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Two Views Of Spotify: Opportunity For Indie Artists vs. Major Labels Win Again

image from www.google.com Hypebot readers, including several industry insiders, have been hotly debating Spotify's much heralded entry into the U.S.  Few are debating the quality of the music streaming service, but some are question whether Spotfy is a great new opportunity for indie artists; or have the major labels – who own part of Spotify – co-opted the streaming music service and captured an unfair percentage of its revenue?

"Spotify is now becoming one of the biggest revenue streams for artists and from our experience, the artists who stream best on Spotify also sell more physical and digital sales," wrote Lee Parsons, the CEO of Ditto Music, a UK digital distributor that recently opened a U.S. office. "Musicians who can utilise all of these new tools will do well. Artists who fear change and complain about payouts, won't."

Then there was Brad Feldman's view: "Let's face it, majors are making almost all the streaming money. Then again, majors own a chunk of Spotify. It kind of sickens me the more I think about it."

"The new gatekeepers are just as worse as the old ones, only more openly arrogant," concluded Hypebot reader Ghostwriter.

What do you think?  Read more and get involved in the discussion here.

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3 Comments

  1. Merlin has a deal with Spotify as well, in fact Spotify did a deal with the indies (Merlin) BEFORE doing one with the majors. I can’t release details on this deal but I can tell you indies have been treated fairly.
    If you’re concerned with your chunk of streaming revenue from Spotify, here’s a tip: Get more people to care about your music. You get paid off the percentage of your market share of the streams that happen, this is nothing new. In the DSP model, you get paid off your sales.
    Just because you woke up one day and started a label doesnt mean you deserve some kind of big cut, people have to actually care about your music still, same as always.

  2. yes but I suspect the pay is minute, really an insult to the creative community… anybody know how much Spotify pays any record company per stream? how about publishers/songwriters?

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