celeb news Tracy Chapman refuses to stream music: "Artists get paid when you buy CD or Vinyl"

[Future Lover]

 

Tracy Chapman has revealed she refuses to stream music, insisting that buying physical music is the only way for artists to get paid.

 

The singer-songwriter has given an interview to the New York Times in which she discusses her outlook on the current state of the music industry.

 

Answering a question about how much new music she listens to, she responded: "I do listen to music still. I don't listen to as much as I used to, and I'm maybe going to date myself now, or someone's going to call me a Luddite, but I don't stream music."

 

She explained: "I only buy music in physical form. Artists get paid when you actually buy a CD or the vinyl. That's important to me."

 

https://www.nme.com/news/music/tracy-chapman-refuses-to-stream-music-artists-get-paid-when-you-actually-buy-cd-or-vinyl-3852219

[Pheromosa]

I've spent more on streaming services than I ever had on music maybe she's made some points 

[Squall]

Do they get paid when you play the CD? Buy the album and then stream it instead of releasing tone-deaf statements like this one.

[Mr.X]

QUEEN! She is right and also Spotify has the lowest quality of music possible, its ******* vile.

 

I have cancelled all my streaming accounts over the past couple of months and feel freeee from this shiite. Will rather use that money to invest in actual music and going to see shows live

[suburbannature]

She's not wrong, but no one is going to stop the industry's evolution. Instead of trying in vain to prevent streaming she should be advocating for fairer compensation deals from labels.

[Mr.X]

2 minutes ago, Squall said:

Do they get paid when you play the CD? Buy the album and then stream it instead of releasing tone-deaf statements like this one.

The issue is that the vast majority of people wont buy the CDs. They used to, but streaming has completely taken over that and most people who used to buy CDs have stopped because streaming is enough. But streaming doesnt pay at all unless you hve millions of streams. It's horrible and should be stopped.

[Mr.X]

Just now, suburbannature said:

She's not wrong, but no one is going to stop the industry's evolution. Instead of trying in vain to prevent streaming she should be advocating for fairer compensation deals from labels.

The issue is that the business model of streaming platforms simply doesnt work. All the money goes to the platforms themselves and the record labels. Artists barely see a cent.

 

Any business that doesnt fairly compensate for the work they sell, shouldnt exist in the first place.

[Princess Aurora]

I agree. Plus you get a nice Obi strip with a booklet and an extra DVD If you buy it from Japan 

Edited 9 hours ago by Princess Aurora

[glitch]

It's a trade off. I feel like even without streaming, I can't imagine the album sales from the 90s would've held up to this day. People just don't have the disposable income to be regularly dropping £10 on each new album that comes out. Pirating would've just got worse and worse. At least streaming gives artists something.

[playboi]

I'm not going to spend a salary on some Japanese album from the 80s I like and I'm glad I have streaming to listen to it whenever and wherever I want

[Selegend]

Streaming has it's pros and cons just like everything else in life.

 

What she said is correct but it's not the whole truth.

For example, we listen way more to Albums now than we used to during the digital (itunes) era. 

It's very important for artists to release albums nowadays, we're on the "catalog" era, where it's important to have a lot of new music going on. 

Before streaming and on the beggining of streaming era, we were 100% relied to singles. 

Release the album full of fillers and call it a day. Now we as a society listen way more to the whole thing again. 

 It's easier, we also get to know more new artists! 

 

I think that it's such a tiring mentality to fight against the inevitable. 

It's better to accept on and focus on it's pros.

Fans will forever buy their faves music, so there's that + streaming has it's pros, not only cons. 

 

[Heldenzeit]

Tea serving royalty 

[Squall]

8 minutes ago, Mr.X said:

The issue is that the vast majority of people wont buy the CDs. They used to, but streaming has completely taken over that and most people who used to buy CDs have stopped because streaming is enough. But streaming doesnt pay at all unless you hve millions of streams. It's horrible and should be stopped.

I get her point but streaming is here and it won't go. The music industry is making more money than ever. Artists should fight for a better share of profits, saying "I won't stream" isn't going to help.

[harwee]

She's not wrong. CD is not coming back but vinyl is still providing some coins to artists and likely another physical will arrive if both disappear. 

Streaming compensation will never improve, and physical in whatever form is a counter weight to the streaming industry.

[Almighty Gaga]

Rich ass millionaire thinks everyone has $30 to spare on a vinyl for each album they want to listen to.

[Uncatena]

19 minutes ago, Squall said:

Do they get paid when you play the CD?

???? you'd have to stream an album about 150 to 200 times to offset the sale of a CD

Edited 9 hours ago by Uncatena

[Bussea]

She's correct but watch gay men who love being contrarians for the sake of being contrarians twist what she's saying and disagree as if she's not in the music industry and have knowledge on this subject firsthand. 

[Onyxmage]

They make cents (if that) per album sold.   They make the most from live shows but now they are charging way too much. Its getting as bad as streaming.

Edited 8 hours ago by Onyxmage

[LoveInStereo]

13 minutes ago, Squall said:

Do they get paid when you play the CD? Buy the album and then stream it instead of releasing tone-deaf statements like this one.

MTE, she's acting like it's either/or and you can't do both. I hate how the digital vs physical argument presents a false dichotomy as if you have to pick 1. Streaming gives us portable access to far more music than we could reasonably carry on us in a CD format

[KahnumDash]

2 minutes ago, Uncatena said:

???? you'd have to stream an album about 150 to 200 times to offset the sale of a CD

not a problem when you have the hits

[fa77ot]

She spilled

[Bussea]

1 minute ago, Almighty Gaga said:

Rich ass millionaire thinks everyone has $30 to spare on a vinyl for each album they want to listen to.

She didn't say that. she simply said she herself doesn't stream and chooses to buy physical media because artists get paid more. She didn't ask you to do anything

[Mr.X]

14 minutes ago, Squall said:

I get her point but streaming is here and it won't go. The music industry is making more money than ever. Artists should fight for a better share of profits, saying "I won't stream" isn't going to help.

well, she is right to point out and she has the right to also not engage in an activity that is harmful to her and her audience. I don't see the problem here??? She chooses not to engage in it as to make a point. That's totally fair

[Uncatena]

14 minutes ago, KahnumDash said:

not a problem when you have the hits

...which most artists don't have.

[ToMmY]

Okay, Tracy.