It’s an extremely hot topic in the
music industry right now, the battle over the power of streaming services and
the value of downloadable music stores. Almost daily, high profile artists are
releasing statements of their position in this battle. And the topic is not
going away because from a technology standpoint streaming represents forward
momentum and for end-users streaming solves problems of economy (users are not
required to spend as much money on purchasing downloads… or hard copies for
that matter) as well as economies of space (streaming and cloud services allow
users to access their musical choices from almost anywhere and not physically
store anything on a hard drive they can’t always take with them or a mobile
device that is often limited in capacity).
Here is the major issue, and the
reason high profile artists like Thom Yorke, Billy Bragg, David Lowry (frontman
of Cracker) and many, many others are publicly weighing in on the topic. Its
goes like this: Yes, streaming services are becoming a large part of how we
consume music. Millions of people use Pandora, Spotify, other slightly lesser
known services or some combination of these and the numbers are rising everyday.
Yes, they are appealing to the user because you don't have to pay up front for music,
and you can often learn about amazing new artists that you never would have
discovered without the algorithms that power these streaming
"channels". From a user standpoint there is practically no downside
as few users opt to pay for their streaming services, even if it limits their
access, so there is almost NO economic investment.
From an artist standpoint there is
a big problem. And ultimately this should concern fans and service users as
well because if the artists become embattled, the fans will be the first people
to lose out. The problem is; Do streaming services cannibalize downloading
revenue, and if so, do streaming services compensate in royalty revenue for
this loss?
The answer is a resounding NO. This
is Thom Yorke's issue. David Lowry went as far as to post his royalty earning
statements from streaming services publicly and the numbers are staggering.
Artists are not receiving anything near the amount of compensation for streams
from Spotify and Pandora as they receive for downloads from the iTunes store.
And the magnitude is exponential as far as loss per song.
The more I look into the actual
numbers behind these streaming systems the more I realize the potential of the IDYL
Music platform to really bring the digital music industry out of this tailspin.
Under the IDYL system users will purchase downloads but in doing so be given
the power to share a song in a streaming format and if another user enjoys this
stream enough to purchase the song for themselves, they do so via a download. Discovering
new music is an integral part of IDYL as well, but we bring the human element
back to the act of discovery. After all, an algorithm can help you find
something new, but your best friend can help you discover something that you personally are going to love. To
encourage this process over standard streaming AND standard download platforms,
users will receive a percentage of the revenue from the purchase of downloads.
And yes, ultimately that may take something from potential revenue for artists
in downloads, but if the download never happens then it really doesn’t matter what percentage of nothing goes to the
artists. Because so much revenue can be restored to the artists and rights
holders via this format, artists and labels will ultimately embrace and benefit
immensely from the use of the IDYL Music platform. Without a format like IDYL,
like brick and mortar storefronts in the beginning of the millennium, digital
download sales will fade as streaming becomes the most prominent method of
consuming music.
IDYL Music
is a work in progress. We are in early stages of fundraising to bring the
platform into existence. I can only hope that as we strive to achieve our
goals,Thom Yorke, David Lowry and millions of artists that share their concerns
will stand up and take notice. We believe we can turn the music industry onto a
positive course correction. New streaming services are hitting the market on a
daily basis (see YouTube this week). But in order to survive the streaming
service gutting of artist revenue, creators and fans alike will have to embrace
something new. Something that will change the process of consuming music;
something that will ensure artists are compensated at a rate that is truly fair
but will also reward their fans for following this new path. The key to this
successful course-correction lies in the hands of the artists who are already
in jeopardy, but most importantly? It lies in the hands of fans like you.
*IDYL Music is a new company currently in early-stage
funding to create a new music distribution platform which rewards fans for
sharing new music across their social networks.
