My friend David Bauer wrote a quick defense of streaming services such as Spotify against the complaints musicians have about how little they earn from such services. It's in German here. (If you read German, the comments are worth reading, too.)
David's points are as follows:
1. Every band can choose whether or not to work with streaming services.
2. Bands earn money every single time a song is played on a streaming service. That's not comparable to the sale of a CD or other ways of earning money from selling music. (My comment: when you sell a CD, you don't earn money every time the consumer listens to each song.)
3. If a song is not available for streaming, that does not mean that you sell a CD. People can find free downloads or listen to something else.
4. Spotify is not making great profits. David provides a link to an article called "Why Spotify can never be profitable."
5. Spotify is not about making money for bands but about generating attention for their music. (My comment: it suddenly reminds me of the Grateful Dead: give away the right to record concerts and trade tapes, and the fans will come in droves, assuming the music is any good, especially if you promise a distinct concert at every show.)
David also links to this post of suggestions as to how Spotify can help musicians.
Curious what my musician friends have to say about this.
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