It’s no secret that the music industry’s business models don’t benefit most artists. According to the 2018 MIRA Survey of Musicians, musicians in the United States have a median annual income of less than $25,000 per year. If that’s not damning enough, 61 percent of musicians say the income they receive from their music isn’t enough to meet their cost of living.
The problem? Major labels and streaming services take the lion’s share of the revenue, eating a sizable portion of artists’ earnings.
According to Statista, Spotify generated more than $10 billion in revenue in 2021. However, they only pay artists between $.003 and $.005 per stream. That’s about one dollar per 250 streams. Sadly, the numbers aren’t much better when you look at other streaming platforms.
But money isn’t the only thing artists sacrifice. They often give up their creative control too. This usually includes things like having no say in…
