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70% percent of Spotify revenue goes to the artists (content owners to be precise), I doubt that was the case when you bought a CD (I have found numbers closer t

70% percent of Spotify revenue goes to the artists (content owners to be precise), I doubt that was the case when you bought a CD (I have found numbers closer to 40%). It is not abysmal, revenue never seemed to be better.

cthalupa 4y ago
From the article I linked: >The actual recording artists? “They’re keeping anywhere between 5% and a quarter.” That is a far cry from 70%
- Sankozi 4y ago
  That is not Spotify's fault. It is a deal made by artists that splits revenue between them and producer, record label etc. 70% of Spotify's revenue is to be split that way compared to ~40% of revenue of CD sales.
  - cthalupa 4y ago
    It doesn't matter if it's Spotify's fault - I'm not saying they are the evil empire. I am saying that streaming is how we "beat" piracy, and it was not a panacea for the people it was supposed to protect - unless we consider the labels the people it was supposed to protect. You're also comparing apples to oranges on revenue. 40% of the revenue of a $10-$18 CD sale is a lot different than 70% of a $10/mo subscription being split out over however many artists someone might listen to on spotify. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/arts/music/streaming-music-payments.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/arts/music/streaming-musi... Lots of artists talk about how they simply can't make a living off streaming royalties - artists that were able to do in the era of album sales. Obviously any sort of comfortable living requires merch sales and touring.
    - Sankozi 4y ago
      Comparing artists that could make record sales earlier to all current streaming artists is comparing apples to oranges. I agree that Spotify's revenue split is not perfect (it is in fact worse than what you described), but it is still much more fair than record sales. I consider having tape/CD record sold in physical shops (i.e. not during concerts) would be a success on its own in the 90s. Now every artist can publish their work on Spotify and start to earn money, possibly getting noticed through it. It is much feasible to not be a part of record label now.
    - srfvtgb 4y ago
      >unless we consider the labels the people it was supposed to protect You've hit the nail on the head there. The same record companies that got up to very dodgy copy protection schemes [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...
aserafini 4y ago
But even taking those %s at face value: it's 40% of a much larger amount of money (a whole CD versus some streams).
- Sankozi 4y ago
  When considering revenue of 1999 as 100% CD sale and 2021 as 100% streaming we got something like (in inflation adjusted $bn). (1999) 40% of 23.7 = 9.48 (2021) 70% of 14.9 = 10.43 So while gaming got much more popular during that time, music still brings a lot of revenue to the artists thanks to the streaming. (1) https://www.statista.com/chart/17244/us-music-revenue-by-format/ https://www.statista.com/chart/17244/us-music-revenue-by-for...
ilyt 4y ago
> 70% percent of Spotify revenue goes to the artists (content owners to be precise) That's pretty important difference. If it is going to recording company that pays pittance to artists no wonder "streaming revenue is bad"

cthalupa 4y ago

From the article I linked: >The actual recording artists? “They’re keeping anywhere between 5% and a quarter.” That is a far cry from 70%

Sankozi 4y ago
That is not Spotify's fault. It is a deal made by artists that splits revenue between them and producer, record label etc. 70% of Spotify's revenue is to be split that way compared to ~40% of revenue of CD sales.
- cthalupa 4y ago
  It doesn't matter if it's Spotify's fault - I'm not saying they are the evil empire. I am saying that streaming is how we "beat" piracy, and it was not a panacea for the people it was supposed to protect - unless we consider the labels the people it was supposed to protect. You're also comparing apples to oranges on revenue. 40% of the revenue of a $10-$18 CD sale is a lot different than 70% of a $10/mo subscription being split out over however many artists someone might listen to on spotify. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/arts/music/streaming-music-payments.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/arts/music/streaming-musi... Lots of artists talk about how they simply can't make a living off streaming royalties - artists that were able to do in the era of album sales. Obviously any sort of comfortable living requires merch sales and touring.
  - Sankozi 4y ago
    Comparing artists that could make record sales earlier to all current streaming artists is comparing apples to oranges. I agree that Spotify's revenue split is not perfect (it is in fact worse than what you described), but it is still much more fair than record sales. I consider having tape/CD record sold in physical shops (i.e. not during concerts) would be a success on its own in the 90s. Now every artist can publish their work on Spotify and start to earn money, possibly getting noticed through it. It is much feasible to not be a part of record label now.
  - srfvtgb 4y ago
    >unless we consider the labels the people it was supposed to protect You've hit the nail on the head there. The same record companies that got up to very dodgy copy protection schemes [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...

aserafini 4y ago

But even taking those %s at face value: it's 40% of a much larger amount of money (a whole CD versus some streams).

Sankozi 4y ago
When considering revenue of 1999 as 100% CD sale and 2021 as 100% streaming we got something like (in inflation adjusted $bn). (1999) 40% of 23.7 = 9.48 (2021) 70% of 14.9 = 10.43 So while gaming got much more popular during that time, music still brings a lot of revenue to the artists thanks to the streaming. (1) https://www.statista.com/chart/17244/us-music-revenue-by-format/ https://www.statista.com/chart/17244/us-music-revenue-by-for...

ilyt 4y ago

> 70% percent of Spotify revenue goes to the artists (content owners to be precise) That's pretty important difference. If it is going to recording company that pays pittance to artists no wonder "streaming revenue is bad"