5 ms·

What is destroying musicians is not copywright, but the oligarchy of distribution and lack of artist representation. For food for thought, look up what Ed makes

What is destroying musicians is not copywright, but the oligarchy of distribution and lack of artist representation. For food for thought, look up what Ed makes on Spotify per play, vs what the average person would, and how much of that goes to the labels and distributors.

andsoitis 3y ago
> look up what Ed makes on Spotify per play, vs what the average person would I don't know where to look any of this up. Can you just give us the data?
- jsemrau 3y ago
  Sheeran gets 75,665,830 monthly Spotify listeners based on recent Spotify data. Spotify pays artists about $0.003 per stream, which is $3 for one thousand monthly listeners. Using those numbers, you can estimate that Sheeran earns at least $226,997.49 monthly from Spotify streams alone source: https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/ed-sheeran-net-worth/ https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/ed-sheeran-net-worth/ alt source: https://edm.com/industry/spotify-highest-earning-artists https://edm.com/industry/spotify-highest-earning-artists
  - mikequinlan 3y ago
    The question was >look up what Ed makes on Spotify per play, vs what the average person would How does Ed Sheeran make per play, and how does that compare to the $0.003 that (I assume) the average person makes?
    - nl 3y ago
      This calculation is done using that $0.003 number for Ed Sheeran. Spotify spent a long time in negations to get that price, and I'm not aware of any credible claims they pay higher rates to popular artists (outside perhaps limited time launch promotions) I think the more interesting question is how much Sheeran gets vs his record company, but that isn't a Spotify thing.
      - OJFord 3y ago
        I think the point was my $0.003/play for me singing in the shower(^) vs. Sheeran's fraction of that after everyone else's cut. But I don't really know what the point of that is - sure maybe now he could go on his own and take it all, and coast for a while with existing fan base, no marketing or major concerts, etc. - but he presumably (at least at the time he last locked in to x years) thinks that's value for money. ^not actually on Spotify, sorry to disappoint!
      - ikt 3y ago
        > Spotify spent a long time in negations to get that price, and I'm not aware of any credible claims they pay higher rates to popular artists https://artists.spotify.com/en/help/article/royalties https://artists.spotify.com/en/help/article/royalties From there, the rightsholder’s share of net revenue is determined by streamshare. We calculate streamshare by tallying the total number of streams in a given month and determining what proportion of those streams were people listening to music owned or controlled by a particular rightsholder. https://indepentia.com/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream/ https://indepentia.com/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-st... For example: if Billie Eilish receives 2% of all Spotify streams in a month, she will receive 2% of that month’s available streaming royalties. So the more streams you do, the higher your streamshare, the higher your average pay per steam. Yes it annoys the hell out of me that I support so many underground bands and realise that 60% of my subscription fee is probably going to pop artists.
  - mrweasel 3y ago
    I'm not sure how Ed Sheeran distribute his music, but I think you're making a mistake in the calculations. Ed Sheeran doesn't make $226,997.49 per month from Spotify, that is the amount they pay the record company to stream his music. Artist frequently complain that Spotify isn't paying them enough, but forgetting that the record companies take a very large chuck of the profits, just to act as an increasingly irrelevant middleman.
bigyikes 3y ago
Well, part of what props up the “oligarchy” is copyright law. I think if you want to change the outcomes of the system, we should adjust the laws and incentives underlying the system.
- dcow 3y ago
  Limit the copyright to the commercial viability of the work. Get rid of all the intermediary performance rights bullshit. Don't allow copyright to be sold or transferred, only the original creator of the work can retain it and seek legal action if damaged.
pitched 3y ago
Comparing against playing the song on radio (divided by how many listeners the station has), Spotify doesn’t look too bad.
- scarface74 3y ago
  This actually true. Radio stations don’t pay anything to the singer. There is a compulsory fee paid to the song writer and composer.
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  Yes, and almost no radio stations program indie artists, so they make pretty much zero from radio. They make a little from streaming, but mostly make money from live gigs and fan merchandise.
sacrosancty 3y ago
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andsoitis 3y ago

> look up what Ed makes on Spotify per play, vs what the average person would I don't know where to look any of this up. Can you just give us the data?

jsemrau 3y ago
Sheeran gets 75,665,830 monthly Spotify listeners based on recent Spotify data. Spotify pays artists about $0.003 per stream, which is $3 for one thousand monthly listeners. Using those numbers, you can estimate that Sheeran earns at least $226,997.49 monthly from Spotify streams alone source: https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/ed-sheeran-net-worth/ https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/ed-sheeran-net-worth/ alt source: https://edm.com/industry/spotify-highest-earning-artists https://edm.com/industry/spotify-highest-earning-artists
- mikequinlan 3y ago
  The question was >look up what Ed makes on Spotify per play, vs what the average person would How does Ed Sheeran make per play, and how does that compare to the $0.003 that (I assume) the average person makes?
  - nl 3y ago
    This calculation is done using that $0.003 number for Ed Sheeran. Spotify spent a long time in negations to get that price, and I'm not aware of any credible claims they pay higher rates to popular artists (outside perhaps limited time launch promotions) I think the more interesting question is how much Sheeran gets vs his record company, but that isn't a Spotify thing.
    - OJFord 3y ago
      I think the point was my $0.003/play for me singing in the shower(^) vs. Sheeran's fraction of that after everyone else's cut. But I don't really know what the point of that is - sure maybe now he could go on his own and take it all, and coast for a while with existing fan base, no marketing or major concerts, etc. - but he presumably (at least at the time he last locked in to x years) thinks that's value for money. ^not actually on Spotify, sorry to disappoint!
    - ikt 3y ago
      > Spotify spent a long time in negations to get that price, and I'm not aware of any credible claims they pay higher rates to popular artists https://artists.spotify.com/en/help/article/royalties https://artists.spotify.com/en/help/article/royalties From there, the rightsholder’s share of net revenue is determined by streamshare. We calculate streamshare by tallying the total number of streams in a given month and determining what proportion of those streams were people listening to music owned or controlled by a particular rightsholder. https://indepentia.com/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream/ https://indepentia.com/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-st... For example: if Billie Eilish receives 2% of all Spotify streams in a month, she will receive 2% of that month’s available streaming royalties. So the more streams you do, the higher your streamshare, the higher your average pay per steam. Yes it annoys the hell out of me that I support so many underground bands and realise that 60% of my subscription fee is probably going to pop artists.
- mrweasel 3y ago
  I'm not sure how Ed Sheeran distribute his music, but I think you're making a mistake in the calculations. Ed Sheeran doesn't make $226,997.49 per month from Spotify, that is the amount they pay the record company to stream his music. Artist frequently complain that Spotify isn't paying them enough, but forgetting that the record companies take a very large chuck of the profits, just to act as an increasingly irrelevant middleman.

bigyikes 3y ago

Well, part of what props up the “oligarchy” is copyright law. I think if you want to change the outcomes of the system, we should adjust the laws and incentives underlying the system.

dcow 3y ago
Limit the copyright to the commercial viability of the work. Get rid of all the intermediary performance rights bullshit. Don't allow copyright to be sold or transferred, only the original creator of the work can retain it and seek legal action if damaged.

pitched 3y ago

Comparing against playing the song on radio (divided by how many listeners the station has), Spotify doesn’t look too bad.

scarface74 3y ago
This actually true. Radio stations don’t pay anything to the singer. There is a compulsory fee paid to the song writer and composer.
SoftTalker 3y ago
Yes, and almost no radio stations program indie artists, so they make pretty much zero from radio. They make a little from streaming, but mostly make money from live gigs and fan merchandise.

sacrosancty 3y ago

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