Jake Bowen sent me here. This is actually the first good idea I've heard that's not just mindlessly hating Spotify for being a big corporation. Approachung it from the monopoly/oligopoly/cartel side, which the government should prevent/regulate, is very interesting. Trusting the government to somehow do a good job anywhere however, is a very different issue.
This is infuriating to see the continuation of real talent being pushed to the side. You guys are absolute legends. I hope you don’t ever stop making music. Cheers from the deep forest or Southern Oregon USA
Talk about an eye-opener! I knew that artists were getting paid squat from Spotify, but I had no idea the top tier (most of whom I don't even listen to) were getting the lion's share--that BLOWS! So until the laws are changed, in the interim I would love to see an "Artist Streaming Compensation" service/platform that users could subscribe to and upload their Spotify stats to in order to pay each artist what they're rightfully owed.
Aside from being an extremely talented artist you are a very clear and concise orator. The data supports itself, keep fighting the good fight. Will continue to support you here is the USA.
I always try to support the bands that I regularly listen to by buying their physical album Vinyl or CD. And if they’re playing live nearby I will buy a ticket. Spotify for me is a way to get to know new music and if I am going to get stuck with one album or EP , I simply buy it. But I am old fashioned and a musician by myself. Something clearly has to change! We need like a musical riot , a revolution or at least a petition. Very sad times to be a musician 😞.
I 100% support your proposal! I try to support artists I actually like, by buying their music, preferably in a physical format, as well as merch. I buy tickets to their shows too. The current Australian government has no respect for the arts and have proven this with their lack of support over the pandemic. I would hope that juggernauts like spotify will come to realise that they are nothing without artists, as are record companies who are sitting on their piles of money while the little guys struggle. Start the movement, Stevic! Many will stand behind such an eloquent and concise banner of solidarity for all artists 🤘🏼
Makes a whole lot of sense to me, Stevic. Any kind of change that can put some coin back into the pockets of the people actually making (and incuring the expense of producing) the music is sorely needed. Thanks for the great vid!
I hope this gets transcribed and written up immediately with the juiciest clickbait headline so the music-listening world becomes more aware. That's what I hope. Love ya bud
As a supporter of you, TFN and many other non-mainstream pop artists, I'd love nothing more than to see my dimes go into the pockets of musicians I listen to via streaming (though I prefer buying CD's than streaming). Who do we talk to in our governments to instigate a meaningful change? Senators, representatives? What's the play?
Stevic fighting the good fight, I never knew my money was going to artists I never listen to. this video made me take a deeper look into this and I've seen some of the tricks artists have had to resort to to try and boost stream counts to try and get a larger slice of the pie Butchering their art by cutting out intros to make people less likely to skip songs in playlists or even worse splicing up entire performances so that one performance counts as many streams. Surely this isn't right, artists having to adjust the way they write songs or resort to tricks to try and make a living.
This is a good hill to die on. I'll sign whatever petitions come up. Making money as a musician is a bleak hellscape anymore. So no one wants to do it. Now the only ones who do are trying to game the "algorithm" and ironing out all the heart and soul from their art, and it's sad.
I love what Vulfpeck did to Spotify they made an 'album' of silence and got their fans to get on Spotify and play that 'album' over and over again. They made enough money from that to tour the states to actually make something.
Preach man. To quote another artist I'm fond of, one of the wonders of the world is going down, and no-one cares... let's hope some people in the right places see this and decide to
Wife and I both bought physical copies of Vengeance for our cars. Fuck em, I can mainline 12FN with no ads whenever the hell I want. I have a degree in music production and learned about copyright and royalties classes specifically focused on streaming services and boy howdy, they really are financially worthless to 99% of artists being 'hosted' by their services.
Brilliantly put and excellently argued. As you say I'd always rather my money go to the artists I listen to and not Drake or someone. I've never listened to Drake, Why is he getting my money? It actually makes me think that I'd rather not subscribe to Spotify as my money isn't supporting the artists I like. It literally makes no sense. If I buy and album on digital download is that more relatable to physical album sales with regards to money to the artist? More recently I've tried to support artists I like by attending more gigs and buying merch when I can but as a 40 year old man I'm going to have to stop wearing band tshirts and hoodies at some point.
Bandcamp charges 15% (or 10% if the annual sales are above a threshold) on sold digital music, the rest goes to the artist. After that you can download the music in different formats, including lossless and with no drm, and also stream the music.
