Why streaming services need to rescue musicians
Spotify, YouTube and others are making big money off backs of creative class, whose survival is in jeopardy amid lockdowns
Spotify, YouTube and streaming services in general: It’s time to step up!
For way, way too long — Spotify, it’s been14 years for you and15 for YouTube — you have ridden on the backs of recording artists, musicians and songwriters songwriters who have provided you with content and, in turn, billions of dollars in profits, without offering them much in return.
How much profit? Spotify, which controls 36 per cent of the world streaming market, reported third-quarter operating proceeds of $60 million (all figures U.S.) in October 2019. YouTube, mean- wwwhile, revealed its ad-revenue intake publicly for the first time in February: last year it was $15.15 billion, a 36-percent increase from 2018’s $11.16-billion tally.
And here’s what you’ve been offering the creators in return for all the content ttthat has enabled you to attract and re- tain tens of millions of loyal subscribers — paltry per-stream or per-view royalty rates of, by platform: YouTube, $0.00069; Pandora, $0.00133; Vevo, $0.00222 to $0.0025; Amazon, $0.00402; Spotify, $0.00437; Deezer, $0.0064; Google Play, $0.00676; Apple Music, $0.00783; Napster, $0.019 and Tidal, $0.01284 (all figures according to the online music distributor Ditto).
You don’t have to be a math wizard to understand that these returns are shameful in any circumstance. Too many tales of established recording acts receiving two-to-three-figure cheques or deposits in exchange for tens of thousands of streams of their in-demand songs on your platforms have graced the media.
By comparison, radio pays $0.091 per song.
Maybe nine cents is too rich for your blood, streaming platforms, but even a nickel per stream would go a long way to alleviating the impoverished stature of thousands of musicians who aren’t named Drake or Abel.
Why should you pitch in now? Because the pandemic is here, and the need is urgent.
At one time, revenues from physical product and digital downloads could sustain recording artists with a decent income, but we all know how that scenario has played out: the switch of the consumer mentality from “purchase” to “rental” has resulted in a severe loss of artist remuneration, forcing many to re- l ly on live music and merchandise sales as their preliminary sources of income.
Now that pandemic precautions have eliminated live performances for the time being — and for a foreseeable future future that could last a year, or even two — ttthe need for reasonable compensation is immediate and urgent. It’s a matter of survival. According to a commissioned report now underway by Music Canada, a nonprofit trade organization founded in 1964 and funded by the country’s three major record labels (Sony, Universal and Warner), the situation couldn’t be bleak- er.
This Artist Impact Survey reports that 20 per cent of respondents have lost 100 per cent of their income, with 27 per cent reporting an income loss between 75 and 99 per cent.
One hundred per cent of those who responded reported losing a portion of monthly income due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 lockdown, with 90 per cent suffering at least one live performance cancellation and 32 per cent victimized by more than 13 cancellations.
If music was suffering a decline in popularity, that would be another matter. But the opposite is true: the Global Music Report stated that, in 2019, paid streaming revenues increased 24.1 per cent from the previous year, while physical revenue declined another 5.3 per cent.
The beneficiaries: streaming platforms.
There is some relief out there for Canadian musicians: the National Arts Centre (with the support of Facebook, Slaight Music, SiriusXM, the Royal Bank of Canada and The Bennett Family Foundation) has launched #CanadaPerforms. Funded to the tune of $700,000, it pays musicians and other artists $1,000 a pop for performances streamed on NAC’s Facebook page.
There are other ticketed efforts to help musicians make a living — from online shows on the URGNT platform to Ashley MacIsaac’s streamed Quarantine Ceilidh series to promoter Side Door providing Zoom concerts. There’s word that Facebook is working on allowing artists to sell tickets for streaming shows on its site.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Unison Benevolent Fund is offering Canadian music-industry members, including musicians, a $500,000 COVID-19 relief program, which includes a one-time-only $1,000 stipend to help pay for such necessities as food and rent. Luckily for them, the record labels and other industry partners — including you, Spotify Canada — are helping out with charitable donations or with matching funds.
But these are all short-term, one-shot efforts that do not speak to long-term sustainability. If COVID-19 restrictions weren’t upon us, musicians would at least be plying their trade and fending for themselves.
The rug has been pulled out from under them, which is why streaming services services need to be proactive and raise their royalty rates to something reasonable.
Music has provided them the means to build and sustain their enormous profitability. The additional investment from them would go a long way to ensure that there is fresh music for them to exploit in the future.
Simply said, it’s good business practice.