Gilles Peterson @TheLotRadio

Will Music Streaming Services Ultimately Fail?

I know the person in the video is making some bold statements, and from the point of view of music makers, he is 99% spot on. I also think he is quite cynical (rightfully so). Some points that he is not putting into perspective are that Apple Music's main point is to push Apple hardware and keep Apple users in the Apple ecosystem. To that point, Apple could easily change their percentage share policies and pay the highest percentage to musicians and bands directly, at least the ones that have not signed their digital rights away, be it for a signing bonus or just to get on a particular label.

There is also the high-resolution streaming market, which includes services like Qobuz, which streams and also sells music in lossless and high-resolution formats. There are also HDTracks and a few other audiophile services that, in a way, operate outside of the streaming percentage payments system that is in place now and pay more reasonable percentages to the copyright holders.

I know there are a lot of solutions and ways to fix or bring fairness and transparency into the music business. It is up to us to support the services/platforms, no matter if we are makers or listeners.

There are also ways to use the current (unfair) low percentage services to point listeners to the more fair services like Bandcamp.

a response video addressing a few of the issues...