Spotify

[billkilpatrick]

I'm listening to a lot of Bluegrass music on "Spotify" - Butch Baldassari in particular - treating it like a radio station. Does anyone know if the royalties generated by listening continue to go to his estate? "Spotify" estimates that the average song generates between $0.006 and $0.0084 per stream in royalties. This may seem like a "pittance" (as the article I read in TIME Mag. says) but the numbers do add up - I hope they do, because I'm burning up the airwaves. Is there a standard clause in whatever contract record companies make with their artists which guarantees continued royalties to the family of a deceased musician? Anyone know?

[MediumMando5722]

Unless the artist is a big name pop star, it's unlikely they're making much from Spotify. Any artist who got into a record deal prior to digital music being a big thing is probably not getting much at all. The people I heard talking about what they get paid from streaming are mostly hard rock/metal bands, which is going to have more streams than bluegrass. Most of them thought of streaming as advertisement more than a serious revenue stream.

I remember seeing a headline that a musician would have to have somewhere in the tens or hundreds of millions of streams to make what the average Spotify employee gets paid. And that's provided they had a good deal with their label.

Based on all that, I think it's unlikely any bluegrass musician's estate is making much. If anyone on here draws a decent check from a streaming service, I'd love to stand corrected.

[billkilpatrick]

Right … Well, I'm doing my bit - he made a lot of very good music.

[pit lenz]

I think, if you're serious about supporting an artist, the only way would be to buy his record, either from his website or, even better, at a concert out of his hand. And, yes, go to live concerts...

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've been listening to a lot of Butch's music in recent months,& i've come to the conclusion that he was one of the very finest mandolin players ever - IMO. The varieties of music that he played were as widely spread as any other player's - or even 'group' of players. From Classical pieces,to Celtic, to Bluegrass to what might be termed ''New acoustic music'' - ''The Vespa Love Sessions'',it's all stunningly well played. His recording ''Cantabile'' with Guitarist John Mock is amazing !!,
Ivan

[billkilpatrick]

Agreed - real music.