STREAMING companies such as Spotify and Deezer are credited with rescuing the music industry from piracy, but while label executives rejoice in billion-dollar revenues, even top-level artists are struggling to survive.
For musicians, the workings of the streaming economy can be mystifying but the results are clear.
"All I know is that the earnings from my streaming are not significant enough to keep the wolf from the door," indie star Nadine Shah recently told a British parliament committee investigating the issue.
Despite being nominated for Britain's top Mercury Prize and having millions of listeners on Spotify, "I am in a position now where I am struggling to pay my rent," she said.
Few young artists have her courage to speak out. Many, she said, fear retribution by streaming platforms and major labels.
That is not an exaggeration, said Tom Gray of the band Gomez, who founded the Broken Records campaign last year to raise awareness on the issue.
"The music industry has its roots in gangsterism and has never shaken that off."
- A new model? -
One solution that is gaining traction is for streaming services to funnel each customer's fee to the artists they actually listen to.
At the moment, all subscription fees go in one big pot which is paid out (minus a hefty service fee) based on which artists have the most global streams.
That massively favours a tiny band of uber-stars and top genres, mostly pop and R&B. The top 10 artists -- Drake, Ariana Grande and the like -- take nearly 10 percent of the entire pay-out, according to a study by France's Centre National de la Musique.
For the rest, the odds of survival can verge on the absurd.
Gray says his five-piece band would have needed 180 million Spotify streams a year to earn £30,000 each. That's significantly more than Elvis Presley and not far off The Beatles.
- 'Fundamentally wrong' -
There has been talk of German streaming service Soundcloud becoming the first to try the so-called "user-centric model", in which subscribers' cash goes directly to the artists they listen to.
Many music fans would welcome the move on principle, but it is no silver bullet.
The French study found it would redistribute 4.5 million euros a year from the top 10 artists on Spotify and Deezer, but spread it very thinly around artists lower down.
"We consider it essential that this debate is taking place," said Antoine Monin, of Spotify France. "In theory, the user-centric model is attractive, but it's clear that it will not solve everything."
Campaigners insist it is still better than nothing. And there could be longer-term benefits, since the study showed a significant boost to lower-profile genres such as jazz and classical.
"That's clear proof that their money is being taken by other music, which is just fundamentally wrong," said Crispin Hunt, chair of Britain's Ivors Academy, which has also launched a campaign, Keep Music Alive, to "fix streaming".
"It's not just the overnight effects. Once people realise there's money in jazz, that will lead to more investment in jazz."
- Major label stranglehold? -
Campaigners say the issue must go beyond streaming companies to investigate the stranglehold of the three major labels, Warner, Sony and Universal, who are seeing record digital revenues.
Just as musicians were plunged into crisis by the cancellation of live dates last summer, Warner Music execs awarded themselves $593 million worth of equity when they floated their company, according to Music Weekly.
Quizzed by British lawmakers last month, label bosses said one million streams generates around £5,000. Under a typical contract, a label keeps £4,000, and perhaps the entirety if the artists have not paid off their initial debts, which can take years.
They argued they take the risk on investing in young artists, who are under no obligation to sign their contracts.
That is disingenuous, said Hunt: "In most cases, it's a contract between a bunch of 19-year-old kids and a huge global corporation. There's no symmetry in the negotiation whatsoever."
- 'No fanfare' -
Hunt said such deals made sense in the 20th century when labels manufactured and distributed millions of physical albums, but not in the digital age.
"Even the marketing they claim to do is mostly done by social media platforms now," added Gray.
Meanwhile, the price of inaction is often invisible, measured in songs that never get recorded.
"When a musician stops producing music... there is no fanfare or press release," Guy Garvey, of band Elbow, told the parliament hearings.
"You just hear one of their songs three or four years down the line and you think, 'Oh, God, what happened to them?'"
ETX Studio
Sat Feb 20 2021
At the moment, all subscription fees go in one big pot which is paid out (minus a hefty service fee) based on which artists have the most global streams. ETXStudiopic
Belanjawan 2025: Apa yang Sabah dan Sarawak dapat?
Ikuti analisis awal Belanjawan 2025 bersama Pensyarah Kanan, Jabatan Sosiobudaya, Universiti Malaya, Datuk Prof Madya Dr. Awang Azman Awang Pawi.
Gaji minimum dinaikkan ke RM1,700 bermula Februari 2025
Penguatkuasaan gaji minimum itu ditangguhkan bagi majikan yang mempunyai kurang daripada lima pekerja bagi tempoh 6 bulan iaitu berkuat kuasa pada 1 Ogos 2025.
