Bit of an overreaction.

One of the reasons the music industry is so angry all the time is that, during their tenure as the gatekeepers of what we listen to, they found a way to make money from literally every possible music-related thing in the world.

I didn’t realise this until my music started getting more exposure, but:

-When my song gets played on the radio, they pay me money.

-When my song gets played on Spotify, they pay me money.

-When my song gets played on YouTube, they pay me money (in addition to my adsense).

-If someone plays a gig at a pub and does a freaking COVER of my song, the pub has to pay me money!!

This is all through music licensing - you have to have a license to play songs publicly, which includes streaming sites and live airings of the song (even if it’s not by me). Even when you play a 30-second preview stream on iTunes, I get paid for that. Cos all these companies paid the license so they have to pay me something.

I don’t understand how they ever got away with this! Bear in mind it’s something like 0.1 pennies per play, but still, it adds up - I can’t explain how unreasonable it feels that people on Spotify have listened to my music (which is, bear in mind, exactly what I want them to do with it, it’s not something I need payment for) and somehow this morning I got given £40 for it! Surely that money could be put to better use?

It’s such an odd industry. Book publishing doesn’t have this. When someone re-reads one of the Harry Potter books, or a chapter is read aloud in a school somewhere, JK Rowling doesn’t get a notification saying “you’ve received reading royalties!” - how would you police that?! 

Of course, “how would you police that” is exactly the reason the major labels are trying to shut down half the internet right now. The internet fucked it all up because the internet places a value on things that’s bigger than money: exposure. Online, attention is currency. People don’t write Tumblr posts to get paid, they do it to reach people, and that’s enough. If my song gets played on Radio 1, it goes out to a MILLION PEOPLE, a few of which will probably buy the song - and that’s payment enough! Money for attention seems ridiculous, which I think must be why the moment people stopped having to do it, they did. So now the corporates complain that “Spotify don’t pay enough! Lady Gaga only earns £100 from Spotify!” - where I’m sitting here thinking “Spotify pay you AS WELL as all the other stuff!?”

I love you, music industry. I hope you find a place for me one day. But although I love you and want to share in your world, I wonder if I’ll ever really understand you. x