Spotify isn't hurting the music industry at all, new study says, Taylor Swift just butthurt.

[CtW]

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/10/26/economics_study_says_taylor_swift_is_wrong_about_spotify.html

 

 

Is Spotify good for the recording industry? Or is the world's leading streaming service undercutting it? The company argues that by offering both free and paid subscription listening, it helps overall music sales by fighting piracy while converting some fans to paying customers. Critics—most prominently one Taylor Swift—say it hurts artists by convincing fans they shouldn't have to pay for tunes while paying out negligible royalties to artists.

 

It turns out that both might be wrong. In a new working paper, University of Minnesota economist Joel Waldfogel and Luis Aguiar of the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies in Seville, Spain, estimate how Spotify has affected both music sales and piracy during its fast expansion across the globe. Their method: comparing countries where the service grew rapidly between 2013 and 2015, and those where it didn't. The upshot? According to the authors' calculations, Spotify does seem to have put a damper on piracy, but it's also displaced some digital sales (neither is exactly a shocker). Add it all up, then factor in the payments Spotify itself is sending to labels, and the effect appears to be roughly "revenue neutral" for rights holders. They don't make any more money. They don't make any less.

 

 

As the paper notes, "It is not clear that revenue neutrality is an indication of success," given that some might have been hoping that streaming would increase overall music sales. But at least it suggests the platform isn't sapping the life out the business.

 

 

If these findings hold up (again, it's just one working paper), it should put the ongoing debate about Spotify's treatment of artists into some new perspective. If the platform's business model hasn't shrunk the total pie of cash being divvied up by rights holders, but some artists really are seeing their paychecks shrink, it suggests the problem (insofar as one exists) has to do with the way record labels are distributing the cash. In which case, by singling out on-demand streaming as the source of artists' woes, people like Swift are fingering the wrong villain.

 

My opinion: I'm not surprised by this at all. Ever since I heard about Taylor Swift taking her songs off of spotify and ranting about how much it was hurting artists, I knew she was full of bs and butthurt she wasn't making more money. Hopefully this makes people realize that the only thing that would be reducing artist wages in this situation would be how much the record companies pay to them rather than the royalties they make off of spotify. Get rekt Taylor.

[Mohenjo]

what i dont get is if your worth 200 million already, why do you need more? at that point i would just want my fans to listen to my music and not really care if im not making as much as i could. 

[Alurit]

lemme heal her hurt butt ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[DigitalHermit]

Now we wait for other white papers on the same topic...

[Mohenjo]

lemme heal her hurt butt ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[The Official Czex]

Go to bed, Taylor...

[KemoKa]

Poor Taylor Swift. How she must suffer when she doesn't make as much money off Spotify than she does on records. How she must cry at night when she has to forego buying that new diamond-encrusted pair of shoes. I cri evyrtim for tAlr... wi do u do dis, Spotfi... artists gotta eat...

She's gone the way of all the other trashy mainstream artists. I hate her.

 

I think someone needs to show her all the indie artists on the internet. I could name two dozen off the top of my head who are more talented than her, yet make very little on their productions.

[Remmi2002]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Volbet]

The one issue with this is that it doesn't account for how many people were actually consuming music.

The revenue for the labels might have been the same in countries with rapid growth and thise without, but that doesn't say much if double the amount of people are consuming music in the countries that had Spotify growth.

 

But one of the most important points is still that music sale was never the biggest procentual revenue stream for the artists.

Live shows and merchandise was alwasy the biggest procentual profit maker for the artists. Spotify is mainly hurting the record lables.

 

And all of you bitching about Taylor Swift bitching, why isn't she deserving of earning more?

She makes a product that people enjoy and so she should reap the profits that that product creates.

[ShadowCaptain]

Poor Taylor Swift. How she must suffer when she doesn't make as much money off Spotify than she does on records.

 

No, you have this all wrong, Taylor was not talking about herself, she was standing up on behalf of the ENTIRE music industry, independents, big labels and everything in between

[KemoKa]

No, you have this all wrong, Taylor was not talking about herself, she was standing up on behalf of the ENTIRE music industry, independents, big labels and everything in between

And how many of them are on spotify? Surely it's not just the mainstream artists? I didn't see Kozoro, Teminite or any of the awesome indie artists on there. Because they're not popular.

If she was standing up for the entire music industry, she was standing up for the people who only have the most to lose because they've got the most.

[ShadowCaptain]

And how many of them are on spotify? Surely it's not just the mainstream artists? I didn't see Kozoro, Teminite or any of the awesome indie artists on there. Because they're not popular.

If she was standing up for the entire music industry, she was standing up for the people who only have the most to lose because they've got the most.

 

Of course not EVERY artist is on there, its optional, and some labels choose not to, maybe they do not think its a good deal for them

 

she was not saying "me taylor swift does not get enough money", she was talking about defending musicians as a whole

 

Did you ever even READ her open letter to apple? http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/122071902085/to-apple-love-taylor

 

"This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs."

[KemoKa]

Of course not EVERY artist is on there, its optional, and some labels choose not to, maybe they do not think its a good deal for them

 

she was not saying "me taylor swift does not get enough money", she was talking about defending musicians as a whole

 

Did you ever even READ her open letter to apple? http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/122071902085/to-apple-love-taylor

 

"This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs."

