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This really is really a travesty


Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa has commented regarding the financial issues facing songwriters and artists in a world where industry reports note over 1 trillion song streams in the first few months of 2023, streaming overwhelmingly the manner music listeners use to please their ears.


So what is at issue here with all this streaming? Everyone knows that buying records, tapes, or CDs are for collectors, dinosaurs, and suckers. Just get a Spotify or SoundCloud account and stream or download what you want? That is the easiest thing to so. The problem? The musicians don't really see much of anything from this and for most artists, they are still trying to be professionally produced.


The last time I checked, producing a record ... cost is exactly the same as it did in 1990. The studio time costs exactly the same as it did in 1990. The musicians cost exactly as much as they did in 1990. And the physical product costs about as much as it did back in the day. So, you tell me how that actually helps.


Oh, well, you got 50 million spins. Maybe you can get a clothes company to give you a free pair of jeans, and they’ll sponsor your Instagram page. That’s the Kardashian-ification of music.


So how much does an artist from Spotify? Well it's a whopping $0.0024 per 1 song stream. That is if you make to 1000 streams per year. Anything under 1000 streams and Spotify is not required to pay you a dime. Of course if you get to that magic number of 1000 streams you are looking at a whole $2.40 anyways so maybe the dime is not just a metaphor in case.



What if your song goes viral and hits the magic 500,000 mark of what used to be considered a "gold record" back in the day? Well that would make you $1200. A typical band with five members and some form of representation? Well you might be better off with that free pair of jeans from a sponsor. I am thinking the old guy on the corner playing random notes on the saxophone for loose change and the occasional dollar makes way more money than the actual artist. I wonder what a guy like Joe B would make as a street musician?

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5 Comments


Unknown member
Apr 12

The lies never stop with this regime. The assholes on the left cheer this shit because they have convinced themselves that they'll be part of the ruling class when this whole thing drifts into full blown socialism.


The hot civil war is going to be lit. And it's closer than we think.


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Unknown member
Apr 12

Dark Side of the _oon?

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Unknown member
Apr 12

Speaking of musical artists...


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Unknown member
Apr 12

WOW, that is a cruise I would have really enjoyed. Sad established artists are now resorting to playing those types of venues though.

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