I listen to (insert name here) new album all the time, I really like it, but I don’t want to for it since I can get it for free.
I don’t think I’m the only one thinking this. An musician gets $ 0.00043 per played song on Spotify. Last year that made Lady GaGa under $ 300. Pretty close to free for me. TONO, Norway’s Performing Rights Society, recently said they expect more than 10 million NOK from Spotify in 2010. I don’t understand how, but congrats if they manage to do it.
An musician not making money of his music won’t be in the game for long. And the money from Spotify is not enough to support anybody. But what if this is the future. Free/freemium audio streaming. Any physical experience (CD, LP, DVD, concert, festival …) will cost you. Then we are back to the old ways when radio (i.e. Spotify) was purely promoting the physical experience. But is this enough? Why are not more artists making music for movies and commercials. Or doing deal’s with product companies. Athletes have been doing it for a long time. Painters, and visual artists, are still making money, so why not musicians. Artists and the music industry need to think of the future, not just what to do now. Time is moving fast, and now was yesterday.
Image: Information is Beautiful. Thanks.