From the responses to the shared social media post I am still surprised at how many so called music fans are not aware of how their subscriptions to music streaming services are affecting the musicians they profess to love. Many don't realise that the music streaming services pay the musicians nothing or very little.
I am also surprised by so called music fans who wear their using music streaming service subscriptions as a badge of honour in support of music and musicians.
Personally I will not use any streaming services including those for music as I believe they do not adequately pay musicians for the content they are providing. While I do listen to YouTube I always try to listen to music and watch music videos that are from official sources and mainly to see if I would like the artist or musician. If I like them I go and buy their where legal music is sold.
I have copied the article shared below. It was was edited briefly for copyright reasons. No copyright infringement intended.
I will let the Canadian musician Danny Michel speak for himself about the impact of streaming on the music industry as he sees it.
'A peek behind the curtain: The expiration date on music according to Danny Michel' by Danny Michel published in The Vancouver Weekly on 20 November, 2018.
"I’ve been a full-time musician for 25 years. It’s been nothing but hard work, but I love hard work. My songs bought my home, my studio, paid the bills and more. Through it all, the conversations backstage with other musicians have always been about music, family, guitars, friends, art, etc… But in 2018 that conversation changed. Everywhere I go musicians are quietly talking about one thing: how to survive. And I’ve never worried about it myself UNTIL 2018. What I can tell you is my album sales have held steady for the last decade until dropping by 95% this year due to music streaming services.
Note my earnings for “Purgatory Cove”: this song has been in the TOP 20 charts (CBC Radio 2 & 3) for 10 weeks, climbed to #3. In 2018 that equals $44.99 in sales.
I know I’m not alone. As a result bands/musicians are downsizing, recording at home, cutting corners where ever they can. Studios are losing business. Session musicians, techs, administration, grant writers are all losing work. And with every band in the world back on the road, venues are clogged and ticket prices have tripled. For me, it means being away from home and taking on more work than I ever have.
From the conversations I’m having I believe that statistic is much much higher. Over the last few months, I’ve spoken to many brilliant life-long musicians who are quietly beginning their exit strategy. I fear musicians are reluctant to admit any of this because so much of this industry is perception; the illusion is that an artist’s career is soaring when really, it might not be. Having to be the constant used-car salesman, manager, admin person AND travelling artist (while in survival/panic mode) isn’t healthy. Yet, you can’t afford to hire anyone.
Social media makes it all worse and as a fellow musician pointed out, streaming services shame artists with the pressures of how many “likes,” “streams” and “followers” they have.
No one needs to feel sorry for me. This is what I do. And I’m not scolding anyone or suggesting people stop using these services. I don’t know what the answer is. But I hope musicians speak up about what’s really happening. Music fans deserve to know how this all works and why the artists they love may soon be gone.
This new model of “free music” simply can’t last much longer."
'A peek behind the curtain: The expiration date on music according to Danny Michel' by Danny Michel published in The Vancouver Weekly on 20 November, 2018.
"I’ve been a full-time musician for 25 years. It’s been nothing but hard work, but I love hard work. My songs bought my home, my studio, paid the bills and more. Through it all, the conversations backstage with other musicians have always been about music, family, guitars, friends, art, etc… But in 2018 that conversation changed. Everywhere I go musicians are quietly talking about one thing: how to survive. And I’ve never worried about it myself UNTIL 2018. What I can tell you is my album sales have held steady for the last decade until dropping by 95% this year due to music streaming services.
Note my earnings for “Purgatory Cove”: this song has been in the TOP 20 charts (CBC Radio 2 & 3) for 10 weeks, climbed to #3. In 2018 that equals $44.99 in sales.
I know I’m not alone. As a result bands/musicians are downsizing, recording at home, cutting corners where ever they can. Studios are losing business. Session musicians, techs, administration, grant writers are all losing work. And with every band in the world back on the road, venues are clogged and ticket prices have tripled. For me, it means being away from home and taking on more work than I ever have.
From the conversations I’m having I believe that statistic is much much higher. Over the last few months, I’ve spoken to many brilliant life-long musicians who are quietly beginning their exit strategy. I fear musicians are reluctant to admit any of this because so much of this industry is perception; the illusion is that an artist’s career is soaring when really, it might not be. Having to be the constant used-car salesman, manager, admin person AND travelling artist (while in survival/panic mode) isn’t healthy. Yet, you can’t afford to hire anyone.
Social media makes it all worse and as a fellow musician pointed out, streaming services shame artists with the pressures of how many “likes,” “streams” and “followers” they have.
No one needs to feel sorry for me. This is what I do. And I’m not scolding anyone or suggesting people stop using these services. I don’t know what the answer is. But I hope musicians speak up about what’s really happening. Music fans deserve to know how this all works and why the artists they love may soon be gone.
This new model of “free music” simply can’t last much longer."
