To Allow Streaming, Or Not?

            Reddit has recently had some internal issues, some workers feeling they are not being valued. This has posed a question in an article on the website for Forbes, with the author wondering whether or not music streaming will eventually receive the same reaction from its artists. It states that a couple of artists have voiced their opinions on the value of their music and the way iTunes and other streaming sites place value on early stages of songs, as well as music that is streamed. Taylor Swift has been known to speak her mind on iTunes, essentially getting exactly what she bargained for.

            Whether or not artists should be paid more for allowing their music on streaming services could be a touchy subject. Some would say that artists make enough through album sales, touring, [legal] digital downloads, appearances, and other areas they could seek revenue. Others may argue that the artists deserve to be paid more, one reason possibly being the amount that each consumer pays for certain streaming services, and advertising fees for those that want their ads aired on those services, as well. One may also argue that illegal downloading has caused a decrease in album sales and legal digital downloading, which is true.

            Artists are paid a small percentage per streaming website. Swift pulled her music from Spotify as she was not satisfied with the rate she was being paid for her music being played on the service. Time Magazine’s website states that artists are paid anywhere from six hundredths of a cent to just over eight hundredths each time a song is streamed, and millions of peopled subscribe to streaming service monthly, whether paid or free. One song being streamed, when the math is done, at least a million times a month, means that the artists makes $6000 off that one song. Many artists have out more than one song at a time, not to mention songs they made prior which are also on the sites. This means that artists are able to live nicely, solely off of the money they make from their music being streamed.

            I could go either way with this one, because I make substantially less than musicians do and could live off of their streaming salary alone, however, they did make the music and have the creative ability to do so. I’m not quite sure which side I’d take at this time, because I’m pretty open minded. Whether something like the Reddit ordeal happens, I’m not sure, because again, they do make a decent amount of money just for their music being streamed, which is them doing nothing after making the song. Forbes had more opinions located here.