That's great mate. I'm always torn when I want to listen to an artist. Spotify is so easy, but being aware of how shitty the remuneration is, I am faced with planning a visit to JB, when the rest of the planet can quench their need instantly. Then I think, 'well I only need to hear this song once to teach this kid the three chords', so buying Harry Styles on vinyl three days after the student's attention has moved on, is tough to justify... It's very bollocks
Great explanation! But now I’m mad that my monthly subscription goes to artists I hate instead of the actual artists I listen to. Reminds me of the wealth gap issue in the world. The richer just keep getting richer using the hype of the aspiring people.
100% I want my money to go to the artists I listen to, in the ratio at which I stream them. Given the choice, I would flat out refuse to pay fictional artist Ted Meeran a portion of my income just because loads of other people listen to them. UCM makes SO much sense. It's fair.
Keep fighting the good fight man. I hope this video catches the algorithm and the right person/people. Someone that can run with this and get some action taken on the side of the little guys in music.
I don't think it should be handled with legislation. There has to be a way to do this through the court system or renegotiate it in other ways (ostracism, consumers voting with their money). If we manage to convince Spotify the rest will eventually follow, because ethics matter in the end, at least for some people.. It's probably why you brought this up in the first place. And with enough noise, with more people discussing this topic I'm sure they might be faced with the decision to adapt to the new norms. Just please don't try to force it upon them, because the more opportunities we give to the government to handle our problems, the more powerful it becomes.
Yeah living in the US I can see how the government part would feel weird to most people (it’s a bit different in Australia). I think the hurdles with noise making are a lot of artists either fear being black listed, are inherently contrarian (ie hate anything “organizing” them) or their labels have all of power…it’s a puzzle.
Great video! UCM is obviously the fairest remuneration method to the big mayority of artists on spotify.... And i'm sure spotify is aware of this. However, spotify will not implement it because that will perjudicate the big pop artists, which probably will not upload their song in return, which will result in less profit to spotify... In any case, i'll share this video to everyone, so they are aware to who their subscription money goes. Hope this will change in the future, but i'm sceptic
I agree with you 100% and hope you are successful in bringing change in this area. Well put, well said. I wonder if there is any real arguments against this type of change? (apart from "but then I get less :(" )
Well this really opened my eyes. I'm furious to learn how much of my monthly subscription goes to the likes of Drake, Bieber, etc. Fucking yuck mate! I fee dirty. Why am I paying for a service that in turn pays artists music that I do not consume? Shit is broken.
Hey Stevic, it looks like Tidal are moving to your proposed approach in 2022 with Fan-Centric Royalties… let’s hope people start voting with their feet and it causes the likes of Spotify to update their payment model.
I don't think Spotify will ever do this because the labels would likely stand to lose money and they've got all the pull. What we really need is an alternative streaming platform for independent artists that follows the model that you suggest.
Eye opening, thought they payed per stream till now…. Do others (ie, Soundcloud etc) used the same strategy? Definitely needs to change, sure it would be supported by consumers if some actual musos created a platform that actually paid their streamed artists, hope this gets it out there too 🤘
100% agree, the user centric model makes complete sense. Spotify definitely has the data and know-how to implement this system but they'll only do it if they're regulated. I also believe that governments should offer UBI for all artists as a means of having a guaranteed livable income even if you don't have a large following.
Spot fucking on. I use Deezer despite it being more expensive for this very reason they have the UCPS in place. I would rather pay the artist more of my subscription than have fucking Drake steal it! Having been in bands with music still on Spotify and Apple etc everything you say here is correct
While I agree there needs to be reform on this subject more beneficial to artists, I'll also comment that if you want something screwed up even more, get the government involved.
I know you’ve been on this topic for a while mate, and received a bit of flak for it. So until the system changes and even after that, I will always buy your CD’s directly from you and other artists. Keep punching.
"The problem with Spotify is not how much people are paying for subscription"? That's just nonsense, the amount one pays is ludicrously small compared to how much you can listen (whole month). Wiki says that Spotify itself does not make any money since 2006. Saying "Spotify is rich and shits on artists" is just other type of ignorance. I recommend simply going through Spotify's wiki page, it's odd thing to learn when one's not expert. Also 11.99 $ is average monthly subscription? I pay 20 pln in Poland (EU) and it's about 6-7 usd.
