Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, on stage at the Grammies last night:
“When you stream a song, all the people that created that music receive a fraction of a penny,” Portnow said on stage after a performance by 12-year-old pianist Joey Alexander. “Isn’t a song worth more than a penny?
“Listen, we all love the convenience, and we support technologies like streaming, which connect us to that music. But we also have to make sure that artists grow up in a world where music is a viable career.”
Joining Portnow on stage, rapper Common added:
“So tonight, my comrades of the recording academy would like to thank our fans who support our work by going to a concert, subscribing to a music service, collecting vinyl, or speaking out for artists’ rights,” Common said.
Notably, last year Portnow also spoke out from the Grammy stage:
It marks the second time Portnow has highlighted the issue of free music streaming at the Grammys. Last year he was joined on stage by Jennifer Hudson, where he said: “What if we’re all watching the Grammys a few years from now and there’s no Best New Artist award because there aren’t enough talented artists and songwriters who are actually able to make a living from their craft?”
Well, surely that penny per play spread over 20 million subscribers adds up. How much does terrestrial radio pay per play?
“How much does terrestrial radio pay per play?”
It doesn’t, it pays a flat rate. Totally different royalty model. If you broke out the typical number of listeners to a radio station and divided the royalty they pay per song, I suspect it would come out to be quite a bit less than the rates streaming services pay.
Sadly, the music industry is its own worst enemy. I hear mixes of dance songs online all the time that aren’t available for purchase, so I sometimes just find it on YouTube, and record the version I want… for free. I’m happy to PAY for the things i want…. but if the Music Industry can’t/won’t make them available for purchase, that’s money they are are choosing to loose.
AND I might add, while I didn’t watch the whole broadcast, what I did see was pretty glitzy…. how much did they spend on the show? Thats more money out of the pockets of musicians.
Sorry, the music industry is their own worse enemy.
Replace the word “streaming” with “radio”, then see if you think about it differently.
I’m about to write something that’s going to go over like a fart in church, considering where I write it. But the fact of the matter is that market pricing suggests that the replaying of a single song isn’t even worth a penny. There is no shortage of performance artists, and when compared to the level of demand for music as an entertainment medium versus competition entertainment options, pricing is probably being artificially inflated when it comes to digital distribution – both streaming and downloads. I leave live performances off this, as that’s a very specific entertainment forum and much more supply constrained.
But we also have to make sure that artists grow up in a world where music is a viable career.”
Sell merchandise.
Also, [popular] music was never a viable career unless you were one of the very few very lucky ones.
People don’t do music because they want to get a paycheck; they do it because they can’t not do it. This is nothing new, and it’s why small bands who were never going to make it big keep playing, and why streaming royalties don’t matter to “keeping people interested in playing”.
Music. Was. Never. A. Viable. Career.
True fact.
If I buy a track for a dollar, I can play it infinity times.
1/bignum ~= 0.
Streaming is what I do for music that’s not even worth stealing, or for discovery.
Good music gets bought outright after I find it*.
That $.70 share for a self-released iTMS track is the best deal anyone in the industry has ever gotten, realistically.
Radio pays less than streaming for the vast majority of artists who … will never make it to radio, let alone be popular enough to get constant play; I don’t really care about the complaints of Big Pop Stars that they’re not making as much anymore – sell albums and merch, guys.
(* I buy an album every week or two, on average. So I put my money where my mouth is on this.)
Add movie industry to the list as well. HBO just makes it so hard to subscribe to their app if you’re in the states.
Yeah, I suspected something like that. And isn’t it also true that radio only pays the performers, not the writers royalties? Sincerely asking; I seem to recall reading that somewhere.
Yeah, having known a number of musicians over the years, this seems to be the reality for the last few decades at least. Musicians make almost nothing off album sales, and never really have. Concerts and merch seem to have been the only viable means to monetary success as musicians.
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If terrestrial radio had to pay the music royalty rates that internet radio stations do, terrestrial radio would be nothing but news and talk radio.