Music, like all other forms of art, serves as a symbol of the times in which it was created. While some may say that historic musical pieces are nothing but relics of times past, it would be unfair to label them as such. Songs and other forms of musical art have always played a strong part in shaping the culture of the time period in which they are composed, and in shaping how life is influenced by art. While some musical pieces were composed with the intention of invoking feelings of resistance, devotion and even passion, other compositions were simply produced to create art. Apart from reflecting the sentiment of the epoch of its composition, music performs several functions in society and can be used to influence the ways in which we perceive our realities. Keeping that in mind, it comes as no surprise that music has always been and continues to be a medium of expression that inspires and instigates. However, creating music that has the power to touch the hearts of tens of thousands of people is no easy task, leaving us to ponder about what the motivations of the numerous individuals behind the music we listen to could be. What inspires the artists that record our favorite tracks? And perhaps more importantly, can an artist, who essentially works on commissions and contracts, stay true to themselves while simultaneously trying to earn a living?
Historically, musicians, like other artists, practiced their arts under the patronage of an elite class. This elite could either be those of a wealthy landed class or of religious institutions like the church. In medieval Europe, musicians were often associated with the churches and clergy. Hence, a large portion of the music that was composed during this time period reflected that by being based on themes of religion, prayer, devotion and God. Musicians who composed for the church, not only composed pieces for the clergy and other wealthy patrons but were also often part of an elite class of individuals themselves, ones who had access to an education in ‘classical’ music. The knowledge of the intricacies of classical music, that is, knowing how to read music was something only the privileged had access to. In such cases, musicians were often from wealthy homes themselves. However, musicians that composed the music enjoyed by commoners and peasant folk, i.e. popular music or vernacular music, were often very poor. This is because the church influenced nearly every sphere of public life in medieval Europe, including the economy. Vernacular and folk music was not considered worthy of the patronage of the church or the wealthy elite, folk musicians might have relied on social events like weddings, funerals and harvest festivals for their bread and butter, which were scattered throughout the year and understandably did not fetch them much.
Ironically, earning through social events like recitals and concerts is the norm in today’s age. This shift in the profitability of live performances for the masses and not just the classes happened because there came to be a fundamental difference between the functions performed by music historically and in its current contemporary form.
Historically, musicians were paid for their services and labor, for the hours they put into composing and performing which is in stark contrast to the last several decades where music has more or less become a commodity to be sold and musicians, mere facilitators of such transactions.
While this transformation can be attributed to a number of factors, there is no denying that the increase of record labels has contributed significantly to the commodification of music.
According to a report by Citigroup in 2017, the music industry generated $43 billion which was a stat that the industry hadn’t been able to get anywhere close to since 2006. What is surprising, however, is that the artists who recorded and performed these songs only took home about 12% of the total figure. Now while this number in itself is an improvement from previous years, it is a ridiculously small percentage. Third parties like labels, distributors and other aggregators take home a much larger share of around 10 billion dollars.
Major record labels like Sony Music or Universal Music group have several subsidiaries that take care of the different aspects of marketing music. So even though revenue streams for artists have increased over the years, the artists’ share of that stream has stayed meager.
Record labels own the rights to the master recording of songs (original recording) and can use them to increase their revenue through licensing for various projects. While the royalties received from licensing master recordings usually make up a big revenue stream, the artists who record the song only receive a small percentage of it. The label’s policy on licensing master recording for movies, shows, advertisements etc. are usually negotiated with artists at the time of signing with the label. There are two major types of record deals that artists can sign – a traditional deal where a record label takes a cut of the revenue generated on album sales after already providing the artists with an advance, and the 360 deal wherein the record label takes a cut of all the revenue streams generated by a song. Due to this fine print in the contracts, not only is the creative freedom of artists in jeopardy, but it also leads to them being severely exploited. Artists are at yet another disadvantage when it comes to controlling how their creative property is used. This can cause discord and resentment between a record label and its artists.
One such conflict even led to Grammy-winning artist Taylor Swift re-recording her first 6 albums, which are estimated to be worth more than 300 million dollars. The licensing rights of the master records of these albums majorly lie with Swift and the record label, however all collaborators and artists on the tracks have a say in licensing as well, for instance, in the form of publishing rights. Taylor Swift signed with Universal Music group after leaving her old record label Big Machine Records in 2018. The subsequent acquisition of Big Machine Records by Ithaca Holdings in 2019 led to the licensing rights of the 6 albums being transferred to them. This led to a very public feud between Swift and her old label as she claimed to have never been offered the opportunity to acquire the rights to her music. She has since then vetoed the licensing of her old albums and has begun re-recording and releasing them again. Interestingly, as part of her new deal with UMG, Swift will own the master recordings of all her songs going forward.
Record labels are business entities that operate on profit making models that often not only restrict an artist’s earnings, but also jeopardize their creative integrity. K-Pop entertainments have their own model of business wherein they incur expenses to train aspiring artists or “idols” before they debut and then hold off on paying their artists entirely until after the company has made good on their costs. Further, K-Pop idols are known to be products of years’ long grueling training, some training periods even lasting longer than 10 years. This leads to K-Pop idols making very low wages for several years after they debut as they first have to repay their companies for all the costs incurred during their training period. Several K-pop companies have a bad reputation for overworking their idols for very little pay, so much so that groups that have been actively promoting for several years haven’t seen a single cent of their own revenue, making it very important for artists to try and create their own independent revenues. One of the ways they do this is through social media and brand collaborations and sponsorships. Another way is through tours and live performances.
A majority of artists today, specifically indie artists, earn most of their income through two major revue streams — touring and streaming. Take for instance Taylor swift, whose Eras Tour has been estimated to have brought in 1 billion dollars for the singer and is one of the highest grossing tours of all time. It is also estimated that swift will make well over 4 billion dollars throughout the course of this tour which features grand set designs, immense production value and a three hour long setlist packed with high-tempo choreographed numbers as well as soulful ballads.
The other major revenue stream for artists today comes from putting their music on streaming platforms like Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and YouTube to name a few. Streaming royalties can bring in a decent revenue for artists as their monthly listeners and cumulative streams increase over time. An artist’s share in streaming royalties is determined by the way their contract outlines the split up of the track’s Master Rights and the Publishing Rights. Streaming royalties do not just go to the artists and the people that work on the track, but also to the record label and any third-party distributors, publishers and aggregators. Artists who own the master rights to their songs not only make money from the physical sale of their albums but also from streaming and digital downloads and from sync licensing. Any entity that has publishing rights over a track or album will also receive revenue from any sync licensing and from mechanical royalties like digital streaming and downloading.
Earning a living wage solely as a musician maybe a pipe dream for many on account of how the music industry works. Several artists are now releasing music independently and are using social media to market themselves. Collaborating with brands, creating dance and song challenges, designing merch, releasing remixes, and making both long-form and short-form content are the ways in which emerging artists of this generation are trying to increase their engagement and subsequently increase the royalties they receive from the streams and views.
By doing so, they are in charge of their entire persona and have the opportunity to be their own boss. Several musicians are now choosing to release music on their own with the help of independent aggregators and labels in a very small capacity so as to not only have better control of their revenue streams, but to also protect and preserve their creative integrity.
Written by:- Nandini Pillai
Edited by – Sualiha Khan