Streaming Up,Privacy Down and Musicians on the Endangered List (new report)

[Timcognito]

Found the Twittering Machines site. FYI

https://www.unionofmusicians.org/un-report

 

[Robot_Assassinator]

At this point the musician would be better off if they had a PayPal donation bucket attached to their Instagram account and we all pirated their lastest album from bittorrent and then put ten cents in their PayPal as a charity. They'd be coming out in front.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Kind of a bs article. Valuation increases in companies vs artist income doesn't directly make that much sense. Not saying artists aren't being shorted simply this sort of analysis is not telling much about why or what might be fair.

Some hold once music is readily available and easily copied it becomes worth nothing. You have an infinite supply for a limited if large demand. Spotify's value is in its abilty to supply this music to consumers. A real cynic could even hold Spotify has improved the number of ways, the ease, the covenience, and volume of streaming possible for its customers which adds value justifying its increase in valuation. While musicians have contributed nothing to these values to the consumer. The music was already there.

I agree it is a broken system for musicians.

 

[Robot_Assassinator]

Kind of a bs article. Valuation increases in companies vs artist income doesn't directly make that much sense. Not saying artists aren't being shorted simply this sort of analysis is not telling much about why or what might be fair.

Some hold once music is readily available and easily copied it becomes worth nothing. You have an infinite supply for a limited if large demand. Spotify's value is in its abilty to supply this music to consumers. A real cynic could even hold Spotify has improved the number of ways, the ease, the covenience, and volume of streaming possible for its customers which adds value justifying its increase in valuation. While musicians have contributed nothing to these values to the consumer. The music was already there.

I agree it is a broken system for musicians.

The article is from a site called 'union of musicians', so it probably should be taken as read that the intended audience don't need an explanation of any unfairness to be stated explicitly.

"While musicians have contributed nothing to these values to the consumer. The music was already there."

That makes no sense at all. The consumers aren't paying Spotify for empty bandwidth of silence being pumped into their streaming device.

 

[Blumlein 88]

snip....
"While musicians have contributed nothing to these values to the consumer. The music was already there."

That makes no sense at all. The consumers aren't paying Spotify for empty bandwidth of silence being pumped into their streaming device.

They are paying Spotify mostly for music delivery, and mostly not paying for the music.

 

[Timcognito]

The article is from the point of view of the musicians and is written by lobby for musicians but the first three quarters reiterate what is in the United Nations report. Most have free accounts on Spotify and are mined for their data, the real product. To use a metaphor, to Spotify recorded music is like fish in the sea, all that is needed is a big boat. Why would they pay for something that is so plentiful also it is so desirable. Let's hope they don't over fish and deplete our variety of choices and quality.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The article is from the point of view of the musicians and is written by lobby for musicians but the first three quarters reiterate what is in the United Nations report. Most have free accounts on Spotify and are mined for their data, the real product. To use a metaphor, to Spotify recorded music is like fish in the sea, all that is needed is a big boat. Why would they pay for something that is so plentiful also it is so desirable. Let's hope they don't over fish and deplete our variety of choices and quality.

I like your fishing analogy especially in regards to over fishing. They need to give something extra back to re-stock their source supplies.

 

[JJB70]

In fairness I am not sure much has changed for most musicians. Music is a bit like professional sports in that a handful become rich and famous but the vast majority will never make much of a living from it, no more than they'd get from a regular job. Streaming and the Internet have made it easier for musicians to share their work widely and many are finding their audiences through live performances. These acts may not achieve the monetary success and fame of mega-acts of the past but they can find a nice niche for themselves. The success stories tend to obscure just how few musicians made it and the record labels never struck me as the most commendable of entities. If I look at classical music the heady days of the 60's - 90's may have gone (big labels cranking out an endless procession of recordings and big money for a handful of conductors and soloists) but orchestras still have their live audience and some have cut out the middle person to some degree by setting up their own labels. The industry has changed, as with most change it is neither all good nor all bad.