Snarky Puppy's Paycheck

 Because I mostly stream music I don't have much of an opinion on if its ok for free downloading of music. I want musicians to make money and i want people to enjoy music and be able to access it.

The group Snarky Puppy was recently in Boston at the Berklee Performance Center kicking off their one year tour of more than 200 shows. The leader of the group Michael League in between songs made some jokes about how the group gets minimal checks from Spotify yet hundreds of thousands of plays. The group’s small royalty checks may explain why Snarky Puppy and many other artists go on these long tours. Although it would be unclear what Michael League’s view on music sharing and whatnot is, it might say something for the consumer. It might be interpreted as, ‘you should buy my music so, me, your favorite band can keep making music and be prosperous’. But it might also be even more of a reason to get the music free because not only do you get it free, you get to see the band when they tour through your town. And maybe that is how it should be, because everyone likes a live show.

The world of how much artist’s paychecks rack up to be can get pretty complicated with all kinds of new things involved like streaming. Spotify and youtube are big ones. With a little bit a research it wasn’t too hard to find out that most artists are not making millions through streaming. An independent artist might get lower than 10 dollars per 10,000 streams on Spotify. It takes a lot to make good money off of streaming music i would say. I can’t say much about it but i would imagine that record labels  make things much more complicated. Record labels to me have a reputation for basically stealing from artists, taking the majority of their music’s revenue and making them pay for their recording costs. If independent artists can’t make a lot from streaming I’m assuming it’s even harder if you have a label. I don’t know if there are new record labels now that are better but thats beside the point. The point is that its complicated for artists to make money from streaming usually not to their advantage.

Or is it? The idea is that it doesn’t really matter how much money you're making from the music if it is getting people to listen to it and getting publicity from being free to everyone. If the music is free and accessible then it has the ability to be spread faster and making a little dough along with it would only be an added bonus. not the main focus.  When more people listen to the music more people pay for concert tickets and pay for the music in other places. When you think about it, me, maybe you, and many others, discover their music from Youtube, Spotify, etc. The artist isn’t making a lot from the streaming itself but now that song you just posted to your Facebook page might get bought in another place where the artist is making more money because you showed it to your friends.

I will admit that I listen to Snarky Puppy through Spotify and haven’t actually bought any of their music at all, even though they have been a serious favorite of mine for a good two or three months now. But does it say something that i bought tickets to one of their shows. I probably spent more on the one concert than i would on purchasing 3 of their albums anyway. Here’s something interesting, I also introduced 5 of my friends to the band through Spotify and Youtube and the 5 all bought tickets to the same concert and a few actually bought their albums. I discovered Snarky Puppy through free streaming and now I introduced them to even more people so really its going to make them more money in the end I guess.

Here is a few fairly strong, conflicting opinions on free music that I found interesting.

"As an artist who has dedicated his life to music and the music business, I have seen what illegal music copying has done and continues to do to new and established musicians. I understand why people download music, but for me and my fellow artists, this is our livelihood. When you make an illegal copy, you're stealing from the artist. It's that simple. Every single day we're out here pouring our hearts and souls into making music for everyone to enjoy. What if you didn't get paid for your job? Put yourself in our shoes!" Sean (P. Diddy) Combs

"I like what's going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music. It's the democratisation of music in a way, and music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift." -- Shakira    

I like how Shakira mentions the idea of being connected to your audience and listener. As an artist it seems like connecting to your listening would bring value and sincerity to your songs and will probably make you more money in the long run too. At the same time P. Diddy argues it is not only his, but many peoples “livelihood” and it would be like not getting paid for your job if people take your music free.

    There are lots of opinions floating around and that's healthy to any issue. I do hope that it can be easier for musicians to make a living, but in these times there’s a lot of competition and lots of great music out there.