Posted on 03/28/2024 5:26:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Count Sheryl Crow among the growing number of famous musicians dismayed by the paltry payments artists receive from Spotify.
The beloved singer, and 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, was recently a guest on Club Random with Bill Maher. The two compared recent trends in the music industry, compared to when Crow was starting out.
“[Now] you create your brand, you advertise yourself, you sell yourself,” the singer explained. “Then the music is just a byproduct of that, and you're selling yourself so that you can sell tickets and get advertisers. That was never part of the way I came up. There just was none of that. In fact, until Bob Dylan did the Victoria's Secret ad (in 2004), nobody did advertisements or took money for anything except for playing music and selling records. So, it's a different thing [now].”
When Maher pointed out that modern artists can’t make money on music alone, especially given the small royalties paid by Spotify, Crow emphatically agreed.
“You cannot make money,” the nine-time Grammy winner declared. “It makes me sad and sick.”
“I hate it because, for me, when you sold records, you knew you had your people,” Crow continued, explaining the connect artists used to make with their fans. “They're people. They were into what you're doing. How does it even work now?”
Rock Stars Slam Spotify's Practices
Crow is far from the first major artist to criticism Spotify’s business practices. David Byrne, the Black Keys and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke are just some of the other rocker’s who’ve called attention to the paltry sums the streamer pays artists. In December, Dee Snider pointed a finger directly at Spotify’s billionaire CEO, Daniel Ek.
“Spotify, the wholesale, you pay the one monthly fee [format], we’re getting so, so little. And that guy from Spotify, he should be taken out and shot," the Twisted Sister frontman declared. "When he heard that artists were complaining about how little we were paid, his response was ‘make more music.’ Like we’re producing cans of Coke.”
Instead of complaining and having their creativity undervalued financially they should take a capitalist approach and start their own streaming service which properly compensates them and other musicians who allow their work on their site.
Waaaah....how about finding a way to modernize.
Isn’t this the kind of thing that led to the development of United Artists? So that the creators could keep the profits and control what is produced? Start your own distribution network and it’s all easy money from there, right?
I actually listened to this today during my drive home.
It was a good show. Crow remains close, dear friends to this day with Kid Rock (Robert Ritchie, who she affectionately calls "Bobby").
When did “beloved” become a thing?
#54 I wonder how much does Spotify itself make after paying the artists?
People in the entertainment industry have always been ripped off.
50 Years Ago: Elvis Songwriter Dies in Poverty, as He Predicted
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4227534/posts
Translation: If you decide to be a professional entertainer, you are essentially a prostitute and can reasonably expect for your returns on your effort to dwindle over time.
Note: If you were forced into entertainment as a profession as so many are, that makes you even MORE of a prostitute! :)
Further note: Only a small percentage of those who desire to be professional entertainers make any money off it at all. You are, as a consumer, likely only to notice the ones who are highly paid.
You know, there was one positive thing the “pandemic” did for us: TP moguls started producing thin, cheap toilet paper with THOUSANDS of sheets on one roll! One roll will last more than a week if you play it right! That’s progress.
All artists are up against the fact that every day, there are 50,000 new songs released on Spotify. That is not a typo. On top of that, anyone can buy "listens" that'll push their track on to Spotify's algorithmic playlists - then the Spotify software can automatically make the pushed tune go viral from there. ALL the majors play that fake listen game too and their budgets allow them to buy hundreds of thousands of "listens."
Today, most bands/artists make the majority of their money on tours and gigs and by selling merch, which is the opposite of how it was pre-Spotify/Napster etc. Back then, the tours were basically advertisement for selling albums and building a fan base. A lot of the tours ended up with a loss, but that was more than made up for via album and merch sales.
Sheryl needs to stop bitching and have a sit down with her manager regarding how to increase/multiply revenue streams. Because that's where it's at today. Spotify's only one source of cash. Maybe Sheryl needs to put down that square of toilet paper and get herself an Only Fans site. . .
Many, many, many years ago, I bought the vinyl “The Best of 3 Dog Night.” Probably about 5 or 6 bucks. Then I bought the 8-track. Another 6 or 8 bucks. Then I bought the cassette. Cha-ching. Then the DVD. And this was back when 5 to 10 bucks was serious money.
I ain’t paying no more.
“you could tour...”
She could, but she knows down deep inside that nobody would buy tickets. Want she ahas-been 20 years ago? I wouldn’t know a Sheryl Crow song, or recognize her voice, if my life depended on it.
Sheryl “One Square” Crow
I’m s such a Luddite I don’t even know what Spotify is/does. I know it has to do with music, but ....
Hubby nags me to donate my boxes of CDs to the thrift shop, but I keep them. To many memories, and I want backup in case my computers crash.
Meat Loaf was one of the few people with the vocal range to sing it right.
Count Sheryl Crow ......
The beloved singer,
Never heard a song she has sang, howled or screamed. Remember her from some anti American screed from a few years back and that was all. I would not know her if she walked down the street past me.
exactly my point... 8^)
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