jamie hill🏴‍☠️Oct 30, 2023

fascinating (and gorgeous!) chart showing the evolution of recorded-music revenue over the last 50 years

the first thing that jumps out at me is how much smaller the overall pie is post-streaming. the streaming services and major labels have successfully managed a) to dramatically devalue recorded music and b) to put a much larger percentage of it directly into their own pockets. it's one of the single biggest upward transfers of wealth in history — from artists to billionaire corporations

Show threadFlippoFlip 🏴‍☠️Oct 30, 2023

@hilljam this looks awesome. I would love to enphasize that corporations take a bigger share from the streaming revenue than they did from physical sales- because spotify is largely owned by the major labels. And with music as a service artists become much more replaceable- so they dont get to negotiate as much as they did back in the day. Its a bad time to be an artist.

Edit: spotify is not largely owned by major labels. It's another large company though.

Show threadBen SizerOct 30, 2023

@FlippoFlip @hilljam Spotify is not largely owned by the major record labels and never was. The highest stake they ever had in Spotify was 18%. This has dropped over time.

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/heres-exactly-how-many-shares-the-major-labels-and-merlin-bought-in-spotify-and-what-we-think-those-stakes-are-worth-now/

Here’s exactly how many shares the major labels and Merlin bought in Spotify – and what those stakes are worth

Documents from 2008 reveal much about Spotify then – and now…

Music Business Worldwide
Show threadHawkmoonOct 30, 2023

@kylotan @FlippoFlip @hilljam

That doesn't mean artists get more money.

https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream

https://scrippsvoice.com/unpopular-opinion-spotify-sucks/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Spotify

How much does Spotify pay per stream? What you'll earn per song, and how to get paid more for your music

Spotify generally pays between $.003 and $.005 per stream, but how much you'll be paid differs based on your distribution contract.

Business Insider
Show threadBen SizerOct 30, 2023
@Hawkmoon @FlippoFlip @hilljam Never said it did :) Just saying that putting the problem down to major label ownership is untrue. The main problem is the way the tech industry was able to undervalue music; the way major labels treat their musicians is a big problem but not the root cause here.
Show threadHawkmoonOct 30, 2023

@kylotan @FlippoFlip @hilljam

The tech industry behavior in no way absolves labels of their responsibility in milking musicians.

Show threadFlippoFlip 🏴‍☠️Oct 30, 2023
@Hawkmoon @kylotan @hilljam can we agree upon the fact that someone is earning a lot of money with music and it's not the artists?
If spotify or warner takes the rake is pretty irrelevant to me.
Show threadBen SizerOct 30, 2023
@FlippoFlip @Hawkmoon @hilljam I think the bigger problem is that it’s undervalued. Even if we take the majors entirely out of the equation an artist still only gets a max of $0.003 per stream while Spotify take a little over $0.001. It’s too cheap.
Show threadFlippoFlip 🏴‍☠️Oct 30, 2023
@kylotan @Hawkmoon @hilljam the market will consolidate a little and some competition will leave. Then prices will rise and artists remain poor. Not sure thats a good deal.
Show threadBen Sizer
@FlippoFlip @Hawkmoon @hilljam I've not proposed anything, so I have no idea what you're referring to, sorry!
Oct 30, 2023 at 10:04pmWeb
Show threadFlippoFlip 🏴‍☠️Oct 30, 2023
@kylotan i was talking about rising prices fot streaming.
Show threadBen SizerOct 30, 2023
@FlippoFlip The only way the average artist will get significantly more from streaming is through price rises. A relatively small number are on major labels, and while they may well deserve a better deal, improving their terms doesn’t help anyone else.