Streaming and the Future of Music

 

I suppose a lot of people will find the issue of royalty payments of little interest, if any, compared to the major problems caused by the Covid-19 virus and Brexit. "Right now", they may say, "what does it matter about who gets what when we are enduring lockdown and facing food shortages?". I feel sorry for anyone who takes that view, as they are clearly ignorant about the importance of music in our lives. I haven't taken an opinion poll, but my guess is that music has mattered hugely to people everywhere during the lockdown, making the restrictions on our lives more bearable.

So - what's the problem with paying royalties on streaming songs, as opposed to other forms of payment? The answer is that composers, lyricists and songwriters (who combine both roles) get paid much, much less than they do from radio play, mechanical recordings (i.e. pressed copies on CD) and live performance payments. I can vouch for this myself, as I write lyrics and have participated, with the help of various friendly artists, in the production of a number of  CDS. We sell the CDs for charity, but have received a good deal of radio play over the years. A single play on radio earns a royalty payment of several pounds. Payment for streamed songs, however, is dramatically less. My last royalty payment from PRS/MCPS was predominantly for streamed songs. One of the songs was played 282 times in Saudi Arabia, for which I received the princely sum of £0.0124! (No, your eyes do not deceive you!). For just one play of the same song, streamed in Germany, I earned (wait for it!) £0.0003. For 3544 streaming plays, I earned £3.16, which is about as much as would be received for a single radio play here in the UK.

Now, as it happens, I can laugh at these minimal amounts, because I do not seek, and never have sought to make a living from musical royalties, which is probably just as well. The trouble is, there are many people who do rely on their music royalties to make a living, and streaming is no laughing matter for them. This has become such a pressing issue that, as The Guardian said on December 1 last year:

"The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee is examining the effect of services including Spotify and Apple Music on the wider music industry,"

Fiona Bevan, who has written hits for One Direction, Lewis Capaldi and Steps, testified to the committee that many of her fellow writers were struggling to get by because of the way streaming royalties are paid. The BBC says:

"Bevan revealed she had earned just £100 for co-writing a track on Kylie Minogue's number one album, Disco.
"The most successful songwriters in the world can't pay their rent," she added.
"Right now, hit songwriters are driving Ubers. It's quite shameful." (Some may be in the picture above).

Music legend, Nile Rogers, told the committee: "We don't even know what a stream is worth,"  adding that "there's no way you can find out," because of non-disclosure agreements between record labels and the streaming services.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many musicians - especially younger ones - are intimidated by the possibility of retaliation from the record companies and the streaming services, who are doing very nicely out of this state of affairs. As Nile Rodgers pointed out, each play of a streamed song is counted as a sale. This means the record labels take the bulk of the profits. Again, as the BBC says:

"Often, the recording artist will only receive about 13% of the revenue, with labels and publishers keeping the rest".

My own, very limited experience suggests that could well be an overestimate, with the artist receiving a lot less. And, if the artist is receiving such a niggardly amount, what does it mean for the writer and composer? Well, my experience, and that of Fiona Bevan answers that question. One hopeful sign is that the committee chairman, Julian Knight MP, has said that any attempts by the record labels to interfere with proceedings will not be tolerated. Let's hope so.

So - why does it matter? Well, as the lead singer of Elbow, Guy Carvey, told the committee, the way artists, writes and composers are paid for streaming threatens the very future of music. The BBC, again, say:

"That sounds very dramatic," he told MPs, "but if musicians can't afford to pay the rent... we haven't got tomorrow's music in place."

Quite right, and our lives, for those of us who love music, which is most of us, will be the poorer. This present system of payment threatens the very creativity of music itself. Jazz musician, Soweto Kinch, said:

"We'd never have a Kate Bush or a David Bowie in today's music ecology, because it's very risk averse...You are making songs for playlists, you are not taking the incredible musical risks that Bowie might have taken years ago."

We can only wish the artists and the DCMS committee well. London's cabbies will tell you that driving taxis is not a profitable job at the moment.