Interesting stuff Deck'ard, thanks. I'm not seeing anything that talks about how much an artist makes from supporting Spotify et al. though. I don't disagree that if you enjoy streaming, it's a great deal. I would absolutely support it, but I've seen so many digital services come and go and I'm still constantly playing records I've owned for 20+ years. What does somebody like Adele make from Spotify? What does somebody like Jeb, the rapping crawfish catcher make? What are these high profile artists leaving the service?
As Greg went into above, she can make more through digital downloads. There is no argument there, it's the making it a moral thing and that streaming is stealing people's lunch with Spotify not feeding anyone at all that is disingenous. Especially from big artists and major labels who are swiping most of what is there anyway. The money streaming services would hand over to Adele if this was on there would still be enormous.
iTunes was Apple effectively dragging the record industry into the 21st century to save them. But they also hated the things that made it work - flat 0.99 pricing, and individual track sales, thinking they could make more. And when contracts came up for renewal, all the same bollocks started as well as simultaneously establishing rivals to prevent anyone else exerting control over the market again. Apple in the end was proven right anyway.
The thing with streaming though, is it isn't just dragging the industry forwards it's completely changing the business model. And this is what we should expect to happen from something like the Internet, which is putting the creators of any content in direct contact with the people who may appreciate it. For the middlemen who profit from doing that job, this is frightening.
All the streaming companies, including Spotify which is by far the biggest chunk, hand over roughly 70% of total revenue to be divided up. With this total revenue growing as this new market grows. At the moment the lionshare goes, and stays, with the major labels whose back catalogues and artists dominate the services. With the rest trickling down. Of course amounts are going to be low now, and lower because the total amount being divided up is still growing.
When the number of people subscribing to streaming services doubles, so will the amount everyone gets. It's an ever-increasing revenue model, which is why the record industry is so concerned with getting it on the best terms possible for itself.
For artists at the other end of the spectrum to Adele, the benefits of Spotify's evil free tier is getting their music out to absolutely everyone possible and then the people who like them share their playlists with others and it self-propagates. With Spotify now also automatically recommending concerts of those artists where you live. And ticket sales is where they can make their money. The major labels of course aren't concerned about this, because these artists are small, unsigned and even if they are amazing they haven't noticed them so they aren't worth anything to them yet.
When the streaming market is big enough though, those trickle down payments to these artists will start being as well, at which point they start not needing a label to fund or market them at all.
Streaming is the future, Spotify's model proved it, but Spotify also pointed to the end of the record industry's grip on things.
They don't like that, at all.