<rant>
Recently I read
Derek Webber’s post about Spotify,
in which he says:
I am paid $0.00029 per stream of a song on Spotify, and even this amount depends on whether the song is being streamed by a paid user or someone using the service for free. This means it will take upwards of 3,500 streams of a single song on Spotify to earn $1.00 versus that same revenue for one iTunes song purchase
His article made me think of a time years ago when I wanted to be in the
music business.
When I was about 12 or 13 I started playing bass guitar. From then on
I was enamored with music. Playing it, listening to it, thinking
about playing it etc… Then when I was in 11th grade I had the
opportunity to take an AP computer science course. I took it, 5’ed
the AP test, and promptly stopped programming at all. By the time I
was in 12th grade I was convinced I’d go to college as a music
business major. Play music and get paid? Sounds like a party right? Why not?
Getting Paid (for Music) is Complicated
My first semester in college we had a silly 0 credit hour course for 3
hours each week where the professors basically talked about the music
business. They related anecdotal stuff about copyright, various
record label / venue contract issues, and all kinds of other issues.
This class was a big red flag for me. They went over how you get paid
royalties in various situations and how little you get paid for them
(even if you got a good deal).
The gist of the class as I understood it was that most of the money is
in publishing, and if you’re not at the top already it’s basically a
roll of the dice as far as making a comfortable living at it.
I Didn’t go to College to Roll the Dice
If being there wasn’t helping my chances of getting a good paying gig
after graduating, then why was I there at all? Furthermore, I
apparently had already taken in highschool all the required math for
my major. I found that to be ridiculous because math is useful, and
I’m a nerd at heart. It’s just that some how programming has become
cool, or at least that’s what I tell myself.
While the music business classes were fun and pretty easy (admittedly
these were only first year first semester courses), I got an eerie
feeling that I would have a hard time getting paid after college
because of all these issues that were outlined in that 0 credit hour
class.
Oops, I skipped a part. I had a summer job at Kroger bagging groceries when I
was 15. It was then that I realized that bagging groceries doesn’t
pay enough, and that if I didn’t do something about it I could be
bagging groceries for the rest of my life. There’s nothing wrong with that
except for the fact that minimum wage isn’t a living wage (for me).
Ahh.. Back to Math!
As the semester drew to a close, I realized that what I most wanted to
do was play with all the computer stuff in the recording studio.
Namely, that G4 Macintosh running all the software. The choice became
obvious to me. I changed my major to computer science and added a minor in math.
I felt like that was a pretty good bet for getting a job after
college, and I knew I was reasonably good at it. Mostly importantly I
felt like that was something worth spending 4 years at college doing.
Now on to the topic of this post.
About Media
Enough about me, Back to Derek Webber’s article. He concludes his
article by telling his fans to buy or download his music for free, but
he spends most of the words in his article demonizing Spotify.
He’s mostly angry about how they pay him so little per streamed track,
and how they don’t pay him the same as artists on big name labels. It
seems to me, if you don’t like Spotify’s deal, don’t take it. His
criticisms of Spotify seem to be at odds with his proclamation that
record production costs are at an all time low (meaning the artist can
produce and sell his/her own content independently).
Spotify is about adding another tool to the musicians toolbox. Yet
another way to make money off your music, if you so choose. This is a
huge difference from back in the day when musicians had to take the
record label’s deal or not get any CDs pressed at all. If anything,
these bad deals that Spotify is able to negotiate are evidence of
musicians making bad deals. It’s in Spotify’s best interest to pay as
little money as possible for music.
Anything Spotify says about being good for the music business
or any other feel good talk is simply marketing speak. That is, it
is their marketing department’s job to write up this kind of stuff.
The Problem Buying Media Legally
Now I’m not a Spotify fan even though it seems like I’m building them
up. Spotify is part of the problem in a few ways. Ever since digital
distribution of media started, piracy and DRM have had a symbiotic relationship.
If there were no piracy, there’d be no need for DRM, and the presence
of DRM punishes customers who try to do the right thing by not
pirating media.
Customers think they are buying media, and publishers think they are
selling a license to use that media under certain conditions.
That is the core of the problem. When I buy an ebook I expect to be
able to read it anywhere I want (like a printed book). When I buy
music I expect to be able to listen to it under any conditions. If I
want to record it to a cassette I should be able to.
Arguments about piracy are pretty pointless. On the one hand you have
companies claiming that every act of piracy counts as a lost sale,
when we know that’s not the case. A lot of pirates don’t buy
anything, and then some pirates do make a purchase after trying it out for
free (via a pirated copy).
It’s Not All Bad
There are a number of publishing companies that are doing this right.
They give you an unencumbered copy of the media, and ask you to do the
right thing and not share it. Pragmatic Programmers is one such
company that is doing the right thing. That is a message I can relate
to, and I have purchased a couple books from them.
Back to How Musicians Are Getting Screwed
I agree that generally musicians are getting a bad deal. It’s one of
the reasons I decided not to do that for a living. I don’t agree with
the idea that musicians deserve a better deal. The way the economy
has been for the past few years is evidence that nobody is guaranteed
a good deal. We are all taking our chances.
</rant>
. Though it is written in a somewhat joking
manner, there is truth in it.
