We Got 31,341 Streams. The Payout Was $113.60. The Music Industry Is Broken.
$113.60.
That’s the total we were paid for 31,341 streams in our latest reporting period. That’s not a typo. The economics of music streaming are fundamentally broken for the vast majority of working artists, and this post will use our own transparent data to show just how broken they are.
As a company committed to building the future of music in public, we believe in sharing the real numbers, not just the highlight reels. And the real numbers are sobering.
Deconstructing the "Profit" of a Song
Our payout of $113.60 for over 31,000 streams comes out to a per-stream rate of about $0.0036. Now, consider the investment required to create a single, professionally produced song. There are the hard costs of mixing and mastering, and the even greater soft costs of time, creative energy, and countless hours of practice. Add to that the costs of distribution and marketing, and that tiny fraction of a cent per stream starts to look less like a business model and more like a rounding error.
We all know that throughout history, artists have been some of the lowest-paid members of our society, aside from the tiny percentage that achieve massive stardom. I don’t expect that dynamic to change. But at these rates, it’s impossible for an emerging artist to even clear enough profit to buy a single cup of coffee to fuel the next session.
The Myth of "Alternative Revenue Streams"
The common rebuttal to this argument is that artists shouldn’t rely on streaming. They should sell merch, tour, or sell physical copies of their music. And while those things are important, they aren’t a panacea for the 99% of artists who are still building a fanbase.
Let's be honest. How many CDs or vinyl records have you, the reader, purchased this year? Of all the artists you listen to, for what percentage have you actually bought a t-shirt? I’m sure you have a few band shirts in your closet, but I would wager it’s a single-digit percentage of the artists in your playlists. For an emerging artist without a dedicated following, the idea that a handful of merch sales can sustain a career is a fantasy.
The View from the Curator's Chair
My role as a playlist curator gives me a unique view into this broken system. Every month, I review hundreds of songs from talented, hardworking artists. Many of them are spending their limited budgets on promotion to land on playlists, hoping to pick up a few hundred streams. They aren’t doing this for the direct income; they know the streams themselves are financially worthless. They are doing it with the desperate hope that one of those listeners will convert into a true fan who might, one day, buy a t-shirt. That is the state of the industry.
JGBL's Take: This is Why We Experiment
This state of affairs is frustrating, but for us, it’s also clarifying. We don’t pretend to have a magic bullet, but we know for certain that the current system is failing the very artists it’s supposed to support.
This brokenness is the very reason JG BeatsLab exists. Our mission is to challenge this model, to experiment out in the open, and to relentlessly search for a more sustainable and equitable path for the modern creative. The experiments we have planned aren't just internal projects; they are our response to this problem. We believe a better way is possible, and we’re committed to finding it with you. This isn’t just our fight; it’s a call to every artist who believes their work is worth more than a rounding error.
