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Nope. Streaming cannibalized recording sales, where artists got more of that revenue. Payouts for artists on streaming are fractional and arguably opaque than p

Nope. Streaming cannibalized recording sales, where artists got more of that revenue. Payouts for artists on streaming are fractional and arguably opaque than per recording sales (most of the problems of record company contracts & accounting and then a few more to boot). They don't take home the revenue you're seeing here. We had a missed opportunity to let digital recording retail replace media sales, the Bandcamp model could have been bigger. Spotify moved fast and broke a lot of things and did more goddamned damage to the sector than "piracy" by adopting the fundamental business model with a bit of convenience and veneer of legitimacy.

ghaff 3y ago
Yeah. One striking conclusion from the data is that MP3 sales never really took off in an appreciable way and only for a short period. Some of that is perhaps obscured by "Buy the CD and rip" but, given the decline in CD sales, not really. An analyst friend of mine once said that the Napster win was about convenience, not cost. I was skeptical at the time but there's some evidence of that.
musicale 3y ago
> Spotify moved fast and broke a lot of things and did more goddamned damage to the sector than "piracy" by adopting the fundamental business model with a bit of convenience and veneer of legitimacy. For broadcast radio, songwriters received royalties and record companies got nothing. This changed for satellite and internet radio, and I don't think Spotify is to blame.
- wwweston 3y ago
  The changes for satellite and internet radio had their own problems that I do think should be addressed, but you're right, that's not Spotify's fault. But Spotify bears the brunt of the responsibility for building a product that was on-demand recording buffet that essentially exists to replace recording collections while yielding broadcast-order payouts rather than being an honest broadcast product.

ghaff 3y ago

Yeah. One striking conclusion from the data is that MP3 sales never really took off in an appreciable way and only for a short period. Some of that is perhaps obscured by "Buy the CD and rip" but, given the decline in CD sales, not really. An analyst friend of mine once said that the Napster win was about convenience, not cost. I was skeptical at the time but there's some evidence of that.

musicale 3y ago

> Spotify moved fast and broke a lot of things and did more goddamned damage to the sector than "piracy" by adopting the fundamental business model with a bit of convenience and veneer of legitimacy. For broadcast radio, songwriters received royalties and record companies got nothing. This changed for satellite and internet radio, and I don't think Spotify is to blame.

wwweston 3y ago
The changes for satellite and internet radio had their own problems that I do think should be addressed, but you're right, that's not Spotify's fault. But Spotify bears the brunt of the responsibility for building a product that was on-demand recording buffet that essentially exists to replace recording collections while yielding broadcast-order payouts rather than being an honest broadcast product.