»The Streaming Economy: Is There No Alternative?« (En)

First, the good news: about 80% of the music industry’s revenue nowadays is being generated from streaming. The bad news: very little of that ends up in the individual artists’ bank accounts. Most digital streaming platforms’ royalty models favour superstars while institutions like distributors and labels take their cut. Having been hailed as a viable alternative to piracy ten years ago, the streaming economy has become the subject of heated debates. But what could alternatives look like? Will a switch to a user-centric model do the trick, should DSPs really pay one cent per stream or do we need socialised streaming platforms? Or are there more feasible solutions? From Bandcamp to Patreon and NFTs, many platforms and companies promise artists more autonomy and income – but what’s the price tag attached to that? Akwaaba Music founder Benjamin Lebrave, musician Emika and artist and researcher Mat Dryhurst talk shop.

All photos are courtesy of the panelists.