Question about royalties and Spotify et al

[Concertmusic]

Lance -

I figured if anyone knew the precise answer to this questions from both a record label and band perspective, it would be you - so here it goes:

If I listen to the absolute AWESOME new release by "A Sound of Thunder" via my premium Spotify account - does the band see any cash money? Does Nightmare Records?

To take that a setp further - what are the best ways to support a band and label?

If you wouldn't mind your thoughts around this topic, I think it could give us fans a good guide as to how to best enjoy the incredibale work you all do out there, AND to make sure that you get paid for your efforts!

Thank you!

 

[MEGALOUD]

OK,
I've only been on Spotify for two days now myself, but I've been seeing the royalty statements for some time...

Here is the total skinny from my perspective as an artist and label.

It a wonderful promotional tool, IF... it's used in that manor.
What Spotify really is, much like LastFM is an alternative self producing radio station. It's funded by ad's and by subscribers.

Song royalties are paid out on plays, but these are very very small, and when I say small, I mean like under a penny a streaming play. So artists and labels are not making really anything in plays but plays don't hurt them and they do eventually add up to a cheeseburger and fries, maybe even a coke for most artist every month (not enough to feed the full band even one meal at McDonald's I'm sorry to say...) BUT....

This is still a good thing....on a couple of levels...
what this is doing is helping the industry in a way, by replacing the desire to download music illegally from torrents, also taking away any possibility of getting a download virus, and giving you simply an amazing amount of new music to search and explore and to find and (psssst here's the good part) tell others about, in hopes they'll fall in love with the music and buy it on itunes or on CD.

If all members were to sign up via facebook and lastfm accounts, then when they play a song, or an album, it shows up in their status on Facebook and it scrobbles the song on LastFM also giving another secondary royalty to the artist (I believe) But this raises the plays then for the artist on both sites and
that in turn raises their popularity and visibility. LastFM actually sells music on their site as well, we get all kinds of sales from that site, hopefully Spotify will follow suit on that soon.

If you want to champion the artist and labels, you can (and please do) do it by making sure all your social media is hooked into your profile there.

Then you can send any song or even album, to a friends private message box on facebook, you can see who on facebook of your friends, help you promote your music also just by playing songs, if you're hooked in, as it will show up to your friends on your wall... as it happens. And if they have their facebook linked to their twitter accounts...etc... well you get the idea, one play can get a lot of eyes and then ears on it.

The power is in the player...and the connectivity to social media.
This is the gift of Spotify... not the royalties!

 

[Concertmusic]

Lance -

Awesome answer - just what I was hoping for! Thank you!

I do use Spotify to check out CDs that I have heard about, but don't necessarily want to own, until I have heard it in its entirety. I have it scrobble all my plays to last.fm as well, which is an aspect of the service I am using to keep track of what I played - I had not considered the promotional aspect you highlighted.

So - to paraphrase what you wrote:

It does not hurt anyone for me to listen to a new CD on Spotify to give it that first investigative spin.

If I love it and would have bought it 5 years ago, I should still do that and support the artist and label directly - simply spinning it 10 or 20 times on Spotify won't equal a purchase.

If I like it enough to either buy it myself, or to talk about it to others, I should use all of the social media outlets I have access to as a promotional tool - word of mouth from a friend being the best avenue for further attention from others, and possibly other sales.


Let the Spotifying/scrobbling/purchasing/promoting begin! It's fun to think that everyone can make a difference, as small as it may be. With all of the competition out there vying for our attention, what we listen to on a daily basis may as well do someone some good!

 

[MEGALOUD]

Yes indeed, this new concept actually helps the artists as others play their music, it helps to spread the word through social media and via the system itself if you have friends there linked via your social media that use the service. And in this way it actually makes fans of the music active promoters for the artists. IF... they're connecting all of the social media aspects.


But it absolutely doesn't hurt the artist, with the genie out of the bottle that Napster let out... creating totally new paradigm, Myspace changing the face of communication, and now facebook and twitter the web itself becoming the new frontier taking away the power from radio and major magazines, and major labels standard business and promotion models, we're all looking at everything in a new way.

Now fans are the drivers of artists success in a new way!