Thoughts on Streaming, Deezer and Solidarity

I’m trialling a different style of newsletter, sharing my thoughts on information I consider important. Let me know what you think.

Mary x

The Future of Streaming

In a 2023 Goldman Sachs report on streaming, the team predicted ‘monetization of superfans could add $2 billion of incremental revenue for streaming platforms by 2027 and $4 billion by 2030, representing a 16% boost to paid streaming revenues.’

Whatever happens in the next few years, I think it’s safe to say we can expect the introduction of tiered memberships, rising prices, and further changes to artist compensation – perhaps for the better, but perhaps for the worst. We’re already being asked to pay for campaigns, or give up an even greater fraction of compensation, to aide our ‘discovery’.

The Goldman Sachs report concludes, ‘One option is a user-centric model that might distribute payouts from each user’s subscription based directly on the user’s listening habits. An alternative is a more flexible artist-centric model that seeks to distribute payouts based on the value an artist creates and provides for the platform.’

This doesn’t bode well for us ‘lower value’ artists. Speaking of which…

Deezer’s Great Purge

Deezer recently removed 26 million ‘low quality’ tracks from its service, citing their desire to improve the service for users, by removing noise, or tracks with no plays. Quite how they’ve decided who gets the chop remains a mystery. Would Springsteen’s Nebraska, recorded on a 4-track, survive the cull if he wasn’t The Boss? It strikes me that these services either need to be open for all, or not – a mysterious purging process serves no one, especially those making lo-fi music, or just starting out and learning the ropes of self-recording. It’s a brutal reminder to always be thinking of how you can get your music direct to consumer, because we’ll always be at the mercy of the whims of these tech companies and their quest to ‘improve’.

Solidarity, what solidarity?

Taylor Swift’s decision to add her music back to TikTok despite Universal Music Group’s ongoing standoff with parent company ByteDance demonstrates why the battle for fairer artist compensation will be an uphill struggle. Being classed as independent contractors, musicians can’t unionise in the same way actors and writers have. As the world’s biggest artist, Taylor Swift has considerable clout, but has undermined the whole concept of solidarity in favour of promoting her new album. It’s a disappointing decision. If everyone’s just looking out for themselves, then we can’t expect a better future.

Mary x

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