Are music streaming companies finally ready to change the way they pay artists?

Musicians have been crying falsely for years. The streaming revenue model does not serve artists, especially those in the independent sector. It’s financially difficult at best, it ends at worst.

The maths tells the story. Industry estimates vary slightly, but for 1 million plays of a song, artists can virtually get paid out of these streaming services: Amazon Music $ 5,000; Apple Music $ 5,000- $ 5,500; Google Play $ 12,000; Pandora $ 1,400; YouTube $ 1,700.

At Spotify, which maintains 36% of the market share and accounted for 286 million monthly active users in Q1 2020, 1 million artist streams will fill in the $ 3,000- $ 6,000 range. That is an average of 4.5 cents per stream. As the number of musicians rises, Spotify’s Justice 30,000 move is expected to feature a complaint about the service on March 15th.

Moreover, the way in which artists are paid at these streaming services is highly recommended for mega activities.

As the pandemic has wiped live music out of sight and accelerated significant friction points, some artists have tried their hand at grazing outside the realm of digital service provider (DSP). Gaming-centric streaming platforms like Twitch have grown into popular places for musicians to connect with fans, and their revenue-generating models, where artists paid based on the number of registrants, earning higher earnings.

Back in 2018, internet personality Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang explained in a YouTube video how he made $ 20,000 a month, with sponsorship deals described as icing on the cake. He has since signed a special streaming contract with Facebook Gaming.

But with corporate music sales far in the back view, streaming is still the biggest game in town. It is heartening, therefore, that there are signs that the way artists are being compensated is beginning to grow, although it is not yet one of the most influential players. .

SoundCloud will next month release a new revenue module on its platform, which reaches 175 users per month and counts 76 million monthly active users. Its new “fan power” structure aims to balance the field for indie artists by delivering money the service makes from audiences directly to the musicians involved. do they listen. And it could be a game changer.

Compared to the standard model where kingdoms from streams enter a pool that is paid out to artists based on some of the total streams, the new system pays artists based on the fans ’listening habits. The more fans listen to a musician ‘s music, the more that musician will get paid. All independent artists who make money directly with SoundCloud are eligible to participate in the new model.

The new system has a few catches – it counts the number of ads the fan has eaten, and whether or not the fan has a paid membership to SoundCloud Go +. But it is a fitting right to ship from a company accused in 2015 by a British music industry group representing more than 111,000 songwriters and publishers for copyright infringement and unpaid kingdoms. That suit was finally settled.

SoundCloud is the first in the music streaming world to shake up the revenue structure. “Many in the industry have been wanting this for years. We are excited to be the ones to bring this to market to better support independent artists, ”said SoundCloud CEO Michael Weissman.

It remains to be seen whether a wholesale shift that puts more money in the pockets of artists is coming to the streaming industry. But the news at SoundCloud, along with other company-friendly moves by companies this year, marks an important step.

In March last year Bandcamp took to the “Bandcamp Fridays” internet platform as a way to help artists suddenly find themselves on tour.

The popular feature, for which the platform releases all fees for one day per month and delivers all revenues to artists and labels, is still going strongly. A note at the top of the company’s homepage reminds fans of “Discover amazing new music and directly support the artists who make it.”