CHANGE THE TUNE

Artists have already adapted heavily to the new music landscape, and although these adaptations may work for big-name artists, smaller artists are the ones who are really being affected by this in drastic ways. A simple thing consumers can do is to support streaming services that have a history of paying artists better, Napster and Tidal have on average the most money per stream given towards artists. Supporting these will help artists and hopefully force other streaming services to increase the amount they pay in order to win consumers back. Another solution is to support Co-Op Streaming services, a platform where artists and consumers get a say in the way the company is run, including the way revenues are used. A streaming service like this could drastically help increase revenues for artists. Understanding the record label dynamic and the effect it has on artists is another important step to creating a solution, in an age where records can be created at home on a computer, and they can be self-marketed through social media, the need for record labels is beginning to dwindle. Artists need to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages that a label may provide and know whether or not certain record deals are trapping them, which is a story we hear too often about even big name artists. For example, both Frank Ocean and Lil Wayne have had major record label disputes and in Frank Ocean’s case, it even lead to him becoming an independent artist. Solutions can be made but they will take time and require people to be informed of how the streaming dynamic has affected artists.