Going, Going, Gone?

[VMAT4]

It's been talked about for years now. But, I thought I'd post this link . How long can this go on? Bye Bye Spotify?

 

[dkinric]

Probably why they don't have adding lossless/hi-res to their service high on the priority list.

Also, good reasons why they should have adding lossless/hi-res to their service high on the priority list, for additional profit/revenue, although doubtful it would make much of an impact. 320 kbps is plenty good for most outside our little obsessed audiophile circles.

 

[VMAT4]

They're getting pinched. I tell you! Between a rock, royalties, and a hard place, Apple & Amazon.

 

[KozmoNaut]

They have by far the largest subscriber count, but they can only bleed money for so long.

I've ditched streaming altogether, there's just too many downsides.

 

[amirm]

The labels have screwed this up good. They have made selling music so profit free that the only model that works is if you use it as a loss leader to sell something else. That is why Apple and Amazon can do it, while Spotity, Tidal, Quobuz, etc. can't.

 

[Soniclife]

It's almost like they want a mass return to piracy, if you believe this sort of article.

 

[RayDunzl]

The labels have screwed this up good.

Somebody sure has.

Or, maybe it's just more "business as usual"

More: http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/07/musicians-file-bankruptcy-list/

 

[Fluffy]

Is Deezer also in danger?

Somebody sure has.

Or, maybe it's just more "business as usual"

View attachment 36708

Lables are scumbags. This is a relic from the times where people needed labels to fund producing albums. It's really unnecessary these days.

 

[Blumlein 88]

For several decades at least, artists make their money from concerts. Even the biggest artists who do make a large piece of change from streaming, make more from concert tours. What seems like unethical business practices have long kept bands from making money off of hardware record sales even prior to streaming. What those sales could be were advertisements and demand building for concerts where the money was made. Greedy labels have at times and do at times try to even get a piece of concert revenue or some control over it.

The potential with streaming seemed to be for bands to put out recordings without labels and reap benefits. So far that generally hasn't materialized.

 

[RayDunzl]

For several decades at least, artists make their money from concerts.

A short discussion pertaining to that subject between Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian in the group) and Frank.

 

[GrimSurfer]

Somebody sure has.

Or, maybe it's just more "business as usual"

View attachment 36708

More: http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/07/musicians-file-bankruptcy-list/

Not disputing the article but I do recall Tom Petty using bankruptcy as a means to break what he contended was unfair contract with his label. Also, one cannot overlook extravagant lifestyles burning through cash faster than it's being made, like Michael Jackson.

Now I do believe artists are well served by lawyering up before signing deals, so this isn't a hall pass for labels, which benefit financially exploiting artists. But there are potentially other dimensions to consider...

 

[KozmoNaut]

The potential with streaming seemed to be for bands to put out recordings without labels and reap benefits. So far that generally hasn't materialized.

In some spaces, it has.

If you see a release on a streaming service with a label name of "DK xxxxxx" or similar, that album was uploaded through DistroKid, probably by the artist, no label involved.

They still don't get paid much, but at least no label takes a cut.

 

[Thomas savage]

For several decades at least, artists make their money from concerts. Even the biggest artists who do make a large piece of change from streaming, make more from concert tours. What seems like unethical business practices have long kept bands from making money off of hardware record sales even prior to streaming. What those sales could be were advertisements and demand building for concerts where the money was made. Greedy labels have at times and do at times try to even get a piece of concert revenue or some control over it.

The potential with streaming seemed to be for bands to put out recordings without labels and reap benefits. So far that generally hasn't materialized.

There's so much more to putting a record out than just the album.

That's why the solo route although not unheard of has its limits .

The idea that all labels are some kind of artists stealing evil doers is total bollocks. There's tons of labels out there that have worked tirelessly for the band's they represent and for fairly small returns , often not recouping initial investments. Certainly taking risks.

 

[anmpr1]

A short discussion pertaining to that subject between Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian in the group) and Frank.

That's probably the funniest thing Frank ever put on record. And it was actually Jimmy going off. FWIW, several YT videos of interviews from some of the old Mothers of Invention: Don Preston, Bunk Gardener (I think) and Black (may he RIP). Interesting to listen, for the historical perspective.

I guess the guys had hard feelings at Frank over royalties, leading to a lawsuit, etc. The band recovered some money, but a gag order was imposed, so they couldn't talk about details openly. Mrs. Zappa comes in for some hard hits. After that, I think Frank only worked with hired session and touring musicians who were paid by the hour.

Later on, in an act of karmic retribution, tables turned on Frank, who was supposedly ripped off by his long-time manager.

 

[GrimSurfer]

I guess the guys had hard feelings at Frank over royalties, leading to a lawsuit, etc. The band recovered some money, but a gag order was imposed, so they couldn't talk about details openly. Mrs. Zappa comes in for some hard hits. After that, I think Frank only worked with hired session and touring musicians who were paid by the hour.

Later on, in an act of karmic retribution, tables turned on Frank, who was supposedly ripped off by his long-time manager.

This shatters the illusion of "good artist, bad label". It cuts both ways, and every other way in between. As do most things involving money.

 

[anmpr1]

This shatters the illusion of "good artist, bad label". It cuts both ways, and every other way in between. As do most things involving money.

The best thing is to be poor, like me. that way you never have to worry about anyone going after your money! LOL

 

[Berwhale]

If the music industry gets higher royalties from Spotify, than from other streaming providers, then it's in the music industries interest to keep Spotify solvent to maintain those royalties. The alternative is to let Spotify collapse and see all of their subscribers jump to other providers with a corresponding loss of royalty revenue.

 

[HammerSandwich]

Regarding big-label deals, remember Albini's The Problem with Music from 1993.

 

[Manbeard]

https://s22.q4cdn.com/540910603/files/doc_financials/quarterly/2019/Shareholder-Letter-Q2-2019.pdf

Last quarter results....not exactly stellar but doesn't look like a company 'one fail away' from going belly up.

 

[Julf]

https://s22.q4cdn.com/540910603/files/doc_financials/quarterly/2019/Shareholder-Letter-Q2-2019.pdf

Last quarter results....not exactly stellar but doesn't look like a company 'one fail away' from going belly up.

WeWork is still a going concern...