01/09
Information found on The New York Times : Is Streaming Good For Musicians? : Today the Road Is a Musician’s Best Friend
Vega, S. (2014, November 6). Is streaming good for musician's? : today the road is a musician's best
friend. Retrieved January 9, 2015, from The New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/
roomfordebate/2014/11/06/is-streaming-good-for-musicians/today-the-road-is-a-musicians-best-friend
The New York Times is “ An internationally recognized daily newspaper founded in 1851 and distributed throughout the United States. The paper is owned by The New York Times Company and is published in New York City, NY.” (BusinessDictionary.com)
Important Quotes:
“As listeners begin to move from CDs and downloads to streaming, is the trend good for music and musicians?”
**This raises the main debate of the article: Is streaming good for exposure, or does it eliminate too much profit?
Suzanne Vega argues, “To earn a living and connect with fans, bands, young and old, are going on tour.”
**Instead of worrying about profits from an their music sales, artists are making a profit by going on tour to perform for their fans.
Vega also argues, “The market is over-flooded.”
**Relying on making a profit from touring sales might be a good idea.
Within the distribution of music, there are many different methods as talked about in a previous blog. Most artists will not only place their music on outlets like Amazon Music and iTunes, but will also allow their music to stream for free on outlets like Spotify. Spotify allows listeners to search and stream their favorite music without purchasing it.
Some artists entertain this idea, arguing that Spotify is good exposure and will allow people to get a taste of their music without putting a number on it. However, others argue that by streaming their music for the listeners, they will be losing too great of a profit.
A major idea that has been brought up, that I tend to agree with, is exposure. By allowing your music to stream for free, more people will listen and therefore, more people will learn who you are. The main and mega profit to an artist should come from touring. During a tour an artists connects on a more emotional level. This is their job, but they love doing it. Being compensated for a show rather than a song makes much more sense.
