Let's be honest, the music streaming business is broken, for everyone but the large corporate businesses that control the space. Bands, artists and everyone in between are getting paid a pittance for their hard work, in a hobby they love, and put their blood, sweat and tears into.
Big music streaming stores get rich, whilst the creative endeavors of individuals are pushed quickly to the back. Many well known artists have protested this fact, and some even taken to the streets.
According to Forbes, Spotify says it paid $7 Billion in royalties in 2021 amid claims of low pay from artists, however if you speak to the usual run of the mill artist, they aren't seeing many paychecks.
Music is a costly affair. Gear is expensive. Software too. Then you have to factor in costs to get to gigs, merchandise, branding - for the average musician, it can seem well out of reach.
Musicians and artists put their heart on their sleeve time and again - their art lets people in, and looks to connect society with an array of healthy emotions we all feel. Today it is totally fine for Amazon to charge a $15 rental for some luckluster remake of a classic 80's film we have all seen; for coffee shops to charge $5 for a very average coffee, with some exotic name - but for music, for the soundtracks that power our lives, for some reason, getting paid properly is frowned upon by the pay masters.
Where does the problem start?
Greed. Period. Large corporations who couldn't care less about their "customers". With online digital streaming services, you have 2 customer groups. The people listening, and the people producing. Some would say it's a bankrupt business model. If you have 2 million streaming subscribers, and 12 million artists producing content, the numbers could quickly not stack up.
Until artists start voting with their "feet", no doubt the issue will continue. Artists and bands will continue to moan and whine about it on social media, but will they actually do anything? Do they care, that much? Give it a week or so, and they will be moaning and whining about something else, and completely forgotten about their virtue signalling social media posts.
What is the solution?
In the old days independent online music stores did exist, and they paid fairly. Amie Street was 1. Chemical Records in Bristol was another. Distributors existed, like Believe Digital in Paris, who paid fairly, and had good contracts for musicians. Pay outs were pretty OK. This was however before the social media algae bloom of the late millennium bug era of music. It was also before Big Music, as we call it, existed.
At Audio Protest, we look at things very differently. We give back. We believe in love, and in light. We believe in a fair rate of pay for ones work. We believe in music, whatever the genre, and we are working hard, behind the scenes to make the idea that musicians should be paid fairly, a reality.
Artists, bands and musicians looking to join us on this journey, and help shape the service and product we offer, are welcome to get in contact with us via our Contacts page. We look forward to hearing you!