forestine

i just mentioned this to a friend who didn’t know about it but in case you are unaware, to get music on a streaming service, artists must pay a distribution service. if they stop paying, the music gets taken down.

which means that many artists are out there paying and also not making any money because spotify now requires a thousand streams to make a fraction of a penny. spotify's playlists are increasingly filling with ai slop that is preventing people from hearing these artists.

supporting artists directly through services like bandcamp, faircamp, mirlo, etc, means that they get more money than they would make from thousands and thousands of streams.

on bandcamp friday, all their fees are waived and the money goes directly to the artist. so for example somebody paid me 6 dollars and all i lost was 37 cents in payment processor fee

edit to add: i am told that some services are a one-time fee for example cdbaby was a one time $14.99. that is still a LOT of spotify streams to recoup

Feb 6 at 7:26pmWeb
Show threadforestineFeb 6
i'm not going to tell you to go all or nothing but i would really suggest subscribing to a streaming service with a better payout like qobuz. but even if you continue to subscribe to a streaming service, tossing an artist 5 bucks once in awhile will go so much further
Show threadforestineFeb 6

Distrokid, the most common service, says

"If you don't renew your subscription to DistroKid, your music will be removed from services. DistroKid subscriptions are billed annually on the date you first signed up and paid for the subscription.

To prevent your releases from being removed for this reason, you can opt any upload into DistroKid's optional Leave a Legacy album extra." which is an extra service

reviews also say that people's music was taken down for various reasons and also that it can take months for the music to appear on the services in the first place

Show threadTheMagicalCFeb 6
@forestine for what it’s worth, I bought the entire Crane Wives discography, which is 8 albums and a single, for $38.25. That’s a bit over 3 months cost of Spotify premium, and gives them more money than if I only listened to them on Spotify for probably my entire life. And I own the music forever, without ads. Owning your entire music collection is achievable.
Show threadbriFeb 6
@forestine also the distribution service that folks are likely to know if they only know of one is partially owned by spotify and really seems to prioritize that partnership — the worst possible one for artists — from what i’ve heard.
Show threadAnne DelongFeb 7

@brhfl @forestine

I paid CD Baby to distribute my CD, but they've never asked for any more money. I've ALMOST made my distribution fee back....but I've actually made some money with Bandcamp.

Show threadbagahensFeb 6

@forestine

I used cdbaby to get my album on streaming services. One time fee of $14.99.

I don't expect to make money on streaming, it was for customer convenience.

Sales happened direct or on bandcamp.

Show threadforestineFeb 6
@bagahens that's good to know. i will add that
Show threadprexFeb 7

@forestine can't quote so i'll just leave here the list of bandcamp fridays for this year, in case anyone would like to save the dates

https://blog.bandcamp.com/2025/12/03/bandcamp-fridays-return-in-2026-with-more-opportunities-to-support-independent-music/

Bandcamp Fridays Return in 2026 with More Dates

Bandcamp Fridays are back in 2026 with eight dates to support independent music. Discover new artists, buy music, and help put more money in the hands of artists.

Bandcamp Updates