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Music streamers just knowingly killed a simple way to pay artists more money
Yesterday Apple Music and 30 minutes later Amazon Music announced they would not charge extra for hi-res lossless and 3D Spatial audio streaming.
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It seems likely that Spotify will follow soon at the same price point.
Tidal, Quboz, and even Amazon Music had been charging an extra $5 or $14.99 per month for the higher quality streams.
Becuase 51% of revenue collected by a music streamer is paid out in royalties, every $14.99 per month hi-res subscriptions added $31 more each year to the pool that pays artists, songwriters, and labels than the average $9.99 per month subscription.
Many analysts beleive that Apple and Amazon cut prices to compete with Spotify. Others point to low adoption of hi-res streaming. After all, if no one is willing to pay extra, why not give it away for free?
Whatever the reason, the message to artists is clear: Don’t expect higher royalties any time soon.
MORE:
Apple Music adds Dolby Spatial and Lossless Audio with no price increase
Amazon Music matches Apple with HD and 3D music at no extra cost
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