Friday, May 13, 2016

What Will It Take For Streaming Services To Work For Everyone?

What Will It Take For Streaming Services To Work For Everyone? In order for the streaming industry to work where everyone will be happy business models need to change. For fast growing industry that is tripling in revenues almost yearly not everyone is happy, and for a good reason too. Artists are not happy by a long shot. Yes publishers and labels are not happy either but the ones that are really important are in fact the artists. Without their work of art there is no industry, there will be nothing to support or promote and the industry will die. Rates such as $0.00521 per stream , which Spotify offers is terrible. Further studies show that is just one tier rate. Other companies are just as bad such as YouTube. So what will it take to resolve this ? The answer is very simple. Change ! There needs to be more transparency, and new business model and increases in the payouts to the labels, publishers and artists. It is ridiculous that the highest consumption is coming from the free tier where that is about 58% in Spotify’s case and only pay out 16% of that portion revenue. I am all for everyone making money but these streaming services are making money off the backs of hardworking individuals and while they are growing their margins, the artists margins are getting smaller ultimately hurting individuals. Suggestions to change the model is Minimum Payment Per Play, Windowing, Transactional Streaming, Tiered Pricing based on Access and Consumer Value Proposition, and what the Trichordist called Moving beyond the Stockholm Syndrome which means the idea of “if we don’t have it consumers will illegally obtain music content. It is going to take another streaming service who is willing to take that chance and disrupt the industry. This will pressure other services to help innovate the market. Reference: https://thetrichordist.com/2014/11/12/the-streaming-price-bible-spotify-youtube-and-what-1-million-plays-means-to-you/ https://thetrichordist.com/2014/11/19/usa-spotify-streaming-rates-reveal-58-of-streams-on-free-tier-is-only-16-revenue/