Independent or “Indie” artist have been taking over the music industry these last few years. Independent music revenue has increased 25% from 2018 to $821 million. Independent means they have no record label backing them. No free marketing, no connections that can get your song on the radio, but it also means there is no contract that the artist is abided too. Independent artist gets more control of their art, than signed artist, but at this time they make significantly less.
Independent Artist are forced to sell their own merchandise, set up their own tours, and create, master, and publish their own piece of music. They are able to take 100% of those earnings.
Artist like the Chance the Rapper who has been the most successful Independent artist of our time has never sold any of his music to consumers. Chance the Rapper’s merchandise made him a million dollars just from hats with a logo of the number “3” being sold.
Artist can make a good amount of money from their merchandise, but what about their actual songs? Artist are now able to stream their music on streaming service platforms. There are many streaming platforms that artist can release their content on. You have Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Google Play, and many others. Each platform pays differently per stream.
Apple Music pays their artist $0,0056 per stream
Google Music pays $0,0055 per stream
Spotify Music pays $0,0032 per stream
Tidal Music has the best pay out with $0.0099 per stream
Artist get a stream for someone clicking on their song and listening, but the stream is worth more to the artist depending on where the stream is coming from and what kind of subscription the user that is streaming you currently has.
The average pay of independent artist from strictly their music is $12,860 a year while signed artist make $23,913 a year. Yes, independent artist makes less annually from just their music, but they are also able to get more money from their tours, merchandise sales, and get full artistic control and full control of their masters.
Aubrey Graham who is more popularly known by his stage name Drake is one of the most popular artists in the world at the time. He has made over $400 million in career earnings, while also making almost $70 million a year. At the beginning of 2021 his contract with Warner Music Group will be coming to an end. There are rumblings that he will also be an artist going independent.
Steve Stoute is one of the most well-known music executives in the industry, and he believes that Drake going independent can completely “kill the music industry”, Stoute said on the Breakfast Club Radio show. He believes that Drakes departure from a record label will encourage all other artist to follow him down that route. If the best is going down that road, why wouldn’t another artist do the same thing.
Independent Artist are exponentially making more year after year. Signed artist are having issues within the label, while independent artist having full control of their vision and their earnings. This is just the beginning, but the music industry that we all know can be changing forever.
Data Journalism 395 