Music streaming injustices: A call for indie musicians to stick up for themselves

In 2016 I made a song called “Fuck You Spotify.” I recorded it during a performance at Paste Studios in New York City. For years, I hesitated to push this track, worried that Spotify would suppress my reach or pull me off the platform.

After years of putting time, money, and faith into Spotify, they can officially kiss my ass.

Let’s say it takes roughly four streams for an artist to make a single penny. If 100,000 people (two or three stadiums’ worth) listen to and love your track, you make less than $300. This isn’t even enough to cover the cost of a single live performance (gas, lodging, food, bandmates, etc).

To generate even a poverty-line income from streams, an artist must rack up astronomical play counts. Unless you’re Jorb Bon Jovi or a temporary Tik Tok sensation (?), hitting those numbers without the backing of a million dollar marketing machine is nearly impossible.

Spotify also has inconsistent royalty calculations. THIS IS ON PURPOSE. There’s a staggering lack of transparency that leaves many artists wondering where the bread is going and why payouts are so dismal.

The one that really chaps my ass is that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is using fake AI-generated artists to flood playlists to avoid payment of royalties to real human beings. Ek sits on billions, a heavy contrast to the earnings of indie musicians who appear content on pennies and “exposure.”

Which brings me to my point: We, as musicians, need to STICK UP FOR OURSELVES.

Musicians are generally very sensitive citizens and we often don’t stick up for ourselves, especially when it comes to the business side of things. We need to change that narrative ASAP.

There are so many musicians it makes it very difficult to organize. We’re all dreamers, which makes us quick prey for the industry overlords ready to feast on our dreams. It’s a tale as old as time: manager steals all the money, label sneakily locks you in for life, etc.

The tagline of cult-famous Catatonic Youths is “Musicians are cowards.” They aren’t wrong.

My question to you, fellow musicians, is this. Are we going to sit here and take it lying down?

Photo: Catatonic Youths

But wait, THERE IS HOPE.

Music still has value. Musicians still have value. But we need to prove it.

So how do you increase musics value? SCARCITY.

Once you put a record on streaming, it is basically worthless. It goes into the digital dumpster fire along with everything ever made, ever.

There’s nothing wrong with putting a few albums or singles on streaming, but when you give it ALL away for free all the time, you and your goods are disposable.

As a litmus test, I’ve kept my forthcoming record, ameriCONa Pt. 1: Educate Freeloaders To Buy Art off streaming entirely, keeping formats to vinyl, CD, digital downloads, and hand-painted limited vinyl. It’s due May 2. We’re only a week in, but so far it’s working.

In just 15 minutes of direct fan engagement, we earned (in pre-orders and digital tips) what would normally take a year to accumulate from Spotify’s streaming royalties. We’ve already paid off the costs of pressing vinyl, CDs, posters, and a chunk of digital advertising—all while gearing up for tour this week.

Pre-orders have boomed, and the album has landed among the best-selling alt-country albums on Bandcamp. It’s not yet a living for a three-piece-band, but it’s a very exciting start. I feel this might be a relatively normal release strategy in one year, so if you’re an artist, do it now while it’s unique.

The aim is connecting directly with fans, embracing a model that recognizes music has value, and saluting listeners who understand it’s not just a free-for-all snatch ‘n’ grab.

This isn’t about fighting tech—it’s about reclaiming at least some control. Bypassing Spotify and other streamers is one small thing WE CAN DO to stick up for ourselves.

And this isn’t just about Spotify—it’s about an entire industry that has conditioned us to believe they’re doing us a favor, that we aren’t worth much. Musician are vital to a healthy society. It’s time to value ourselves and explore new album-release models.

Part two is educating listeners to pay for music. The music heads, the superfans, and the die-hards already understand this, but they are a tiny sliver of listeners. Educating more of the general public that “If you like it, buy it,” could massively change the art world.

For touring bands especially, margins are razor thin. If a band you like is coming to town, go see them, because odds are they won’t be around next year. Without people paying for music, all our favorite bands are doomed.

It’s easy to grasp onto doomsday scenarios. As Americans, we do that well. But I believe there is A LOT we can do to make the art world more appreciated, and thus more valuable. Get pumped.

Brett Newski & The Bad Inventions are on tour now. Follow them online HERE. Pre-order ameriCONa Pt. 1 HERE.