• About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • 2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored
      2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored
    • Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
      Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
    • First-Year Students Reflect on Their Expectations for College, One Semester In
      First-Year Students Reflect on Their Expectations for College, One Semester In
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • No image
      You have no valid reasons to oppose raising the minimum wage
    • No image
      Free the pee: cut the hygiene theater and let us use other bathrooms
    • Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
      Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • “Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story
      “Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story
    • Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!
      Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!
    • Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
      Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
      COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
    • No image
      Athletic impacts of Covid-19
    • No image
      A new kind of PE
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Danni Ondraskova ArtsNovember 12, 2014

Music streaming services help artists access larger audiences

After Taylor Swift withdrew “1989,” her latest album, from Spotify and YouTube this week due to copyright and revenue concerns, a flurry of debate ensued about the merits of music streaming services. Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Radio and other streaming services let users listen to music in artist playlists or genre stations with occasional ads. These services are available on a variety of online and application platforms throughout the United States, Canada and much of Europe. When these services reach more countries, the market for music stations will greatly expand. Given these facts and the decline in pirated music and digital sales, it is no surprise that services like Spotify are being scrutinized.

Why do services like Spotify exist in the first place? They were founded to increase the exposure of music artists and to give them an additional source of revenue. Musicians draw their revenue from a variety of sources: concerts, endorsements, commercials, radio, film use and finally album and song purchases.

According to The Guardian, while artists earn an average of $74.19 for a song played on the radio and $93,000 for a private concert, they garner a mere $1.28 per album sale. Although most new artists don’t have their music played in commercials or Hollywood films, the fact remains that they too earn a large proportion of their income from concerts and shouldn’t expect to garner large sums of money from album sales or contracts with streaming services.

The fact of the matter is that streaming services are not known as money-raisers for music artists. Even world-renowned artists like Eminem make only $373,000 a year per song on Spotify. Yet he and the vast majority of music artists, well-known and obscure, flock to these services in droves because the publicity they get from these sources exceeds revenue losses. Before music streaming services were created, YouTube launched anonymous singers like Justin Bieber and Susan Boyle to an international audiences. Pandora, Spotify and iTunes Radio have taken that baton and run with it, elevating up-and-coming artists in featured playlists. The Guardian reported this year that 23 percent of Americans use subscription and streaming services and that revenue for streaming services broke the $1 billion mark this spring. This trend in music bodes well for all artists because their revenue will likely balloon with an expanding market.

The issue of streaming services and artist revenue is a complex one because of its many dimensions. One must first consider and compare the interests of the many parties involved: the artist, their label, the songwriter, the audience and society. A case can certainly be made  that services like Spotify are not acting ethically enough when making deals with artists and their record labels, and long-term changes should be made to Spotify’s policy to further improve the service. However, artists should ultimately view services like Spotify as a tool they can use to amplify their influence in the music market, not as a significant source of income.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleOne Direction fanfiction “After” gains sudden popularity
Next article11/12

You may also like

“Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story

Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!

Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • Free the pee: cut the hygiene theater and let us use other b...
  • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
  • Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
  • Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations fo...
  • You have no valid reasons to oppose raising the minimum wage

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top