Just stop using Spotify. There are some up and coming decentralised projects in the blockchain space. Get involved in that space. NFT's look like they will be the way of the future. As soon as someone develops a solid project on blockchain and artists start using it Spotify will topple. Complaining about Spotify isn't really contributing to seeing changes in the industry.
This is absolutely brilliant and game changing.
I hope so! Help me start a movement!
Jake Bowen sent me here. This is actually the first good idea I've heard that's not just mindlessly hating Spotify for being a big corporation. Approachung it from the monopoly/oligopoly/cartel side, which the government should prevent/regulate, is very interesting. Trusting the government to somehow do a good job anywhere however, is a very different issue.
This is infuriating to see the continuation of real talent being pushed to the side. You guys are absolute legends. I hope you don’t ever stop making music. Cheers from the deep forest or Southern Oregon USA
Talk about an eye-opener! I knew that artists were getting paid squat from Spotify, but I had no idea the top tier (most of whom I don't even listen to) were getting the lion's share--that BLOWS! So until the laws are changed, in the interim I would love to see an "Artist Streaming Compensation" service/platform that users could subscribe to and upload their Spotify stats to in order to pay each artist what they're rightfully owed.
Aside from being an extremely talented artist you are a very clear and concise orator. The data supports itself, keep fighting the good fight. Will continue to support you here is the USA.
Such a legend, well said! I'll do anything in my power to support artists directly.
I always try to support the bands that I regularly listen to by buying their physical album Vinyl or CD. And if they’re playing live nearby I will buy a ticket. Spotify for me is a way to get to know new music and if I am going to get stuck with one album or EP , I simply buy it.
But I am old fashioned and a musician by myself. Something clearly has to change!
We need like a musical riot , a revolution or at least a petition. Very sad times to be a musician 😞.
Love you man 🤘❤🎵 Spot on. There needs to be government intervention in the private sector and funding in the music industry across the board.
I 100% support your proposal! I try to support artists I actually like, by buying their music, preferably in a physical format, as well as merch. I buy tickets to their shows too. The current Australian government has no respect for the arts and have proven this with their lack of support over the pandemic. I would hope that juggernauts like spotify will come to realise that they are nothing without artists, as are record companies who are sitting on their piles of money while the little guys struggle. Start the movement, Stevic! Many will stand behind such an eloquent and concise banner of solidarity for all artists 🤘🏼
Just bought a ticket for your Berlin gig next year, hope my small contribution helps. Love you guys.
I hope this video find it's way to the right hands mate! It's great to see you fighting back, you're not alone
Makes a whole lot of sense to me, Stevic. Any kind of change that can put some coin back into the pockets of the people actually making (and incuring the expense of producing) the music is sorely needed. Thanks for the great vid!
I hope this gets transcribed and written up immediately with the juiciest clickbait headline so the music-listening world becomes more aware. That's what I hope. Love ya bud
Imagine buying a ticket to a concert of your favourite band, only to discover you just essentially paid Taylor Swift because she's more popular?
Ha!
🔥🔥🔥 Thank you for this Stevic we keep spreading the word about this!
As a supporter of you, TFN and many other non-mainstream pop artists, I'd love nothing more than to see my dimes go into the pockets of musicians I listen to via streaming (though I prefer buying CD's than streaming). Who do we talk to in our governments to instigate a meaningful change? Senators, representatives? What's the play?
Arts minister - local MPs - basically anyone working in politics who values music can advise.
Well said bloke, awesomely researched. Here's hoping you keep fighting the good fight.
Stevic fighting the good fight, I never knew my money was going to artists I never listen to. this video made me take a deeper look into this and I've seen some of the tricks artists have had to resort to to try and boost stream counts to try and get a larger slice of the pie
Butchering their art by cutting out intros to make people less likely to skip songs in playlists or even worse splicing up entire performances so that one performance counts as many streams. Surely this isn't right, artists having to adjust the way they write songs or resort to tricks to try and make a living.
Holy shit. This was really eye opening. Stevic, I hope you keep pushing this. I hope others push this. I hope something changes
This is a good hill to die on. I'll sign whatever petitions come up. Making money as a musician is a bleak hellscape anymore. So no one wants to do it. Now the only ones who do are trying to game the "algorithm" and ironing out all the heart and soul from their art, and it's sad.
Thanks for the define explanation! This system is a shame
Unbelievably tight and concise. I think the term "anti trust" needs to start being used more often when talking about Spotify.
