On Mar. 13, Cedar Valley Amplified posted a poll asking how certain people supported local artists. Participants were asked to choose from the four option: streaming services, attending concerts or shows, buying merchandise (CDs, T-shirts) or other.
Of the responses, 33.3 percent chose streaming services, 33.3 percent chose other, 25 percent chose attending concerts, and 8.3 percent marked buying merchandise. This study shows the odd predicament of the modern music industry.
While it is very true that the most common form of music consumption is done through streaming services, it is also true that this is the least-fit form of income for artists. In a study published on Statista, it is shows that it takes 336,842 streams on Spotify in order for an artist to make the U.S. monthly minimum wage through royalty payments. For YouTube, it takes 2,133,333 streams for the same outcome.
While streaming services are easier and less costly to the customer, they are not practical for the artists the customer enjoys. According to an article by Pitchfork in reference to a report by BuzzAngle, “more than 99 percent of audio streaming is of the top 10 percent most-streamed tracks. Which means less than one percent account for all other music.” According to the same report by BuzzAngle, there was a 13.5 percent growth of music streaming customers in 2019.
Whenever I ask an artist their number one source of income, the answer is always merchandise sales. Vinyl has been on a rise for several years now, but buying a vinyl from Barnes & Noble is not what I’m talking about. Websites like Bandcamp, BigCartel, StoreEnvy and even Discogs can be perfect platforms to purchase vinyl, CDs, T-shirts and other clothing items or even cassette tapes from (cassettes have been increasing in sales, according to Discogs).
The next best way to support artists is to attend concerts. Ticket money goes to the artist, the venue/host and whatever supporting acts there may be. Depending on how much the ticket is (typically local artists have low ticket prices), the artist will only get so much. However, if the artist has a merch booth at the venue, there is always that extra source of income.
While streaming services are practical to non-artists, it is good to keep certain aspects of the music industry in mind. If you like an artist, buy their CD or T-shirt. This type of support is always important, but it is important now more than ever due to the show and tour-cancelling COVID-19 pandemic.