In any case, the numbers don't add up. Any artist who achieves any significant level of success will be well-off, regardless of if they are on Spotify or not. She's pulled her music off Apple and Spotify in protest, but it won't change a damn thing, not for her, not for any of the artists. If she wants to change things, she's not doing it effectively.

[ShadowCaptain]

In any case, the numbers don't add up. Any artist who achieves any significant level of success will be well-off, regardless of if they are on Spotify or not. She's pulled her music off Apple and Spotify in protest, but it won't change a damn thing, not for her, not for any of the artists. If she wants to change things, she's not doing it effectively.

 

Why? Apple changed their stance because of her, if BIG artists are prepared to walk away from a deal, then it could scare the services

 

Taylor Swift is single Woman, a singer, she is not here to negotiate crazy deals or anything, people should be happy she stood up at all, she didnt have to, whether or not she is successful is irrelevant, it made an impact, and if other big artists got behind her and all said "we want fair deals for all musicians or we will leave" it would FORCE Apple Music and spotify to change

 

 

I have no worked out the numbers or anything, and that is not true, being famous does not always translate into being rich, PLENTY of BIG musicians have gone bankrupt, or made little to no money off music, same as some big actors, game studios and all sorts

[CtW]

As someone who is getting into the music industry (im making dank beats yo), imho, the issue of people not getting payed for individual song plays on a streaming service doesn't really exist. If you are an independent artist, you are not going to be relying on spotify, pandora, or youtube plays for revenue. You will be getting people to support you directly either by purchasing your music via bandcamp, or them buying merch and attending live shows. If you release an album and actually want to make any money off of it, you won't just put it on streaming services, you'll make it available for sale somewhere. If you do that and still make nothing, either you are not making any sales or your record company is giving you a fraction of the revenue. If you think royalties from spotify are going to get you out of debt alone, you are fucking retarded. Everyone who gets into this industry understands this and wont get butthurt when royalties from streaming services are next to nothing. Taylor is just pissed that she getting as much cash from spotify as she would if everyone purchased her albums.

 

Should artists get payed more by streaming services? Absolutely; but in order to do that, less money needs to go to the label and more needs to go to the artist. These days, it's much better for an artist to release music independently or on a smaller local label, than to try to get a deal with a major publisher. 

 

If you really care about how much artists make, worry about what the labels are doing, not what streaming services are doing.

[JuztBe]

what i dont get is if your worth 200 million already, why do you need more? at that point i would just want my fans to listen to my music and not really care if im not making as much as i could. 

Looks like you've missed first economics's class 

[Mohenjo]

Looks like you've missed first economics's class 

i dunno maybe, seems like a dick move though 

[JuztBe]

i dunno maybe, seems like a dick move though 

I can agree with this one.

[Prysin]

lemme heal her hurt butt ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

She does need a slap on the bum for all dat tantrum.

[pk-man]

Taylor swift being salty? what else is new?

[Guest Kloaked]

The one issue with this is that it doesn't account for how many people were actually consuming music.

The revenue for the labels might have been the same in countries with rapid growth and thise without, but that doesn't say much if double the amount of people are consuming music in the countries that had Spotify growth.

 

But one of the most important points is still that music sale was never the biggest procentual revenue stream for the artists.

Live shows and merchandise was alwasy the biggest procentual profit maker for the artists. Spotify is mainly hurting the record lables.

 

And all of you bitching about Taylor Swift bitching, why isn't she deserving of earning more?

She makes a product that people enjoy and so she should reap the profits that that product creates.

 

The thing is, is that she is already making tons of money from her live shows, photo shoots, whatever else. She already reaps the profits. If she's that worried about getting a cut from her album sales, she should go independent. She won't do that though, because of that signing bonus she gets. 

[Volbet]

The thing is, is that she is already making tons of money from her live shows, photo shoots, whatever else. She already reaps the profits. If she's that worried about getting a cut from her album sales, she should go independent. She won't do that though, because of that signing bonus she gets. 

That is a good point.

The main issue with her going independent, could be that she might not own the rights to her own music.

But that does depend on the type of contract she has signed. But she probably wouldn't be making the same amount of money, if she couldn't play her best known songs at her live shows. 

 

Maybe one of the main thing both consumers, artists and the lables need is a mentality change.

We might need to look at albums today the same way we looked at singles 15-20 years ago.

A single was basically a small revenue stream that primarly acted as a commercial for the album.

Today we might need to see albums as commercials for the live shows.

20 years ago you turned on MTV or the radio to hear the lates single. Today you turn on Spotify/Pandora/Apple Music etc. to hear the latest album.

 

But I don't thinkl that change is due any time soon, since the record lables would essentially be cut out. 

[as96]

Most people will probably download the song for free if it's not up on Spotify or similar services so isn't that just stupid? 

[ShadowCaptain]

Most people will probably download the song for free if it's not up on Spotify or similar services so isn't that just stupid? 

 

actually I will just buy the CD

[as96]

actually I will just buy the CD

I said "most" not all.