I think “anti trust” is becoming quite synonymous with big tech. For the better.
I just learnt a shitload of things. Thanks Stevic amazing presentation.
I love what Vulfpeck did to Spotify they made an 'album' of silence and got their fans to get on Spotify and play that 'album' over and over again.
They made enough money from that to tour the states to actually make something.
Great video! Commenting to feed the algorithm. Everyone should see this!
THIS UNCIRCUMCISED PHILISTINE!! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?!?! (Spotify)
Comparing Spotify to the uncut is offensive to the latter
Preach man. To quote another artist I'm fond of, one of the wonders of the world is going down, and no-one cares... let's hope some people in the right places see this and decide to
Wife and I both bought physical copies of Vengeance for our cars. Fuck em, I can mainline 12FN with no ads whenever the hell I want.
I have a degree in music production and learned about copyright and royalties classes specifically focused on streaming services and boy howdy, they really are financially worthless to 99% of artists being 'hosted' by their services.
Bang on mate. This needs to be seen and heard everywhere.
Good on ya Stevic! Keep preaching the good word bruddah!
Brilliantly put and excellently argued. As you say I'd always rather my money go to the artists I listen to and not Drake or someone. I've never listened to Drake, Why is he getting my money? It actually makes me think that I'd rather not subscribe to Spotify as my money isn't supporting the artists I like. It literally makes no sense.
If I buy and album on digital download is that more relatable to physical album sales with regards to money to the artist?
More recently I've tried to support artists I like by attending more gigs and buying merch when I can but as a 40 year old man I'm going to have to stop wearing band tshirts and hoodies at some point.
Bandcamp charges 15% (or 10% if the annual sales are above a threshold) on sold digital music, the rest goes to the artist. After that you can download the music in different formats, including lossless and with no drm, and also stream the music.
I will share this everywhere I can !!! ❤💯🤞
This video is important and more people need to watch it
Spot on!!
Oath mate 👏👏👏
That's great mate. I'm always torn when I want to listen to an artist. Spotify is so easy, but being aware of how shitty the remuneration is, I am faced with planning a visit to JB, when the rest of the planet can quench their need instantly.
Then I think, 'well I only need to hear this song once to teach this kid the three chords', so buying Harry Styles on vinyl three days after the student's attention has moved on, is tough to justify...
It's very bollocks
I think the only platform worse for musical artists is RUclips, or it was a few years ago at least. Horrible CPM.
Great explanation! But now I’m mad that my monthly subscription goes to artists I hate instead of the actual artists I listen to. Reminds me of the wealth gap issue in the world. The richer just keep getting richer using the hype of the aspiring people.
100% I want my money to go to the artists I listen to, in the ratio at which I stream them. Given the choice, I would flat out refuse to pay fictional artist Ted Meeran a portion of my income just because loads of other people listen to them. UCM makes SO much sense. It's fair.
Keep fighting the good fight man. I hope this video catches the algorithm and the right person/people. Someone that can run with this and get some action taken on the side of the little guys in music.
I don't think it should be handled with legislation. There has to be a way to do this through the court system or renegotiate it in other ways (ostracism, consumers voting with their money). If we manage to convince Spotify the rest will eventually follow, because ethics matter in the end, at least for some people.. It's probably why you brought this up in the first place. And with enough noise, with more people discussing this topic I'm sure they might be faced with the decision to adapt to the new norms. Just please don't try to force it upon them, because the more opportunities we give to the government to handle our problems, the more powerful it becomes.
Yeah living in the US I can see how the government part would feel weird to most people (it’s a bit different in Australia). I think the hurdles with noise making are a lot of artists either fear being black listed, are inherently contrarian (ie hate anything “organizing” them) or their labels have all of power…it’s a puzzle.
Why no more videos? Your a legend man. Hope you start putting something out again...
I’ll be back :) just taking a breather
Fantastic! Do you have a transcript of this that you can share? Thanks in advance.
Hi Diane, I just had some general notes sorry! Thankyou for watching 😉
Anybody who thinks being a musician isn't a real job, needs not listen to music
this is the good fight. it has to be fixed
Great video! UCM is obviously the fairest remuneration method to the big mayority of artists on spotify.... And i'm sure spotify is aware of this. However, spotify will not implement it because that will perjudicate the big pop artists, which probably will not upload their song in return, which will result in less profit to spotify... In any case, i'll share this video to everyone, so they are aware to who their subscription money goes. Hope this will change in the future, but i'm sceptic
I agree with you 100% and hope you are successful in bringing change in this area.
