i just mentioned this to a friend who didn’t know about it but in case you are unaware, to get music on a streaming service, artists must pay a distribution service.
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i just mentioned this to a friend who didn’t know about it but in case you are unaware, to get music on a streaming service, artists must pay a distribution service. if they stop paying, the music gets taken down.
which means that many artists are out there paying and also not making any money because spotify now requires a thousand streams to make a fraction of a penny. spotify's playlists are increasingly filling with ai slop that is preventing people from hearing these artists.
supporting artists directly through services like bandcamp, faircamp, mirlo, etc, means that they get more money than they would make from thousands and thousands of streams.
on bandcamp friday, all their fees are waived and the money goes directly to the artist. so for example somebody paid me 6 dollars and all i lost was 37 cents in payment processor fee
edit to add: i am told that some services are a one-time fee for example cdbaby was a one time $14.99. that is still a LOT of spotify streams to recoup
@forestine also the distribution service that folks are likely to know if they only know of one is partially owned by spotify and really seems to prioritize that partnership — the worst possible one for artists — from what i’ve heard.
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i'm not going to tell you to go all or nothing but i would really suggest subscribing to a streaming service with a better payout like qobuz. but even if you continue to subscribe to a streaming service, tossing an artist 5 bucks once in awhile will go so much further
@forestine ooo, haven’t heard of qobuz. Are newer artists putting music on there at all?
I think that’s my challenge. I listen to things on Bandcamp when I can, and buy albums there, but sometimes I hit a limit on streaming an album or I just can’t get the app to cooperate with apple carplay very well when driving. So would love better options than Spotify!
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@forestine ooo, haven’t heard of qobuz. Are newer artists putting music on there at all?
I think that’s my challenge. I listen to things on Bandcamp when I can, and buy albums there, but sometimes I hit a limit on streaming an album or I just can’t get the app to cooperate with apple carplay very well when driving. So would love better options than Spotify!
@JoscelynTransient i have seen several folks talk about putting music up there. i have not done so but it's worth looking into. tidal is supposed to also have an okay payout
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@forestine ooo, haven’t heard of qobuz. Are newer artists putting music on there at all?
I think that’s my challenge. I listen to things on Bandcamp when I can, and buy albums there, but sometimes I hit a limit on streaming an album or I just can’t get the app to cooperate with apple carplay very well when driving. So would love better options than Spotify!
@JoscelynTransient @forestine i don’t know how much deviation there is between qobuz’s streaming and their purchase catalogs, but that’s where i always go to buy stuff that isn’t on bandcamp. major label releases (at least, the ones i care about, ymmv of course) are always there, and i know they’re partnered with the big distributors so most stuff ends up there unless an artist has specifically opted out.
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i'm not going to tell you to go all or nothing but i would really suggest subscribing to a streaming service with a better payout like qobuz. but even if you continue to subscribe to a streaming service, tossing an artist 5 bucks once in awhile will go so much further
@forestine for what it’s worth, I bought the entire Crane Wives discography, which is 8 albums and a single, for $38.25. That’s a bit over 3 months cost of Spotify premium, and gives them more money than if I only listened to them on Spotify for probably my entire life. And I own the music forever, without ads. Owning your entire music collection is achievable.
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@JoscelynTransient @forestine i don’t know how much deviation there is between qobuz’s streaming and their purchase catalogs, but that’s where i always go to buy stuff that isn’t on bandcamp. major label releases (at least, the ones i care about, ymmv of course) are always there, and i know they’re partnered with the big distributors so most stuff ends up there unless an artist has specifically opted out.
@brhfl @JoscelynTransient i had a friend who was trying to figure out how to put their music on qobuz but opt out of spotify. i might consider that if it's possible
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@brhfl @JoscelynTransient i had a friend who was trying to figure out how to put their music on qobuz but opt out of spotify. i might consider that if it's possible
@forestine @JoscelynTransient i’ve heard distrokid straight up won’t let you opt out of spotify, but i don’t have any personal experience there… i imagine it’d be simpler with a distributor that isn’t captured by spotify though
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i just mentioned this to a friend who didn’t know about it but in case you are unaware, to get music on a streaming service, artists must pay a distribution service. if they stop paying, the music gets taken down.
which means that many artists are out there paying and also not making any money because spotify now requires a thousand streams to make a fraction of a penny. spotify's playlists are increasingly filling with ai slop that is preventing people from hearing these artists.
supporting artists directly through services like bandcamp, faircamp, mirlo, etc, means that they get more money than they would make from thousands and thousands of streams.
on bandcamp friday, all their fees are waived and the money goes directly to the artist. so for example somebody paid me 6 dollars and all i lost was 37 cents in payment processor fee
edit to add: i am told that some services are a one-time fee for example cdbaby was a one time $14.99. that is still a LOT of spotify streams to recoup
I used cdbaby to get my album on streaming services. One time fee of $14.99.
