there some anti-Spotify rebellion in the air? Coldplay does not want its latest album, ‘Mylo Xyloto’, to be available on Spotify or any other streaming music service!
According to CNET, Coldplay’s label EMI acknowledged it was the case but did not give any details about the reasons, just making the statement:
‘We always work with our artists and management on a case by case basis to deliver the best outcome for each release’.
However, the album has been streaming on some websites, and EMI, as the other big labels, has been a big supporter of Spotify and is said to be ‘a little embarrassed by the band's decision’.
But Coldplay is not an exception, still according o CNET, Tom Waits’ management has also announced that the new album ‘Bas as Me’ will not be distributed by Spotify, Rhapsody and MOG, and Adele’s new ‘21’ album is absent from Spotify too.
The two big streaming companies have made statements to answer these artists’ decisions, Spotify declaring that they ‘have strong support from the music industry’, and ‘respect the decision of any artist who chooses not to have their music on Spotify for whatever reason’, and adding that Spotify is the right way to go as they ‘have already convinced millions of consumers to pay for music again, and that they are generating real revenue for the music business.’
On its side, Rhapsody added that ‘streaming is where the public is going’ and that ‘for artists, streaming is likely to be more profitable over the longer term’ because ‘artists are getting paid every time one of their tracks is being played’, whereas ‘a download is sold and the revenue is distributed, but the artist doesn't see any more money from future plays of that song’, adding that ‘With streaming, if someone plays a song a million times, the artist will earn money from that. Music acts could potentially make more money.’
Errr, about this last point, I doubt it is the case, bands get really little money from streaming services. According to an article from Billboard, out of 100 top artists ‘only 10 made more than $2,000 from non-interactive streams in 2009, with Beyonce topping the list with an underwhelming $5,000. Only 25 artists made more than $1,000 from on-demand streams, with Michael Jackson topping that list — as the result of a barrage of interest after his death — with $10,000.’
If dead Michael Jackson makes only $10,000 from streaming services, it gives you a perspective on how much a small band can make: On spotiguide, I read a band makes about 0.02 penny per play so 1 penny for 50 plays! On another website I read 0.3 penny per play, but whatever, you need to be really big to earn money on Spotify!
And if you compare to the amount of money made from digital album download sales, there is absolutely no comparison, still according to Billboard:
‘Digital album download sales generated sales of at least $200,000 for 13 artists, led by Jackson with $800,000, while another 26 sold $100,000 or more. Three acts pulled in more than $1 million in digital track sales for the year, led by Lady Gaga, with 33 making more than $100,000 from digital single sales.’
The numbers talk by themselves, streaming services are not lucrative for artists, even for big ones. Coldplay used the lame excuse that they want ‘Mylo Xyloto to be heard as one cohesive work’, which is nonsense because people can still choose to download only one or two songs on iTunes, so why not saying the truth? They don't want to be robbed and it is understandable.
Other artists absent from Spotify? Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin are totally inexistent last time I checked, and they did not have much from AC/DC,… there are probably others.
So, is denying the access to Spotify for your new album the new act of revolt in the music business? And, in this case, are the streaming services really the future of music?
Comments are closed.