Slashdot Mirror
As Music Streaming Grows, Royalties Slow To a Trickle
concealment sends this excerpt from the NY Times:
"Late last year, Zoe Keating, an independent musician from Northern California, provided an unusually detailed case in point. In voluminous spreadsheets posted to her Tumblr blog, she revealed the royalties she gets from various services, down to the ten-thousandth of a cent. Even for an under-the-radar artist like Ms. Keating, who describes her style as “avant cello,” the numbers painted a stark picture of what it is like to be a working musician these days. After her songs had been played more than 1.5 million times on Pandora over six months, she earned $1,652.74. On Spotify, 131,000 plays last year netted just $547.71, or an average of 0.42 cent a play. 'In certain types of music, like classical or jazz, we are condemning them to poverty if this is going to be the only way people consume music,' Ms. Keating said. ... The question dogging the music industry is whether these micropayments can add up to anything substantial. 'No artist will be able to survive to be professionals except those who have a significant live business, and that’s very few,' said Hartwig Masuch, chief executive of BMG Rights Management."
What alternative does the artist have in selling her music? It sucks making pennies, but would she be otherwise selling her music in concert, on CDs, etc.?
The alternative is to switch to a job that actually pays money. Frankly, she should quit her whining. A cellist? I'm sorry, but she's lucky to be making any money at all. I didn't even know you COULD make money as a cellist. Nobody is going to pay money to listen to a cellist at a concert, or buy her CD. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but in this world, you can't always do what your heart desires and also make a living wage off it. A few lucky ones do, but most of us make compromises in our career choice in order to pay the bills.