I don't expect to make money on streaming, it was for customer convenience.
Sales happened direct or on bandcamp.
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I used cdbaby to get my album on streaming services. One time fee of $14.99.
I don't expect to make money on streaming, it was for customer convenience.
Sales happened direct or on bandcamp.
@bagahens that's good to know. i will add that
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i'm not going to tell you to go all or nothing but i would really suggest subscribing to a streaming service with a better payout like qobuz. but even if you continue to subscribe to a streaming service, tossing an artist 5 bucks once in awhile will go so much further
Distrokid, the most common service, says
"If you don't renew your subscription to DistroKid, your music will be removed from services. DistroKid subscriptions are billed annually on the date you first signed up and paid for the subscription.
To prevent your releases from being removed for this reason, you can opt any upload into DistroKid's optional Leave a Legacy album extra." which is an extra service
reviews also say that people's music was taken down for various reasons and also that it can take months for the music to appear on the services in the first place
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@forestine also the distribution service that folks are likely to know if they only know of one is partially owned by spotify and really seems to prioritize that partnership — the worst possible one for artists — from what i’ve heard.
I paid CD Baby to distribute my CD, but they've never asked for any more money. I've ALMOST made my distribution fee back....but I've actually made some money with Bandcamp.
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@forestine @JoscelynTransient i’ve heard distrokid straight up won’t let you opt out of spotify, but i don’t have any personal experience there… i imagine it’d be simpler with a distributor that isn’t captured by spotify though
@brhfl @forestine @JoscelynTransient this isn’t true about Spotify. You can opt out of any service. I haven’t seen any restrictions yet around that.
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i just mentioned this to a friend who didn’t know about it but in case you are unaware, to get music on a streaming service, artists must pay a distribution service. if they stop paying, the music gets taken down.
which means that many artists are out there paying and also not making any money because spotify now requires a thousand streams to make a fraction of a penny. spotify's playlists are increasingly filling with ai slop that is preventing people from hearing these artists.
supporting artists directly through services like bandcamp, faircamp, mirlo, etc, means that they get more money than they would make from thousands and thousands of streams.
on bandcamp friday, all their fees are waived and the money goes directly to the artist. so for example somebody paid me 6 dollars and all i lost was 37 cents in payment processor fee
edit to add: i am told that some services are a one-time fee for example cdbaby was a one time $14.99. that is still a LOT of spotify streams to recoup
@forestine can't quote so i'll just leave here the list of bandcamp fridays for this year, in case anyone would like to save the dates
Bandcamp Fridays Return in 2026 with More Dates
Bandcamp Fridays are back in 2026 with eight dates to support independent music. Discover new artists, buy music, and help put more money in the hands of artists.
Bandcamp Updates (blog.bandcamp.com)
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i just mentioned this to a friend who didn’t know about it but in case you are unaware, to get music on a streaming service, artists must pay a distribution service. if they stop paying, the music gets taken down.
which means that many artists are out there paying and also not making any money because spotify now requires a thousand streams to make a fraction of a penny. spotify's playlists are increasingly filling with ai slop that is preventing people from hearing these artists.
supporting artists directly through services like bandcamp, faircamp, mirlo, etc, means that they get more money than they would make from thousands and thousands of streams.
on bandcamp friday, all their fees are waived and the money goes directly to the artist. so for example somebody paid me 6 dollars and all i lost was 37 cents in payment processor fee
edit to add: i am told that some services are a one-time fee for example cdbaby was a one time $14.99. that is still a LOT of spotify streams to recoup
@forestine @jlink When i find some interesting on bandcamp I put it on my wishlist and then buy it on the next bandcamp Friday
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