In recent years, the music industry has undergone a major transformation, with the rise of streaming services and the decline of physical music sales. While these changes have had a notable impact on established artists and record labels, they have also significantly affected up-and-coming musicians and their aspirations of having a career in the industry.
While the rise of streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music have helped artists to get their music in front of the masses and make distribution easier, the financial income involved is less than ideal according to data found online.
Projections gathered by Statista, a data website, say that the revenue brought in by digital music and streaming has increased steadily year on year and the market is projected to make roughly £21 billion this year alone. However, Spotify pays artists a measly $0.003 to $0.005 per stream on average. Hardly enough for artists to make a living.
Spotify says that nearly 70% of every dollar it generates from music is paid back as royalties to rights holders, who then pay the artists and songwriters, based on the agreed terms. These rights holders include record labels, publishers, independent distributors, performance rights organisations and collecting societies.
Rob Caiger, 65, is a record label manager and producer at Charly Records.
He says: “You see all the talks about investment and how much it costs to set these things up. Yet always at the end of it, always very, very last seems to be the actual artist. You know, the people that are creating things are on these platforms.
“I think there's a will from everybody, from the platforms to the labels to the publishers. There are a lot of people with slices of the pie but to me, you're not going to have much development with new artists.
“The catalogue artists are fine, like your Ed Sheerans or Taylor Swifts who have got their own catalogues of music, of course, you know they’re earning huge amounts. But for new artists, is this the way to go? Not really. From my point of view, the artist should be front and centre and everyone else follows from that.”
The emergence of streaming has added even more discussion to the debate of whether artists should sign to a record label or remain independent. In the past, record labels were able to provide artists with financial support and resources that allowed them to focus on their music and develop their careers.
In the streaming era, however, musicians are largely responsible for their own success, and many struggle to support themselves financially with their music.
Rob says: “All the things that a label was traditionally there to do, you can do yourself. In reality, you can access just about everything, you can become your own cottage industry, which a lot of successful artists have done such as Sleaford Mods.
“But you get to a certain point where you do need other people to take care of the other factors because you know what you should be doing is creating the work. It's the support and it's the initial funding that the labels can provide.
Sleaford Mods are an English post-punk music duo formed in 2007 from Nottingham who spent time releasing music through their own label, Extreme Eating Records.
This was after the duo dealt with a series of labels such as Ipecac, Invada and Little Teddy Recordings but these relationships would often end in some sort of creative feud.
“There's so much you can do for yourself now that some artists do question why they would need a label. A label is primarily the expertise, promotion, and distribution. But you can do your own independent distribution deals on a per territory basis or global basis.
“It all depends on where you prioritise your time as an artist. Some artists can do everything especially if they're a one-person operation.”
One man who has witnessed first-hand the rise of the streaming era as well as experienced what it's like to be signed to a label as well as work independently is Boyan Chowdhury. The 43-year-old is a former band member of The Zutons who were a band that became popular in the early 2000s and are most recognised for their hit single “Valerie”.
Boyan, who was once signed to record labels such as Deltasonic and Sony while with the band, has since left The Zutons and has begun his solo career as both an independent artist and songwriter.
He says: “Well, signing with a record label definitely helped us gain more exposure and access to resources that we wouldn't have had as an independent band.
“We were able to reach a wider audience and tour more extensively. However, with that came a certain level of pressure to produce hit singles and maintain a certain image.
“On the other hand, there were a lot of creative restrictions placed on us, and we had to constantly compromise our artistic vision in order to fit into the record label's idea of what would sell. It was a bit of a catch-22 situation."
The debate between signing to a label or going independent has often posed questions about how much an artist values creative freedom compared to financial and marketing support.
Independent artists have complete control over their music, from songwriting to production, allowing them to show personal expression in their music without the artistic imprisonment that some record labels place upon musicians.
Yet getting attention and reaching more fans isn’t easy. Without the backing and resources of a record label, independent artists need to work tirelessly to promote their music, increase their fan base, and secure opportunities to perform and collaborate with others.
Boyan says: “Leaving The Zutons was definitely a difficult decision, but it was one that needed to be made. It taught me the importance of staying true to your artistic vision and not compromising on your beliefs. I think it's important for musicians to have creative freedom and not be tied down to any particular sound or image.
“If I had to give some advice, I’d say it really depends on the artist. If you're looking for exposure and support, signing with a record label can be a good idea. But if you want to manage your own career, going independent might be the better option.
“Ultimately, it's important to do your research, understand the pros and cons of each option, and make a decision that aligns with your goals and values.”
While there are arguments for both sides, more and more artists are opting to go down the route of self-releasing and it’s paying off.
Instead of seeking deals from major labels, artists now have more options when it comes to releasing their music.
For example, DIY acts can now upload their own songs to Spotify, YouTube, and iTunes through services like TuneCore, Ditto, DistroKid and CD Baby.
There are also Semi-independents, who sign "label services" deals with companies such as Awal, Absolute and Believe. These firms act like record labels, spending agreed budgets on marketing, distribution and promotion - but, crucially, artists aren't signed to a long-term deal, and retain ownership of their copyrights.
