Music Distribution
DistroKid vs. CD Baby
DistroKid vs. CD Baby Music Distribution for Independent Record Labels What’s good guys, Today I will be doing this post to discuss and share my
In a recent X (Twitter) statement, James Blake raised concerns about how streaming services are lowering the value of music. This has led Kanye West to reconsider releasing his new album, “Vultures 2,” on Spotify. Let’s break down what this means for both artists and listeners.
Here’s how the conversation started, let’s take a look at James Blake’s posts and what they mean.
The brainwashing worked and now people think music is free.
— James Blake (@jamesblake) March 3, 2024
If we want quality music somebody is gonna have to pay for it. Streaming services don’t pay properly, labels want a bigger cut than ever and just sit and wait for you to go viral, TikTok doesn’t pay properly, and touring is getting prohibitively expensive for most artists.
— James Blake (@jamesblake) March 3, 2024
Streaming services have in fact devalued music.
By being able to access millions of albums and songs for a subscription service, music has lost it’s inherent value and Artists get paid one third of a penny per stream.
Musicians have raised concerns over the broken business model that companies Spotify have countless times , yet people still prefer using them over directly buying music directly from the Artists.
no bro 😭😭 tell him we want it on streaming
— Ase (@ItsActuallyAse) March 10, 2024
Most music consumers have been spoiled with the way music can be listened to today. You can tell by the way people react on social media.
“no bro 
tell him we want it on streaming”
To be honest with you, the numbers make sense. Even legendary Artists such as Kanye West have been fed up with the broken model of music streaming. Why should you try to get 10 000 streams to make $20, instead of just getting one fan to buy it for that amount?
This conversation hurts even more for less known independent artists, who are creating music just for the sake of feeding these Tech giants and paying more in fees that require them to distribute their music than they earn in royalties.
“That’s what these streaming services want u to believe so they can stay on top. Music cost us money and time to make but they don’t want us to get paid for it. There selling the audience subscriptions and renting our music out while giving us a fraction of a penny.”
This couldn’t be further from the truth. But most music consumers have been spoiled with the way music can be listened to today.
Artists are people who work hard and want to get paid for their work too. Period. Giant tech companies have found a way to profit off of huge catalogs of music while paying a fraction of a penny per stream.
Ty Dolla $ign addresses Kanye West's decision to sell "Vultures 2" for $20 pic.twitter.com/hLnZMrKirc
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) March 11, 2024
Going direct-to-consumer has become more and more popular approach talked about by Artists.
And for the music listeners, think about this:
While social media and streaming services offer a wide variety of discovery and opportunities, they are basically renting out your music and you essentially selling yourself short. Going back to the basic of owning your audience via email lists and selling music directly to fans is something every independent Artist needs to explore.
How would you feel if someone was able to get something you have worked on countless hours to perfect for free? You can pay $50 for some fast food, but when it comes to music, all of a sudden you can’t really support the Artists who put their blood and sweat into giving you an amazing experience through their music. There’s a huge difference between a “fan” and a “consumer”.
It’s easy and accessible for people to stream music for free or for a low monthly subscription. Everyone would rather tap a few times on their phone and be able to access all the music they would need for a lifetime. Instead of directly buying music from the Artists, it’s done through a middleman who devalues your intellectual property and takes a huge cut from the profits. Take a step back and think what’s best for you.
I’m not saying everyone should remove their music from streaming services. With that being said, you should be able to find a way to diversify your income and have a way for your true fans to support you, not just people passively consuming your music.
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