Elvis in streaming debate

Pretty self-explanatory
Post Reply
sweetest punch
Posts: 5961
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Elvis in streaming debate

Post by sweetest punch »

https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/music ... ned-773704

Musicians take sides in Spotify streaming debate — for some it’s a money-spinner, while others can’t pay rent

Streaming works for Bon Jovi and Elvis Costello — but artists want Spotify’s spoils to be shared more fairly

“I absolutely love streaming,” enthused Guy Garvey, frontman with Elbow. “As a boy with a rucksack of tapes…the world’s music in my pocket! Streaming is a miracle.”

It’s a declaration as passionate as any of Elbow’s arena-filling anthems.

But the sentiment is not universally shared by music stars who are divided over the technology which has turned their industry upside down, leaving some artists complaining they are unable to pay the rent.

After a decade of piracy-induced decline, record company revenues are booming once again. Instead of downloading songs illegally, 144 million music fans are monthly subscribers to Spotify, the world’s largest audio streaming site.

Customers, with access to millions of songs, are prodded towards new tracks they might enjoy by algorithmically-programmed playlists.

When 30 seconds of a song is streamed on Spotify, the rights-holder gets a payment of an average of £0.0028 per stream.

Rival Apple Music (70 million subscribers) pays slightly more per stream, while the Google-owned YouTube, still the world’s most popular free music streaming site, is even less generous than Spotify.

Sheeran’s £7m from Shape Of You

For the big three record labels – Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal – sitting on huge back catalogues of hits, those micro-payments add up to billions of pounds in revenue.

Ed Sheeran’s inescapable 2017 hit Shape Of You alone has generated more than £7m in streaming revenue from 2.6 billion Spotify plays.

Stars with a higher streaming “market share” get a bigger percentage of the revenue.

But by the time the royalty payments filter down to artists, particularly those working in more specialised genres who notch up a few thousand plays a week, the rewards can be meagre.

Nadine Shah struggling

Nadine Shah, the acclaimed singer-songwriter this week told a Commons inquiry into the economics of streaming: “I am in a position as an artist with a substantial profile, a substantial fanbase, critically acclaimed, but I don’t make enough money from streaming, I am in a position now where I am struggling to pay my rent.”

MPs also heard from Garvey, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien and Tom Gray, frontman of Gomez, who launched the Broken Record campaign, which calls for a more equitable deal for musicians.

Gray found that artists receive around 16 per cent of the income from streams, while record companies take 41 per cent and streaming services 29 per cent.

Yet some music legends admit they are actually doing very nicely out of the new settlement.

Bon Jovi and Costello streaming fans

Jon Bon Jovi told industry magazine Music Week: “Catalogue values were nosediving. But suddenly my catalogue’s value has doubled. Because of streaming! Now my songs get played a lot.” The New Jersey rockers’ signature hit Livin’ On A Prayer alone has racked up 653 million Spotify plays.

Elvis Costello, another veteran hitmaker of 40 years, told the publication: “We’re in a situation now where streaming is the dominant way people receive [music], but that’s not necessarily a bad thing from where I’m sitting.”

“I have a lot of songs, so they can be spread out over many, many playlists. The volume of my catalogue works to my advantage in the streaming medium.”


Costello is a Spotify winner because his songs cross genres, ranging from new wave to country, classical to jazz.

Playlists dominate

Costello’s crooning cover of She, originally recorded for the Notting Hill film soundtrack, is ideal for easy listening playlists, and is approaching 56m plays. His more abrasive Watching The Detectives (14 million plays) is a mainstay of late-70s “new wave” playlists.

The Culture select committee MPs also heard murky rumours about “payola” – money changing hands to ensure songs get added to the all-important playlists which are the route to getting their music discovered for new artists.

Rock stars find detailing exactly how much they earn intrusive (especially when the taxman, or ex-wives might be listening).

Musicians becoming Amazon drivers

But Garvey, who wants the rewards of streaming distributed more fairly so the likes of Shah can earn a living, hopes more musicians speak up about their financial circumstances.

Artists working in genres like rap, where the lyrics often boast about the performer’s material wealth, are embarrassed to admit they don’t actually earn much money, the Elbow singer notes.

With earnings from live work decimated by Covid, Garvey is aware of jobbing musicians having to become Amazon delivery drivers.