Artists can also sign to smaller, independent record labels which have been outpacing the major labels for a few years now as they have seen revenues grow by 27%, compared to an overall market growth of 7%.
According to MIDiA Research, an online database, just last year the indies' share of the music market was at an all-time high of 43.1% which was worth a staggering £7.19 billion.
Jévis Lawson is the current programmes manager for the Ivors Academy, which is a highly respected association within the music industry.
The Academy is the UK’s independent professional association for music creators dating back to 1956 where they aim to support and celebrate artists across each and every genre.
As programmes manager, Jévis knows how best to support up-and-coming musicians and get their music distributed but the 26-year-old also has a history of producing and making music himself.
He says: “I mean, the best situation for getting your music out there without help from a label is to have a distributor for example LG 105 or Virgin are really good distributors. The benefit being is that you get a lot of the percentage, you get a lot of the income as it is normally about 80%, 85%.
“Whereas you get some labels where you’re only taking 20% or 15% even on some major labels, which is so small. The main thing for the artists we support at the minute is just to land on Spotify playlists to get streams running. Recently, I've been seeing so many self-released artists getting on the big playlists.
“So it makes me think, do you actually need a label to do that? But then, on the other hand, labels can be so important in an artist’s career. They do a lot of the hard work which, as an artist, you don’t really want to do, you just want to make music.
“Self-releasing is becoming more and more popular as musicians just really love the thought of it being their own creative direction. Even after my history in music I can see the appeal as I think people like the fact that you can have your own name, your own artwork, your own everything, and you release when you want to release. So it's very enticing for sure.”
With more and more artists choosing to self-release their music online, record labels have had to adapt to stay relevant.
Many record labels have now embraced streaming services, using them as a way to promote their artists and generate revenue. For example, labels may create curated playlists on Spotify or Apple Music that feature their artists, helping to increase their exposure and reach a wider audience. They may also use streaming data to make decisions about which artists to sign or which songs to promote.
However, some smaller record labels have struggled to compete in the new streaming landscape. With so much competition on streaming services, it can be difficult for smaller labels to get their artists noticed. This has led some to argue that streaming services have made it harder for independent labels to succeed.
Bill Phillips, 61, is a former record label employee at an unnamed company. His catalogue dealt with artists from the seventies and eighties but he witnessed firsthand the progression into digital music.
He says: “When talking about artists in the past, of course, they all got ripped off or they always say they got ripped off, but over time they have made money and, in comparison, money was a lot better back then as there were a lot more sales, even though there wasn't the digital aspect.
“They could make money touring because there were places to play whatever the level, be that clubs or massive arenas.
“But there is some lovely independence out there, look at the story of Wet Leg, that’s a major success story and you feel that they are still the two humble girls from the Isle of Wight, who are signed to a really good independent label.”
Wet Leg are an Indie-Rock duo consisting of two girls from the Isle of Wight who have rose to stardom from relative obscurity in just a few years.
Hester Chambers, 29, and Rhian Teasdale, 30, first met at Platform One College of Music while studying and, after years of playing music together, went onto form the band in 2019.
Shortly after Wet Leg’s formation, they signed with the established independent record label, Domino Recording Company who are famous for working with the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.
Despite this achievement, Wet Leg still hadn’t released a song and were widely unknown in the industry until they released their debut single "Chaise Longue", on 15 June 2021.
The song went viral, amassing millions of streams in just a few months as it now sits on nearly 50 million streams which is a large contributor to their 2.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Many critics and music reviewers say that the band’s overnight success, which earned them millions of streams and video views, was largely down to the PR push and marketing efforts by their independent label.
Bill says: “Looking at Wet Leg, they had years where nobody was listening until a combination of happy accidents and a label believing in them produced one of the fastest-growing bands in history. The talent was there, the songs were there but no one was seeing it.
“There are exceptions to this but, for example, could Wet Leg tour the whole of the UK, as we used to do years ago and build up a following that way? The answer is no as the infrastructure doesn't exist. So how do they reach potential listeners or generate a fan base?
“You need that help getting exposure and you have to do it digitally on these streaming platforms nowadays. How much money would they have got out of that? Very little, if any at all as it would have cost them a lot. So there are many obstacles in the way.
“But for every Wet Leg, I have seen first-hand that there are hundreds of artists that won’t get as lucky. They won’t get that support from a label or their songs won’t reach the same kind of streaming numbers.
“That is where your Spotifys and Apple Musics have to alter the way they operate in order to get these talented people heard. Whether that be new features or changing the algorithm I’m not sure but can platforms be doing more to support artists at the lower end of the scale? Yeah, absolutely, in my opinion.”
So, streaming services have completely changed the landscape of the music industry. They’ve altered the way we listen to music, the ways in which we purchase music and how artists and record labels operate.
New opportunities for promotion and collaboration have been brought about by streaming yet music libraries are bigger than ever, leading to many artists being lost in the endless sea of records.
With the music industry continuing to evolve, it will be interesting to see how artists and record labels adapt to stay relevant in the digital age.
Comments