotify plays [our music] all day long, and maybe I’ll just make a couple of thousand dollars. Ek also said this: > "Some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape," Ek said, "where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.” This quote reminded me of Joni Mitchell, who would take years-long breaks earlier in her career to escape from the business, work on songwriting, and recharge. Many other musicians can't, as Ek puts it, "create a continuous engagement with their fans" for reasons related to privacy, family life, finances, or mental health. It's bad enough Spotify pays artists peanuts. But if Ek is tuning his platform to benefit only those artists who are willing to jump through Spotify's algorithmically generated hoops, and sideline everyone else, then the future of the music industry looks very dim.

amanaplanacanal 6y ago
If you add it all up I bet musicians in total make far more money from live performances than from recorded music. Recorded music is just promotion.
JAlexoid 6y ago
> Taylor Swift She wanted a lot of money, just like in the good old record label days. And BTW - her deal screwed indie bands even more... > Joni Mitchell Who TF is this person? > only those artists who are willing to jump through Spotify's algorithmically generated hoops Since when is general audience and human attention span a result of Spotify's engineering? Do you think that Taylor Swift doesn't have people earning 6 figures to make sure that she stays relevant?
satyrnein 6y ago
How little they make, compared to what? Streaming has basically saved the music industry, finally getting revenues to go up after about 15 years of decline. Spotify pays out 70% of its revenue to labels and artists. I wonder what percentage would satisfy people.
- KozmoNau7 6y ago
  The industry revenues are up, and all of that is going to the big labels and a token handful of artists at the very top of the celebrity pile. The vast majority of artists are still getting screwed over by the labels. They're getting a pittance, if anything. If at all possible, always buy directly from the artists or through sites like Bandcamp that actually pay out well.
  - satyrnein 6y ago
    I'm not sure how Spotify is to blame for bad label deals, which are nothing new. Artists also have lots of ways to get onto Spotify and other services without a label if they wish. Bandcamp takes only a 15% cut, which is better than Spotify's 30%, but the way people talk about it you would think there's a 10x difference or something.
    - KozmoNau7 6y ago
      The problem with Spotify is that they pool all payments, and then portion it out based on how big of a part of the total amount of plays per month that artist gets. That means basically all of my $10 subscription would go to huge popular artists, instead of to the artists I actually listen to. By buying on Bandcamp, I make sure my money goes to the artists I actually listen to.
      - satyrnein 6y ago
        Yes, most of your $10 goes to popular artists. But people that only listen to popular artists, some of their money goes to the artists you listen to as well. Meanwhile, the fact that it's free to the user to play unknown artists on Spotify lowers the bar to discovery. The net effect is that independent share of total revenue is rising.

amanaplanacanal 6y ago

If you add it all up I bet musicians in total make far more money from live performances than from recorded music. Recorded music is just promotion.

JAlexoid 6y ago

> Taylor Swift She wanted a lot of money, just like in the good old record label days. And BTW - her deal screwed indie bands even more... > Joni Mitchell Who TF is this person? > only those artists who are willing to jump through Spotify's algorithmically generated hoops Since when is general audience and human attention span a result of Spotify's engineering? Do you think that Taylor Swift doesn't have people earning 6 figures to make sure that she stays relevant?

satyrnein 6y ago

How little they make, compared to what? Streaming has basically saved the music industry, finally getting revenues to go up after about 15 years of decline. Spotify pays out 70% of its revenue to labels and artists. I wonder what percentage would satisfy people.

KozmoNau7 6y ago
The industry revenues are up, and all of that is going to the big labels and a token handful of artists at the very top of the celebrity pile. The vast majority of artists are still getting screwed over by the labels. They're getting a pittance, if anything. If at all possible, always buy directly from the artists or through sites like Bandcamp that actually pay out well.
- satyrnein 6y ago
  I'm not sure how Spotify is to blame for bad label deals, which are nothing new. Artists also have lots of ways to get onto Spotify and other services without a label if they wish. Bandcamp takes only a 15% cut, which is better than Spotify's 30%, but the way people talk about it you would think there's a 10x difference or something.
  - KozmoNau7 6y ago
    The problem with Spotify is that they pool all payments, and then portion it out based on how big of a part of the total amount of plays per month that artist gets. That means basically all of my $10 subscription would go to huge popular artists, instead of to the artists I actually listen to. By buying on Bandcamp, I make sure my money goes to the artists I actually listen to.
    - satyrnein 6y ago
      Yes, most of your $10 goes to popular artists. But people that only listen to popular artists, some of their money goes to the artists you listen to as well. Meanwhile, the fact that it's free to the user to play unknown artists on Spotify lowers the bar to discovery. The net effect is that independent share of total revenue is rising.