Major Record Labels Keep 73% of Spotify Payouts

journovampire sends this report: New record company figures out of France suggest that artists are being paid just 68 cents from every €9.99 monthly music streaming subscription – as major labels keep hold of 73% of payouts from the likes of Spotify. They’re followed by writers/publishers with a 16% share, and then artists – mostly paid by their labels – who get 11%.

Comments

so?

[SuperDre]

It's the 'artist' that signed a contract with the company, so he/she knows what he/she gets or doesn't get..
An artist working for a record company is nothing more than a regular employee..

Re:so?

[Anonymous Coward]

The point of articles like this is to raise awareness so that artists are more aware of what they're getting into before they sign, so that they negotiate better and might refuse offers if that's in their best interest. It's tragic, but too many musicians fall into the trap unaware what it will cost them.

Re:so?

[TheRaven64]

The granparent said 'anti-monopoly' and 'anti-oligopoly' (although an oligopoly is more commonly referred to as a cartel these days). The big five record labels definitely count as an oligopoly.

Re:so?

[hweimer]

Well, that's similar to raising awareness among burger flippers so that they negotiate better and refuse offers if necessary. If you want to get your first record deal, then you will have to accept pretty much anything. There are thousands of equally eager and talented musicians round the corner who don't ask such nasty questions. Guess who will get signed in the end?
Also, note that the reported sums are averages. This means that a handful of top artists actually get a decent cut, while the huge majority of artists actually gets nothing because they first have to pay back the label for recording costs, marketing, any advances the artists have received, etc.

Artists often get little

[toejam13]

Music artists have often received little from broadcasting. Historically, they've received the bulk of their money from live performances and merchandise. Most of that broadcast money goes to the studios, the producers, the managers, the studio, the songwriter, agents and lawyers. Singers (if they're not also songwriters) usually come dead last.
My understanding is that many new artists have come to realize this scam and are starting to avoid the major labels, using alternate channels of distribution instead. It may not sell as much music, but they get a much larger slice of the pie

Re:Artists often get little

[Anonymous Coward]

personally I find it somewhat insulting calling many of them artists. yes without a doubt many have a gifted voice or work hard to produce excellent sounds, but they aren't artists. The artists are those that actually write the songs and the music (yes sometimes that is also the singer, but that seems to be a rarity nowadays). most singers are little more than performing puppets.