The Pop Corporation

The amount of money an artist receives for making music is a hot topic at the moment. Apart from a few at the top, it sincerely looks like a lot of mid-tier and smaller bands simply can’t afford to be musicians, professionally. There’s people playing large gigs who still have office jobs. Whether or not you think that’s okay or not, it’s a shame that in the currently musical climate, there’s fewer people who can dedicate themselves entirely to their art, compared to years past.

The main difference of course, is streaming. So, looking at a report from Digital Media Association (DiMA) called ‘Streaming Forward: Fan Engagement Report 2023,’ there’s some interesting info. It’s dry stuff, so we’ll make some pithy asides to try and juice it up.

DiMA is an American trade body that represents music streaming services, so if there’s a slant on this whole thing, that might be why. Let’s keep an open mind though, eh? They spoke to 3,000 people – 2,000 streamers and 1,000 non-streamers. One thing we should probably note is that people who buy records probably stream too – it’s like most smackheads have smoked weed, but not every weed smoker intends to take smack, for the ‘it’s a gateway drug!’ fans amongst you.

Anyway, they’ve looked at the personalisation of streaming services and how cool that is (it is cool – lovely to be given a curated selection of new tunes you might like based on what you’ve been listening to, for example), but we’re more interested in another tidbit.

They’ve suggested, based on reasonably limited data obviously, that streamers spend more on music than those that don’t.

DiMA said that streamers spend an average of $387 a year on music compared to non-streamers’ $242. So that includes subscriptions, as well as gig tickets, merch, live streams, downloads and the like too. That’s quite surprising isn’t it? Or is it? See, a subscription you have to pay every month without fail – if you’re buying LPs down the record shop, you may not go once a month. And of course, if you’re buying LPs and cassettes, you’re inevitably also paying your subs for Spotify or whatever on top of that.

The survey also found that 93% of music streamers surveyed and 83% of non-streamers agreed that “streaming has had a positive effect on the music industry.” No-one could argue that people having all that access to music that once would have been prohibitively difficult to hear is a largely good thing, but there’s something gnawing at us here.

“Making music more accessible to everyone anywhere on the planet is perceived to be the biggest benefit of streaming by streamers (49%) and non-streamers (34%) alike,” says DiMA. “Additionally, about one-third or more of streamers (42%) and non-streamers (31%) believe streaming provides up-and-coming artists with a better opportunity of being discovered compared to traditional formats.”

If people are spending more money on streaming than records, then the big question is the way streaming companies divvy up the money to those that make it. There’s a skewed royalty situation that gives megastars a bigger cut of the pie than the smaller bands. Smaller bands could club together and go on strike and remove all their work from Spotify et al, but with that, they’d be losing one of the easiest ways of getting heard and a major promotional tool at the same time. It’s a tricky situation.

And no system is perfect – if a band presses their own vinyl, they’re operating at a loss unless they manage to sell a truckload. Spotify is a cheap alternative compared to other channels. However, it won’t stop being galling if a band gets a couple of quid for a million plays. Is that a million unique listeners? Is that multiple plays by fans? The whole thing is incredibly murky and it all feels a bit hopeless trying to work it out.

However, one thing remains that while many malign the state of music, streaming, the vinyl and cassette resurgence, well populated grassroots shows, DIY events, fanzine culture, and everything beside – music is still at a people level, in rude health.

Support your local venue either way, even if you’re only popping in for a pint now and then. It makes all the difference.