Yuran SBP, IPTA akan dinaikkan kepada kumpulan kaya
Jelas Anwar yang juga Menteri Kewangan, penyasaran subsidi seumpama itu akan turut melibatkan kesihatan awam.
Bantuan Awal Persekolahan kekal, kerajaan peruntukkan RM800 juta
Kerajaan mengumumkan akan meneruskan Bantuan Awal Persekolahan (BAP), dengan hampir 500 juta ringgit diperuntukkan kepada 5.2 juta murid Tahun 1 hingga Tingkatan 5 tanpa mengira pendapatan ibu bapa.
Keputusan representasi Papagomo gugur kes hasut 6 Januari 2025
Keputusan representasi dikemukakan bekas Exco Pemuda Umno Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris atau lebih dikenali Papagomo bagi menggugurkan pertuduhan menghasut yang mendatangkan kebencian terhadap Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim akan diketahui 6 Januari depan.
Fenomena air pasang di Pelabuhan Klang terkawal
Sebanyak enam balai terlibat bagi pemantauan ini dan tumpuan adalah untuk melihat jika fenomena itu memberikan kesan signifikan kepada masyarakat setempat.
Chegubard akan kemuka representasi gugur tuduhan fitnah
Badrul Hisham Shaharin atau Chegubard akan mengemukakan representasi bagi menggugurkan pertuduhan mengeluarkan kenyataan fitnah yang akan merosakkan nama baik Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim, Januari lepas.
Na'imah gagal tangguh sementara bayar RM313.82 juta kepada LHDN
Isteri bekas Menteri Kewangan, Tun Daim Zainuddin, Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid gagal menangguhkan sementara perintah supaya membayar tunggakan cukai pendapatan berjumlah RM313.82 juta kepada LHDN.
Tiga termasuk dua pegawai penguat kuasa, Pulau Pinang ditahan
Dua pegawai agensi penguat kuasa dan seorang warga Bangladesh ditahan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) Pulau Pinang kerana dipercayai terbabit mengatur kemasukan warga asing menerusi laluan kaunter khas di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Pulau Pinang.
Terus perangi Rasuah, peruntukan SPRM ditingkatkan kepada RM360 juta
Kerajaan memberi kebebasan sepenuhnya kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan tegas bagi mengheret pesalah rasuah ke muka pengadilan.
Penstriman K-pop meningkat 362 peratus di peringkat global dalam tempoh 5 tahun
Penstriman muzik K-pop di platform penstriman terbesar dunia, Spotify, melonjak dalam tempoh lima tahun lepas.
TikTok tamatkan aplikasi penstriman muzik TikTok Music
TikTok Music akan ditamatkan sepenuhnya pada November kelak, dan pengguna diberikan masa sehingga 28 Oktober untuk memuat turun data dan pindahkan senarai main ke platform lain.
Spotify tawar ciri kawal akaun kanak-kanak untuk penjaga
Ibu bapa dan penjaga boleh mengawal lagu serta video yang boleh distrim serta paparan grafik Canvas apabila lagu dimainkan.
Ciri Ask Music pada YouTube Music diperkenal, jana senarai main dengan AI
Ciri Ask Music Pada YouTube Music Diperkenalkan, Menjana Senarai Main Dengan AI
Senarai lagu Apple Music kini boleh dipindahkan ke YouTube Music
Hanya senarai lagu yang dihasilkan sendiri oleh pengguna boleh dipindahkan ke YouTube Music.
Spotify tawar pemalam untuk Google Gemini
Kelebihan pemalam ini adalah sama dengan jika anda memberi arahan kepada Google Assistant, ia tidak akan membuka aplikasi tetapi akan terus memainkan muzik yang anda pinta di latar.
Spotify tambah sokongan komen pada podsiar
Dengan langkah ini, para pengguna boleh meninggalkan pendapat atau komen berkenaan sesuatu podsiar.
Sony bayar £1 bilion beli hak penerbitan lagu Queen
Ini ialah bayaran yang tertinggi di dunia pernah dilakukan untuk hak penerbitan lagu yang dipegang oleh artis rakaman.
Spotify dijangka perkenal pelan lebih mahal dengan akses audio HiFi
Pelan baharu ini akan ditawarkan kepada pelanggan sedia ada, sekali gus membolehkan Spotify menjana pendapatan tambahan melaluinya.
Spotify Car Thing tidak lagi boleh digunakan selepas 9 Disember
Selepas tarikh tersebut, ia tidak lagi boleh digunakan untuk menstrim muzik daripada Spotify di dalam kenderaan.