Rockman your favorite capitalists got a beat down

[Islandman]

from Taylor Swift over this streaming music thing.

Good for her! This is the free market at work...Don't like the deal being offered? Walk away! This girl made a lot of big men , including many entertainers who run their mouth and do nothing, look like little pu$$ys.

Few can have missed the recent public announcement by Taylor Swift, one of the biggest-selling artists on the planet, that she would not be allowing any of her music to be streamed on the service, because Apple was not planning to pay artists for songs streamed during the free three-month trial it would offer every user.

It took only hours for Apple to cave in.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...sic-calls-tune

[Peter R]

Good for her! but did you see this?
http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/0...e-open-letter/

[Islandman]

I didn't. Again I would say look out for yourself. If the contract sucks, walk away.

[Rockman]

You have people that rob Paul to give to Peter and then you have people that rob Paul AND Peter.
The latter is even more objectionable.
The common denominator is robbery,a favourite robber is really stretching it,Islandman.

[Islandman]

LOL, I hear you. Apple is Robin Hood and WalMart is Henry Morgan.

[Mosiah]

Apple is a real dick! Richest company in the **** world but couldn't do without those funds for a couple months.

SMFH

[Assasin]

When Apple and other big companies can do this, it tells the state of the Music business. These large companies make money while the artists and independent producers are at their peril.

Good that Swift stood up.

[Islandman]

What I don't understand though, is why the labels and major artistes collectively can't negotiate a better deal from Spotify, Pandora, etc.

If Taylor Swift can get Apple nervous then one would think that if a dozen of the top selling artistes threaten to pull their music from the streaming sites at the same time, they would have some bargaining power?

I think the streaming subscription model, on paper at least, has the most promise for artistes making a little income from song royalties. Right now the payments are miniscule but I think it is more realistic to fight for a better deal than to hope streaming goes away. The younger generation just are not going to buy music like we used to.

[Assasin]

You are right on many front but you have to understand, there is always another artist willing to take the deal. It works for the bigger artists as they getting 20 million is ok, but where it affects the music is with the artists that are not established and small independent producer who often are the engine of creativity. They are more dependent on bigger percentage.

Trust me even with Pandora, Spotify etc. The artist miss the day when they could sell vinyl records for 2.50 or 3.00 to the local store. Now they are getting .0 + cent for for a play. Big difference. A few big artists tried but not enough and the small and medium size players mostly feel left out in this discussion. They have no representation at all at the table. Take it or leave it.

[Islandman]

I hear you. Yes I don't think streaming music revenue by itself will replace what used to be made from record sales back in the day, those days are gone.

I believe there is a possibility that new sources of revenue will be created based on todays technology. For example I would really love to see more good quality live show streaming, I will pay for that just as I will pay for live sports streaming.

That doesn't help the small producer who is trying new things though, something else will be needed to solve that problem.

[Assasin]

A few things change. Now remember that many of the bigger record labels were not interested in managing road shows and collect royalties. I am talking labels like VP but guess what? Now it is one of their bigger revenue stream.

If you notice a lot of the reggae bands on Billboard now are bands that have been around and playing to their audience for a while. They also sell CDs at their shows and play local clubs. That revenue is still there. Notice after show how they mix with audience, sell CDs and sign autographs.

That alone will not do but hopefully we will get to a point where the creators will get enough money to go back and create. It also make no sense to do a lot of recording and promoting artist unless you have a brand and they are signed to you as the music sale is not there.