Here’s What It Costs Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to Leave Spotify

Billboard ^ | 1-3-2020 | Colin Stutz

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Court and Spark and Miles of Aisles are two of the very few albums that I have on vinyl, cassette, CD, and MP3. I think I have a cassette of Mingus around somewhere too, but haven’t listened to it in a long time.

[Honest Nigerian]

JS Mosby
That is a funny post!! Thanks!!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Not only have they not listened to a single minute of Rogan, they could not tell you ANYTHING about “misinformation” nor intelligently equipped enough to even discuss it or explain why something might be wrong. It is appalling that they blindly fall in lockstep with Demon Party Doctrine.

They remind me of toddlers with their fingers stuck in their ears screaming Nyah, Nyah I can’t hear you.”

[dfwgator]

They are just pissed off about how much Rogan is getting from Spotify. When they say it isn’t about the money, it’s about the money.

[Honest Nigerian]

Babbler
Only a rayciss would say that.
They have too much whyte privilege. /sarc

[Churchjack]

I agree. Love Neil’s music, and am old enough to know which leg he stands on. I’ll cease listening, playing, or purchasing his material. Funny, I’ve encouraged my son to learn his songs; I won’t have to tell him not to, now, he’ll pass on his own.

What’s even more humorous, here in the last month or so, I was trying to decide which album or two of Joni Mitchell music I should own (basically, Blue and ??). Turns out, none is the answer.

[Steve_Seattle]

"It may be 10% but I bet it’s nowhere near hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most people don’t know these two old hippies."

I've always wondered how much musicians earn from stuff like radio play and jukeboxes. I'm pulling these numbers out of the air, but suppose there are 100,000 jukeboxes in the USA and a performer gets a nickel every time one of their songs is played. Say a performer gets 200 plays per jukebox per year, about one song every two days. That's $10 per jukebox times 100,000 jukeboxes, or $1 million a year. So I see how it could add up to a lot more than we might think.

[Steve_Seattle]

Court & Spark was one of the best pop albums of that genre, in my opinion.

[Dead Corpse]

Zero Foxtrot.

[simpson96]

So, the multi-multi-millionaires will get a little less extra money each year that they wouldn’t ever need in the first place.

Cry me a river.

[Night Hides Not]

John, that was me when I was stationed in Germany. I lived 12 miles off base, so the only TV available to me was 2 German stations.

I was a bachelor then, and didn’t have much free time (77-81). I’d buy 10-12 albums every month at the Base Exchange, and mixed my own tapes. I came back with 400+ albums and a dozen boxes of cassettes.

My kids won’t know what to do with them, so I might as well catalog them and prepare them for sale.

[Lakewood]

According to Spotify they paid out over $5 Billion in royalties to 1.2 million artists in 2020. If you take the average that’s about $4,200 per artist.

If you apply the 80/20 rule that 80% of the revenue is made by 20% of the artists then it breaks down to about $17k per artist in the 20% group.

I’m betting they are NOT making $100,000 per year from Spotify.

[1Old Pro]

There are many ways to access their music so they get paid.

They can always tour if they want cash.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The problem for Joni Mitchell is that most of her cohort can’t hear tones above 10,000 Hertz anymore.

[Steve_Seattle]

1.2 million artists? If you took the top 1,000 artists per year, over 70 years, even if it was a different 1,000 every year it would only be 70,000 artists. Their figure seems ridiculous unless they are counting every home video or recording that people post, and I don’t know if people can even do that on Spotify.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I’m in agreement with you.

Young turned out very impressive music for some years, for which he deserves credit. I’ve got plenty of it. Not to take anything away from him on that, but....for me after 1980 he was just another hack. Not impressed.

I could say something similar about the NJ assh*le Springsteen. First 3 LPs were outstanding. My future wife and I saw him with the E Street band in early 1977. Great show. After Born to Run, he pumped out hack crap. And became a self important, obnoxious clown.

[John S Mosby]

Euro/Cubano

[dfwgator]

I credit Joni for introducing a lot of people to Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays on “Shadows and Light”.

[John S Mosby]

In Birmingham, they love the guvnor boo hoo hoo.
Heard old Neil put em down.
I hope Neil Young will remember— A Southern Man don’t need him around... anyhow!

Sweet Home Alabama- Jacksonville’s Lynnrd Skynnrd. A real sense of humor about the Canadian.

[John S Mosby]

She has written many EXCELLENT songs— not quibbling about that.

For example, an early thoughtful song about the HUMAN LIFE CYCLE and ages of each life, time immemorial. Captive on the Carousel of Time.

The Circle Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9VoLCO-d6U