Why Indie Artists Shouldn't Focus So Much on Streaming

Much has been made of the offensively low payouts to artists from streaming services. Kendrick Lamar broke Spotify's single-day streaming record when To Pimp a Butterfly was released, yet those 9.6 million track plays netted him, according to Billboard estimates, a mere $44,160. During a three-month span on Pandora, Pharrell's "Happy" was streamed 43 million times, which led to an estimated $25,000 in earnings.

With these numbers in mind, Jay Z and a bunch of his friends relaunched Tidal with a promise to give more to the artists. Here's the problem: even if they found a way to triple artists' earnings from streaming, they would still just be tripling fractions of a penny. The fact of the matter is, there are fights worth putting your effort into, but streaming isn't one of them, especially if you're an indie artist.

Read the full column at SonicBids.com.