Well put, well said. I wonder if there is any real arguments against this type of change? (apart from "but then I get less :(" )
Well this really opened my eyes. I'm furious to learn how much of my monthly subscription goes to the likes of Drake, Bieber, etc. Fucking yuck mate! I fee dirty. Why am I paying for a service that in turn pays artists music that I do not consume? Shit is broken.
i feel like this is something that Rick Beato would endorse also
Great idea. Love it.
Hey Stevic, it looks like Tidal are moving to your proposed approach in 2022 with Fan-Centric Royalties… let’s hope people start voting with their feet and it causes the likes of Spotify to update their payment model.
Yeah I saw that!
If UCM was a thing, you guys would be gettin' lotsa dat from me, for sure.
I don't think Spotify will ever do this because the labels would likely stand to lose money and they've got all the pull. What we really need is an alternative streaming platform for independent artists that follows the model that you suggest.
That is why he is saying government legislation is required.
Sharing everywhere I can. I love you guys and all four of you & your families deserve better.
Very kind thing to say mate. Thankyou.
Spot on brother. SOMETHING has to be done about this absolute shit show! See You beautiful Roosters at the Bristol show soon!
Eye opening, thought they payed per stream till now….
Do others (ie, Soundcloud etc) used the same strategy?
Definitely needs to change, sure it would be supported by consumers if some actual musos created a platform that actually paid their streamed artists, hope this gets it out there too 🤘
100% agree, the user centric model makes complete sense. Spotify definitely has the data and know-how to implement this system but they'll only do it if they're regulated. I also believe that governments should offer UBI for all artists as a means of having a guaranteed livable income even if you don't have a large following.
Just because you play music doesnt mean you should feel entitled to be making a living from it.
Spot fucking on. I use Deezer despite it being more expensive for this very reason they have the UCPS in place. I would rather pay the artist more of my subscription than have fucking Drake steal it! Having been in bands with music still on Spotify and Apple etc everything you say here is correct
I can tell you I've had Spotify for a long time and never one time listened to any of those 5 top artists...i do however listen to TFN daily.
Hey Stev or anyone else from the community.... Does anyone have the current discord link? I could only find one and its out of date. Thanks.
I don't use Spotify, I buy physical copies from labels and bands. Fuck their model. I can't support a monopoly of such convenience for art.
Amazing.
While I agree there needs to be reform on this subject more beneficial to artists, I'll also comment that if you want something screwed up even more, get the government involved.
Irrespective of the bad: without government mandated standards/regulations we’d all be living in anarchy. It’s better than nothing in other words.
that's not burger-flipping salary in America (like 15k/year @ federal minimum). but I know that's not the argument.
That’s over 20k Australian.
Well put
Makes sense to me.
Good thing I don't use Shitify
Nailed it/ Shared.
I know you’ve been on this topic for a while mate, and received a bit of flak for it.
So until the system changes and even after that, I will always buy your CD’s directly from you and other artists.
Keep punching.
Have ya been busy mate? 0:03
Have you looked into Crypto and the Audius project? Could be an industry reversing strategy. Worth DYOR!
I really like the idea
ae!
As an Australian citizen in 2021 I would think government intervention would be the last thing you would want
*Slow claps*
Sarcasm and disapproval?
@@StevicMacKay 100% agree with you, brother. Things NEED to change.
Never can tell in comments! Thank you mate
"The problem with Spotify is not how much people are paying for subscription"? That's just nonsense, the amount one pays is ludicrously small compared to how much you can listen (whole month). Wiki says that Spotify itself does not make any money since 2006. Saying "Spotify is rich and shits on artists" is just other type of ignorance. I recommend simply going through Spotify's wiki page, it's odd thing to learn when one's not expert.
Also 11.99 $ is average monthly subscription? I pay 20 pln in Poland (EU) and it's about 6-7 usd.
The point is: it’s not about asking consumers to pay more. The amount they currently pay can work.
Just stop using Spotify. There are some up and coming decentralised projects in the blockchain space. Get involved in that space. NFT's look like they will be the way of the future. As soon as someone develops a solid project on blockchain and artists start using it Spotify will topple. Complaining about Spotify isn't really contributing to seeing changes in the industry.
Decentralised projects in blockchain space. NFT’s in the future. Got it.