I hope all is well with you and yours.<\/p>\n
I worked at AWAL as its U.S. SVP of Business Affairs from 2018-2023, and it was amazing to see how many indie artists at AWAL were earning real money while owning their recordings and controlling how and when they were released and licensed.\u00a0 As an attorney, I can\u2019t share details, but Kobalt\u2019s founder, Willard Ahdritz, summed it up pretty well in 2020 in this and other articles:\u00a0https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/hundreds-of-artists-are-now-earning-100k-per-year-via-kobalts-awal\/.\u00a0 (Sony bought AWAL in 2021 and, when I left two years ago, it was still very much the same company.)<\/p>\n
As Willard said, there is a significant and growing “middle class” of artists who generate enough streams to\u00a0net\u00a0at least $100k\/year.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t a myth or an urban legend.\u00a0 These artists exist.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen it with my own eyes.<\/p>\n
Based on average broad-stroke streaming “rates” (which are constantly evolving), it may take about 3,200,000 monthly streams for an artist to earn $100k\/year.\u00a0 While 3,200,000 may appear to be an intimidating number, that\u2019s roughly the equivalent of 25,000 fans listening to a 15-track album just twice a week, or 100,000 fans listening just twice a month.\u00a0 Most of these artists fly under the media\u2019s radar because they build their fan bases primarily via digital marketing.\u00a0 This simply would not have been possible pre-Spotify.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not suggesting that Spotify is some kind of savior or can do no wrong.\u00a0 They\u2019re a business, after all, trying to maximize profit.\u00a0 But, without Spotify and Apple Music and the other DSPs, there would be thousands of currently successful artists stranded on the outside looking in, as they were 30 years ago, trying to figure out how to get their songs played on terrestrial radio and how to secure shelf space for their new CDs at record stores.<\/p>\n
Dan Stuart<\/p>\n
General Counsel<\/p>\n
Seeker Music<\/p>\n
______________________________________<\/p>\n
We talked about this topic extensively when I did your podcast…and I still don’t get why people don’t get it.\u00a0 The details are no more arcane and complex than they were in the physical distribution era (in fact, much of the business is simpler and cleaner) and the basic math is pretty simple.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, it’s about ownership vs. loanership.\u00a0 If you own your masters and publishing (as we do for the Presidents’ debut) and have any traction with listeners, you’re going to make money.\u00a0\u00a0And more of it, in a more clearly accountable way than if you had to distribute physical product.\u00a0 I.e., you get a monthly accounting from your digital distributor with transparent tracking of your usage and payments, versus a 100-page statement once or twice a year from a label or distributor, typically riddled with holdbacks and exceptions and other minor mechanisms designed to rip you off.\u00a0 Ask any major label artist or indie label owner about this.\u00a0 I know multiple former indie label owners who had good distribution deals in the physical era but in the end gave up, tired of dealing with inventory and getting the product out there and getting returns back, etc.<\/p>\n
And you are also right about artists’ odd sense of entitlement.\u00a0 The cream will rise to the top, and there’s only so much cream.\u00a0 Not to mention that it’s impossible to predict what the cream will look and taste like…case in point, I have absolutely no freaking idea how a band as weird as ours could ever have possibly broken out, but it happened and it happens over and over.<\/p>\n
best,<\/p>\n
Dave Dederer<\/p>\n
______________________________________<\/p>\n
Every time I speak at a conference, I have to re-explain this too. \u00a0Once a false narrative takes hold, it is very hard to change. \u00a0In every era, no matter the format or pricing model, regardless of genre, popular artists made a lot of money.<\/p>\n
If you are popular, you make money. \u00a0If you are not, you complain.<\/p>\n
Scott Cohen<\/p>\n
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