Grandstand. The Spotify audio streaming platform recently hit the headlines following an open letter published by singer Neil Young. He criticized him for highlighting Joe Rogan’s podcasts, the content of which, according to Young, contributes to spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. In the end, Spotify preferred to delete Young’s work rather than sacrifice its star podcaster. The career and the artistic importance of his work therefore seem to have weighed very little…
More generally, this recent episode clearly shows the paradoxical position of the recorded music sector in the era of digital streaming platforms. On the flip side, the music industry has rarely fared so well. The worldwide turnover generated was around the 21.6 billion dollars in 2020well on its way to catching up with the levels seen in the late 1990s. Streaming contributes 62%.
On the front side, despite its omnipresence in our daily lives, from the design of sound effects in stores or for brands (the famous SNCF jingle) to video games, music has reached an advanced stage of commodification, reduced to rank as a simple productive resource and no longer seen as the result of an artistic process.
A change of business model
To understand this, we must remember the fact that, previously, music was at the heart of the economic model of artists, through the collection of royalties from the marketing of their music or income from tours. Now, in the same way as the presence on social networks, musical production is no more than an element of visibility making it possible to promote the artist economically through the marketing of his public image to advertisers.
The business model of streaming platforms has played a significant role in this development. Its principle is simple: the income from streaming, from advertising or subscriptions, is collected in a kind of kitty which will then be redistributed to the rights holders (in general, authors, composers, performers).
The preferred method of distribution is in proportion to the number of songs listened to (remuneration market-centric). The income generated remains very low compared to the sale of music on physical media or for download. Some artists estimate earnings per stream on Spotify at $0.00317 or less.
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