Stars ‘were paid too much’

“There was a period when musicians were paid too much but we’re not taking about Robert Plant’s third limousine now,” Garvey told the MPs. “I’m giving evidence because even musicians who have found their audience cannot afford to live as musicians.”

Garvey and Gray are backing a new “user-centric payment system” which would give “niche” and smaller artists a bigger share of streaming royalties – and a little less for the likes of Sheeran.

Streaming’s dominance over declining physical sales means the music we hear is changing. Garvey said Elbow edited down an instrumental introduction to a recent song to improve its chances of appearing on those all-important playlists.

Songs getting shorter

Hit songs are getting shorter. Old Town Road, the global country-rap smash by Lil Nas X, clocked in at a brisk one minutes and 53 seconds.

Why construct a Bohemian Rhapsody-style epic when payment clicks in after 30 seconds and streaming allows listeners to skip songs which don’t instantly grab them?

Yet harnessing the technology can open new doors, even for established bands. “Streaming itself is wonderful and has no doubt connected Elbow with a wider international audience,” Garvey said.

“Elbow played a concert in Mexico in January as we know we have an audience there, an audience that definitely found us in part through streaming services.”
Last edited by sweetest punch on Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5961
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis in streaming debate

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.musicweek.com/digital/read/ ... era/082024

Elvis Costello talks songwriting in the streaming era

Yesterday’s DCMS Committee investigation into music streaming saw a host of artists, including Tom Gray, Guy Garvey and Nadine Shah, discussing the economics of the format.

There was much criticism of record companies during the discussion, while the streaming companies themselves also faced some awkward claims.

But not all artists and songwriters have a problem with the format. Jon Bon Jovi recently told Music Week that his catalogue was thriving on DSPs, and now legendary singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, who hit the charts earlier this month with his latest album, Hey Clockface, has followed suit.

Many artists of Costello’s generation have led the way in being critical of the effect the shift to streaming has had on their income. But the prolific songwriter – Hey Clockface is his 31st studio album – said his work was flourishing in the new era.

“We’re in a situation now where streaming is the dominant way people receive [music], but that’s not necessarily a bad thing from where I’m sitting,” he said. “I have a lot of songs, so they can be spread out over many, many playlists. The volume of my catalogue works to my advantage in the streaming medium.”

Costello did agree that streaming royalties still need to be looked at.

“It’s obvious that the deals are set up to our disadvantage, but that will eventually be readjusted,” he said. “Because without the musical creators, those are just wires that don’t go anywhere.”

Costello expects that CDs and downloads will soon “disappear” but that vinyl albums will continue to exist alongside streaming services.

“We’ve won the battle now that vinyl is a superior medium for the sound of the music being heard,” he said. “It’s an absolute no-brainer that it’s better than MP3. It’s probably better than CD as well and it truthfully isn’t any less durable than CD, which can also be damaged and scratched.

“I believe you can have the two things simultaneously: a finished product like the Armed Forces box set, a real box of tricks and wonders, or you can hear the same music on a stream. And what is a stream but radio without all the unpleasant talking?”

Costello also attacked the economics of the CD and download era, saying it was a myth that artists always received more cash from those formats.

“I’m always surprised when people of my generation throw their hands up and say, ‘The old ways were better’,” he said. “No, the old ways were a swindle too, they were just a different kind of swindle! We got good work done and some people got rich and some didn’t get paid. Some people laboured on in obscurity but we love them in retrospect. What’s changed? Nothing.”

* To read our report on the DCMS Committee hearing, click here. To read our Aftershow interview with Elvis Costello, click here. To subscribe to Music Week and never miss a vital music biz story, click here.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Harry Lime
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:55 pm
Location: West of the Hudson

Re: Elvis in streaming debate

Post by Harry Lime »

Watching the Detectives is abrasive? :roll:
Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?
User avatar
Man out of Time
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:15 am
Location: just off the coast of Europe
Contact:

Re: Elvis in streaming debate

Post by Man out of Time »

Harry Lime wrote:Watching the Detectives is abrasive? :roll:
"She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake".

MOOT
Harry Lime
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:55 pm
Location: West of the Hudson

Re: Elvis in streaming debate

Post by Harry Lime »

Man out of Time wrote:
Harry Lime wrote:Watching the Detectives is abrasive? :roll:
"She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake".

MOOT
That's just a lazy Sunday around these parts. :D
Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?
Post Reply