PerspectiveStreaming sure is convenient, but it is an entirely irresponsible way to consume music. It has been shown time and time again that artists' royalties on streams are a minuscule fraction of what they receive on physical product and traditional airplay...I stream to sample, but if I hear something I like, I go out of my way to buy a physical product (preferably directly from the artist or label) and/or see the artist in concert.
The dismal compensation provided by streaming services will likely put full-time artists and labels out of business in another generation or two. I certainly see it in my own royalty statements: If I get 10,000 streams, I make as much as I do from selling SIX CDs for $10 each at gigs. That's ridiculous. Song and album downloads provide pretty good money, but those are fading in the face of streaming. Fortunately touring income has stayed strong, and film/tv placements are still an option, but streaming decimates an entire revenue stream that was once pretty fruitful...
So...streaming is convenient, but it comes at a price to artists, songwriters, and labels. Keep that in mind.
Perspective #2
Thanks...I just really want people to be aware that musicians, songwriters, and labels see a lot less revenue from streaming. Consumers should be aware of how their choices affect the people they think they are supporting.
I don't want to get too into the weeds, but we usually charge between $10 and $15 per CD to consumers. Of course, our profit depends on what we put into it. If it was a release we made at home engineering ourselves and pressing up ourselves, our initial outlay is greater but our profit margin is larger. We don't share the revenue (from streaming or physical) with anyone. For the label titles, we got an advance to make the record, and we buy copies from the label at about $2.50 each. That money -- along with other revenue associated with the album -- goes to recouping that advance. We keep the profit from selling the physical copies at shows.
For streaming, each stream rakes in a sweet .004 - .006 cents. The label takes 100% of that until the record is recouped, then we split it. Both of our label-funded releases have recouped, so we see some money from streaming, but nowhere near what we see from physical sales (the proceeds of which we also split 50/50 after recouping). Sometimes instead of taking a cash payout, we take the money owed to us in the form of CDs/LPs that we can then sell on the road and make more cash.
I'm sure someone who has never had to make a living from making music will pipe up and tell us we are idiots and signed a bad deal, but it's actually quite beneficial: We get an advance to make records (not much -- we record very cheaply), we get publicity and promotional support, we get the cachet of being on a cool label, and, honestly, a lot of labels aren't nearly as generous as a to offer a 50/50 split.
. Its all been classical music so I'm not sure about artist impact in that genre.
