Will Competition Make or Break Streaming?

There are some great stats in this article.  With Google and Apple about to launch streaming services, it's interesting to note how none of the existing services make a profit and that very few of the potential users actually pay for the services.  An argument is that the cost of a subscription puts users off paying it and that, with Apple and Google entering the market, the increased competition will force down the price of subscription and encourage more people to sign up and pay for services.  However, what would be the eventual consequence of this?  When prices are forced down some services will inevitably be forced to close because they don't have the scale of business to cope.  This often leads to a near monopoly situation where just the big companies are left and less choice is available to the consumer.  Of course, this could also impact on the artists as one or two companies dominating the streaming market will mean that they can force record labels to accept lower payments per play on the streaming services.  On the flip side of course, this might be the bitter pill that the industry and consumer will have to swallow if they want to see streaming services continue.  Investors will only support Spotify and Pandora for so long before they want to see a profit.

The Crippling Power of a Record Company - Can the Artist Fight back?

Azealia Banks has used Twitter to voice her dissatisfaction with Universal Music. She's actively looking to leave her label Interscope (owned by Universal) -read about it here and here .  However, can't because she's contracted to them.  So what's an artist to do when they are so clearly 'owned' by a label.  All that's left to them is to go public with their complaint - as Prince and George Michael have done in the past.  Twitter and social media make it easier for the artist to do this - no elaborate change of name (ala Prince) needed to get global attention for your grievance.   It's also interesting that she complains about the supposed out of touch nature of those at Universal who make decisions about her music and career.  It seems she has previous on this, having made similar complaints about her time at XL (part of the Beggars Group).

Music Industry - How to Make Money from Youtube

If sales of CDs are in a permanent state of decline and illegal downloading continues to gather pace, how are music artists and record labels going to make money out of music?  This article from The Guardian breaks down one of the key new revenue sources - sharing ad revenue with Youtube.  There are lots of great statistics and commentaries in here.  It's well worth mining for exam material. It even has figures for the Beggars Group, which part owns Rough Trade.

Music Industry - An Artist's Perspective

For more on the imminent closure of HMV and the reasons behind it, have a read of Irish musician Bressie's take on events.  It's interesting to read how an artist views issues around 360 record deals and illegal downloading. In particular, it's worth noting how he finds it difficult to resolve his understanding of the consumer's demand for easy and cheap access to music and his own need as an artist to make a living.