Story by Julia Rafferty
Photos by Ellie Crowther-Dias
Graphic by Layna Hong
CHAPEL HILL N.C.— Faith Jones says it was fate she would become a musician. But fate has not guaranteed she will make money from streaming her music on Spotify.
But while her career has been steadily building, Jones is still eagerly awaiting the day she can pop some champagne and celebrate cashing in her first $25.00 from Spotify. She has a single with almost 50,000 streams, but she hasn’t popped the cork yet.
“As an independent artist I have to use a music distributor to get my music on Spotify,” said Jones. “You can’t even cash any money out until you’ve made 25 bucks, and I haven’t passed that threshold yet.”
Yet Jones isn’t pulling her music off Spotify, even in the wake of the recent controversies which saw major artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell abandoning the platform. For many local North Carolina independent artists like Jones, Spotify represents a much more complicated equation of money, publicity and reach.
As of 2019, Spotify reported that it pays between $0.00331 and $0.00437 per stream. Meaning even after successful releases, like Jones’ newest single “Dead Plants,” not even pennies have made it into the bank accounts of these artists.
So there may be a few more reasons to boycott Spotify other than Joe Rogan.
A month ago Neil Young wrote a public letter calling on Spotify to choose between him and Joe Rogan, the popular podcast host who has been accused of spreading misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines. Other artists joined Young in his boycott of the platform, including India Arie who cited Rogan’s past use of racial slurs as her reason for leaving.
These artists’ challenge to Spotify quickly became the center of a large conversation about misinformation and free speech online. But other artists wish the dialogue would shift focus onto Spotify’s less than ideal payout structures and exploitation of artists.
To Libby Rodenbough of the band Mipso, Rogan doesn’t even scratch the surface of the issues surrounding the modern-day streaming economy at large.
“I feel like more power to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, both people who I would kiss the hem of their garment, more power to them for taking a stand about something that matters to them. But it feels like they’re missing the point to me.” said Rodenbough. “That just wouldn’t have been the battle I chose.”
Musicians everywhere are strapped for cash from a lack of touring over the past two years of the pandemic, and many don’t have the luxury of opting out of a potential, though small, source of income and exposure to new fans.
“I feel like as artists now, we just know that we’re not making money from streams,” said Jones. “Having had my music career start in the age of streaming, I have never expected to make money from streams, it’s kind of sad, but I always knew I would have to rely on touring.”
Whether it is political hesitancies, or ownership complications, leaving Spotify isn’t an option for artists who don’t have the privilege of a legacy career like Young or Mitchell.
Spotify’s Role in the Music Industry
Spotify has 381 million users and counting, including 172 million paying subscribers, in 184 countries. In 2020, Spotify cashed out $5 billion in music royalties, accounting for roughly 20% of recorded music revenues that year.
Spotify completely changed a music industry that was once dominated by the physical sales of music. And despite the platform’s faults, local singer-songwriter Reid Johnson says streaming isn’t going anywhere.
“I noticed that the purchasing of music fell off a cliff, probably around 2010 or so. And that was felt during touring.” said Johnson. “People were more reluctant to purchase stuff because they were like ‘I can stream this at home,’ and that made a long-lasting impact.”
Rodenbough said that much of Mipso’s business plan centers around streaming, and despite the platform’s flaws, their Spotify hit, “People Change,” brings the band gigs and new listeners.
“Having a song that’s kind of a Spotify hit has been an interesting experience, it definitely means that you make more money than some people do on Spotify.” said Rodenbough. “I meet people at shows, or sometimes people who book us for venues and festivals, who are aware that we have a lot of streams on that song, which is kind of a strange phenomenon.”
It’s clear streaming has real power in the music industry. While Mipso gained popularity in the past decade, for artists like Doug MacMillan, the lead singer of the Raleigh rock band The Connells, even after two decades in the industry streaming has become a whole new way to experience music.
“It used to be if you liked a song you would have to wait for it to come back on the radio or we’d have to ride our bikes to the mall and buy the song at the record store,” said MacMillan. “Now it’s so much easier, the music right at the tip of my fingers, and because of that we have new listeners and have our music easily available again.”
And Spotify’s power goes beyond money. The platform’s playlists such as RapCaviar, Today’s Top Hits, and Viva Latino function as the equivalent of Tower Records or MTV videos. But Johnson said Spotify’s power as a promotional tool for artists is exaggerated.
“I don’t know any playlist that an artist would get on that would gain a lot of fans, they would gain a lot of streams, but it will be a temporary thing.” said Johnson. “High streams just inflate popularity, there’s no correlation between streams and the draw you might have at a local show.”
Rodenbough also said a Spotify hit doesn’t necessarily mean that the people who are hearing your song are certain to become die-hard fans.
“They hear your song sort of passively as they’re listening to the playlist, like as they study or work at a coffee shop that doesn’t mean they’re buying tickets to your shows.” said Rodenbough. “It’s pretty hard to measure whether it translates into a true connection with your band.”
The Exploitation of Black Artists
The complications of Spotify go far beyond shallow promises of fame and poor compensation policies. Jones said Spotify’s willingness to protect Rogan even after a viral video of him using the N-word over 20 times feels like a betrayal to the many Black artists like herself contributing to the success of the platform.
“This platform makes so much money on the backs of black artists in particular, even with all the white artists on it, black music is central to all music,” said Jones. “If I see a web of genres, you know, the center is black people and black music, everything from folk music, rock to K-pop.”
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek apologized to staff for the streaming service’s ongoing Rogan crisis. Rogan also apologized for his repeated use of racial slurs in previous episodes of his show, The Joe Rogan Experience.
But for Jones, these apologies aren’t enough. Black artists like Jones contribute to the streaming funds that Spotify then uses to pay Rogan’s $100 million contract. Jones argues this isn’t so much a debate of freedom of speech, but more Spotify revealing its true colors.
“The reason people flocked to Spotify is that the music, and the reason why Spotify was so successful that they could even launch a podcast platform in general, is because of the music that was created due to the work of black artists,” said Jones. “So for Spotify to not cancel his contract, it feels greedy and shows where they stand.”
Bigger Than Spotify
When asked in 2020 about the platform’s compensation policies, Ek said, “You can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.” Ek’s words were heard loud and clear by all in the music industry.
“That’s not caring about artists or the process of creativity, that’s a business reply to an artistic endeavor and those things don’t jive together to me.” said Johnson. “In fact, they should oppose.”
Ek’s words make it clear Spotify is not a music or media company, but a tech company obsessed with product just like any other, said Johnson.
But music isn’t just a product, not to the musicians who labor their lives over it anyways.
“I don’t think people really understand,” said MacMillian. “Clearly this CEO does not have any idea how much time it takes to record an album, or even record a few songs. We could turn one out in an hour but for what, it won’t be good.”
Independent artists removing their music from Spotify is not going to make Ek or any Spotify executive see that artist’s labor is valuable, local artists say. For Rodenbough, when so much of Mipso’s business is centered around streaming, the choice to leave the platform is not that simple.
“I don’t see myself pulling my music off Spotify. But I think you can bite the hand that feeds you, in fact, I think everybody should get a little more comfortable with embracing contradiction.” said Rodenbough. “I feel free to talk about Spotify, while I have my music on there and it feels like the only way to go through the world half sanely now.”
Rodenbough said this is all bigger than Spotify.
“No matter what the dominant mode of music consumption is, artists will be exploited,” said Rodenbough. “If people really want to be good supporters of the arts, then they should be pushing for universal health care and universal childcare, the things that would make life better for everybody so artists could live comfortably without having to make a ton of money.”
