the money will roll right in...

[bradx]

so, rev norb and THE ONIONS went live on spotify earlier this year. we recently got our first royalties, from the months of march and april. keeping in mind it costs $17 a year to have the album available through itunes, spotify, etc. we're on track to lose just under ten bucks this year.

[Jerry Scotty]

Man, not to be an asshole but that was a misstep on your part. Why would you get involved with that shit? A free account on Bandcamp will give you all the revenue and exposure you can get. It's not like Rev Norb & the Onions are some up & coming pop band with huge commercial potential, and you know even the biggest rappers struggle to make a living off of those streaming services. You have your small niche that'll pay for your releases, why bother with corporate shit like that?

[velcro]

Man, not to be an asshole but that was a misstep on your part. Why would you get involved with that shit? A free account on Bandcamp will give you all the revenue and exposure you can get. It's not like Rev Norb & the Onions are some up & coming pop band with huge commercial potential, and you know even the biggest rappers struggle to make a living off of those streaming services. You have your small niche that'll pay for your releases, why bother with corporate shit like that?

mixed feelings on this. i subscribed to apple music about 6 months ago and it has become the primary way I listen to music. there is a convenience to streaming sites/apps that something like bandcamp simply doesn't offer (unless there is an app i'm unfamiliar with). 10000% see and agree with your point but torn on how strongly I can advocate people removing their stuff from these services, because it'll basically mean that i'll listen to their music less. 

fuck the crony capitalists and "huge commercial potential" acts that basically exploit the system, corrupt the market, and are the sole beneficiaries of these streaming deals. i certainly wish there was a better way.

[ripiancurtis]

Yeah, I'm in the middle of getting most of my catalog on iTunes/Spotify/etc right now (annoyingly large amount of paperwork). I honestly have no idea on what to expect. I know there is a large portion of people that only listen to these sites for music. For instance my kids only use Apple Music and in their eyes it has everything. The concept of spending money on tangible music is mind blowing to them even though they've been around it forever at the house. But they will easily give their last $10 to Clash of Clans upgrades or something - which I think is a total waste.

I'm in the same boat as velcro (never thought I'd say that) in that I use Apple Music the most right now for work since my car got broken into and iPod Classic was stolen (had that thing for 7 years, fuck). I used to rip all my records to MP3s and load em up on that. Now all I have is my phone (with no storage) so I'm stuck with it for now. Every time I find something I didn't expect to see I just throw it in a playlist. There's obv TONS of useless shit on there but there's also a bunch I wasn't expecting to see - stuff new and old (Ex: Ivy Green, Violent Change, Flesh World, Golden Pelicans, Goner Catalog, Gino and Goons, Life Stinks, Manateees, Crime, Kraut, Feederz, Bored Teenager Comps, Soul Jazz punk comps, etc). If all that stuff wasn't on there - I'd be dying.

Bandcamp is great for new stuff but isn't as easy to navigate or just hit shuffle once in the day and let it go. I also read that SoundCloud is having troubles. I know a lot of people use YouTube for listening to music but that's still such a foreign concept to me. I still see YouTube as a place to watch people getting hit in the nuts.

[Jerry Scotty]

Yeah I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess if it's a label uploading their stuff the money issue might be different, but a single (DIY) band paying for their own account and uploading their own stuff will always do so at a loss. That's why shit like YouTube channels (Jimmy etc.) works, probably.

The main reason I don't use these streaming services very much is that I know I won't find the marginal music that I want on there, so I just download shit, use Bandcamp or YT... but if I had to spend my days in a car or traveling in any way I'd probably see it differently. I'm just at the computer all day, so I don't mind having to do a little typing and googling to get what I want.

[vedicardi]

It's worth it to some people, it isn't to others.  I don't think there is much more to it than that.

[Tupac Chopra]

No dog in this fight.

I think it's crazy that a band with plays on the radio in the 60-90's could get a decent paycheck, but a band who builds up a big following struggles with streaming revenue... (I don't really have a solid source for the income for a radio hit, but that's the idea I get.)

Big deal bands have expressed how low the return is on these services.

Now I'd like to see the returns for artists under that Tidal thing. It was launched in part to provide a 'fair deal' to these artists. Is it any better? The launch was rough, as they were laughed at for riding private jets in the commercial...

[nuggetsvolume1]

I listen to everything on youtube. If you don't care about the fidelity, it's perfect. Any new band I have heard of on here that sounds interesting I look up on youtube. If it ain't there, I don't hear it.

This is also how all the younger people I talk to listen to music. Remember: if it's mainstream, you also get a video with it. Most of the conversations I have online with people consist of 60% texting and 40% youtube links. Facebook, Youtube and pornography are the internet. I don't think people even fully comprehend how massive it is.

[smiller]

I think it's Google's music thing that integrates with YouTube? I never think of YT as a way to listen to music on my phone because the YT stand-alone app sucks, but a friend of mine who's been a deep reggae head since the 80s started using Google Music (or whatever it is) and for his interests YouTube via the Google app was by far the best because people upload super rare shit. It unintentionally became probably the deepest music resource out there. I avoided Spotify for a long time, I hate that nobody gets paid but it saves me money now that I can check out a record instead of just being led to believe it sounds like "a peyote dream beamed in from a suburban teen basement" when it's really some middling psyche. Bandcamp is my favorite (and yeah there is an app and it works well), and for something like the Onions is a pretty clear choice. I have an obscure new band that has 2 songs up there and even we've made $20 in the last month. Just the fact alone that you can buy physical product as well and get the download right away makes it much more appealing to people who grew up caring about physical records/tapes/etc.

[bradx]

Man, not to be an asshole but that was a misstep on your part. Why would you get involved with that shit? A free account on Bandcamp will give you all the revenue and exposure you can get. It's not like Rev Norb & the Onions are some up & coming pop band with huge commercial potential, and you know even the biggest rappers struggle to make a living off of those streaming services. You have your small niche that'll pay for your releases, why bother with corporate shit like that?

we make decent money off bandcamp as is.  i see spotify as advertising, i guess.  i like that we're in the same library as shit like the beatles or beach boys. 

[bradx]

youtube's fine for listening to music i guess if you dont mind it chewing up battery.  it only plays while the screen is on, for me... 

i listen to all my (non-vinyl) music on spotify these days.  if its not on there, and i dont own the vinyl, i dont listen to it. 

[bradx]

i work with a bunch of teenagers and most do spotify premium

[yullowteef]

I always appreciate it when punk and garage bands put their shit on Spotify, as I subscribe to it for listening in the car, ability to make playlists, free space on my phone, etc.

[bradx]

rev norb and THE ONIONS
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0YFTwFFrSkdARXlVryRWLW

last sons of krypton
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6U3zzxAWoCz0szbAGv3ZU4

[grievous angel]

Man, not to be an asshole but that was a misstep on your part. Why would you get involved with that shit? A free account on Bandcamp will give you all the revenue and exposure you can get. It's not like Rev Norb & the Onions are some up & coming pop band with huge commercial potential, and you know even the biggest rappers struggle to make a living off of those streaming services. You have your small niche that'll pay for your releases, why bother with corporate shit like that?

It's $17 a year...that's $1.42 a month...I wouldn't call that much of a misstep even if they get zero plays.