Streaming Music Rising
Nobody wants to actually own their music anymore. They’re satisfied more and more with the convenience of just selecting any music from a digital list and playing it as they wish. There’s no more dealing with a case full of CDs anymore. There’s no more downloading, waiting, transferring, and waiting to play certain songs that you specifically purchased anymore. You just open up Spotify or Pandora or any other streaming service, search what you want and listen. That’s great for the consumer and is incredibly quick and convenient. But what about the artists who made that music? Sales of physical music have gone on a decline since the advent of the digital age, and now streaming services are lowering the sales of music …show more content…
But with streaming the rise, how can artists benefit? This is a short look at how musicians can benefit from streaming services, factoring in how they pay, how streaming services affect sales, and how streaming affects advertisement for artists.
Since there has become a shortage of direct music sales, up and coming artists find it harder and harder to make a dent in the music industry. The time of the one-hit-wonders has been gone. But streaming services are the new means in which money can be made. Felix Richter of Statista quotes figures from the RIAA, stating “According to RIAA mid-year statistics, music downloads and streaming services accounted for more than 70 percent of music industry revenues in the United States in the first half of 2015. Physical formats, e.g. CDs and LPs now account for less than 1 in 4 dollars earned by the U.S. recording industry.” Unfortunately, it isn’t a great deal of capital you could stash away in your retirement fund, unless you’re Taylor Swift. Most streaming services pay per each single stream of your song and at only fractions of a cent. The rates are similar but still very small; iTunes Radio pays …show more content…
It fits into a “hear it before you buy it” mentality. People who don’t want to subscribe but still listen freely hear tracks they like and decide to purchase that artists music for themselves. Or with a streaming radio service, they aren’t full listening to the whole album or they discover a new artist and decide to purchase for more. It’s all assuming they don’t just pirate the music for free. Still, people are streaming more and more rather than just buying the albums they want to listen to. Streaming in 2015 has made more money than physical album sales. The first half of 2014 showed streaming bring in $834 million compared to $905 million in sales. In 2015, streaming revenue topped physical sales at $1,028 million to $748 million. (Richter) The majority of this revenue still goes to major record labels and artists. For the lesser known folks out there, the best way to make money might be Bandcamp. Bandcamp leaves everything price-wise upto the artist to decide for fans to directly pay to them. Artists can choose how many of their songs are available to stream, how much it costs to download, as well as other services such as physical CD and merchandise sales. Bandcamp itself takes 10% on physical and 15% on digital sales. Artists can even offer their albums for free download and still make money from donation sales with the right audience base. While Bandcamp can act as a hub and optimize search
Nobody wants to actually own their music anymore. They’re satisfied more and more with the convenience of just selecting any music from a digital list and playing it as they wish. There’s no more dealing with a case full of CDs anymore. There’s no more downloading, waiting, transferring, and waiting to play certain songs that you specifically purchased anymore. You just open up Spotify or Pandora or any other streaming service, search what you want and listen. That’s great for the consumer and is incredibly quick and convenient. But what about the artists who made that music? Sales of physical music have gone on a decline since the advent of the digital age, and now streaming services are lowering the sales of music …show more content…
But with streaming the rise, how can artists benefit? This is a short look at how musicians can benefit from streaming services, factoring in how they pay, how streaming services affect sales, and how streaming affects advertisement for artists.
Since there has become a shortage of direct music sales, up and coming artists find it harder and harder to make a dent in the music industry. The time of the one-hit-wonders has been gone. But streaming services are the new means in which money can be made. Felix Richter of Statista quotes figures from the RIAA, stating “According to RIAA mid-year statistics, music downloads and streaming services accounted for more than 70 percent of music industry revenues in the United States in the first half of 2015. Physical formats, e.g. CDs and LPs now account for less than 1 in 4 dollars earned by the U.S. recording industry.” Unfortunately, it isn’t a great deal of capital you could stash away in your retirement fund, unless you’re Taylor Swift. Most streaming services pay per each single stream of your song and at only fractions of a cent. The rates are similar but still very small; iTunes Radio pays …show more content…
It fits into a “hear it before you buy it” mentality. People who don’t want to subscribe but still listen freely hear tracks they like and decide to purchase that artists music for themselves. Or with a streaming radio service, they aren’t full listening to the whole album or they discover a new artist and decide to purchase for more. It’s all assuming they don’t just pirate the music for free. Still, people are streaming more and more rather than just buying the albums they want to listen to. Streaming in 2015 has made more money than physical album sales. The first half of 2014 showed streaming bring in $834 million compared to $905 million in sales. In 2015, streaming revenue topped physical sales at $1,028 million to $748 million. (Richter) The majority of this revenue still goes to major record labels and artists. For the lesser known folks out there, the best way to make money might be Bandcamp. Bandcamp leaves everything price-wise upto the artist to decide for fans to directly pay to them. Artists can choose how many of their songs are available to stream, how much it costs to download, as well as other services such as physical CD and merchandise sales. Bandcamp itself takes 10% on physical and 15% on digital sales. Artists can even offer their albums for free download and still make money from donation sales with the right audience base. While Bandcamp can act as a hub and optimize search