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@tfigueroa Pandora pays per play and effectively pays out 46.5% of revenues. Spotify pays out 70% of revenues and loses money. Apple is promising to pay ~71.5%

@tfigueroa Pandora pays per play and effectively pays out 46.5% of revenues. Spotify pays out 70% of revenues and loses money. Apple is promising to pay ~71.5% of revenues. Just on that basis, Apple is paying more. (Spotify's 70% isn't worth much if it's not sustainable.) Now, how Apple will pay for plays in the free trial period is probably by treating free trial users as though they are paying users for purposes of paying artists. I.e. they're paying for promotional tickets (which the labels do not do AFAIK -- that would be a marketing expense that comes out of your royalties). So they're still (probably?) not paying per play. The point is, Apple was going to be 100% paid (aside from free trials), so that's a hugely better deal, and now the free trials are being paid out to musicians, which is the equivalent of a distributor eating marketing costs, something record labels, movie studios, and games companies never do.

tfigueroa 11y ago
That's apples to oranges. Pandora and Spotify pay artists per spin; the more you play, the more you're paid. Apple paying a percentage of revenues is an entirely different method, and it doesn't explain how that money is distributed. So, it isn't clear that Apple's ways are any better (or worse) than what's already happening. More information about the theory and reality of the payments is needed. I get your point about Apple Music being otherwise 100% paid and now eating the cost of a free trial, but the alternative was _artists_ eating the (opportunity) cost. That's not very nice, especially given that Apple can afford it. Besides, holding up Apple against the behavior or record labels, movie studios, and game companies - that's a pretty low bar, honestly.
- Tloewald 11y ago
  > Besides, holding up Apple against the behavior or record labels, movie studios, and game companies - that's a pretty low bar, honestly. Totally true, no question. My point is being that all the other actors are worse. BTW Spotify and Pandora "pay per spin" but Pandora's payment turns out to be pretty low, and Spotify's is calculated to add up to a fixed portion, so how it is really paying per spin? It's the radio stations that actually pay per spin, but they don't pay per listener, so that's also a joke.

tfigueroa 11y ago

That's apples to oranges. Pandora and Spotify pay artists per spin; the more you play, the more you're paid. Apple paying a percentage of revenues is an entirely different method, and it doesn't explain how that money is distributed. So, it isn't clear that Apple's ways are any better (or worse) than what's already happening. More information about the theory and reality of the payments is needed. I get your point about Apple Music being otherwise 100% paid and now eating the cost of a free trial, but the alternative was _artists_ eating the (opportunity) cost. That's not very nice, especially given that Apple can afford it. Besides, holding up Apple against the behavior or record labels, movie studios, and game companies - that's a pretty low bar, honestly.

Tloewald 11y ago
> Besides, holding up Apple against the behavior or record labels, movie studios, and game companies - that's a pretty low bar, honestly. Totally true, no question. My point is being that all the other actors are worse. BTW Spotify and Pandora "pay per spin" but Pandora's payment turns out to be pretty low, and Spotify's is calculated to add up to a fixed portion, so how it is really paying per spin? It's the radio stations that actually pay per spin, but they don't pay per listener, so that's also a joke.