MUSIC
Streaming has become essential for musicians worldwide, yet for most artists Spotify, Apple Music and the like don't pay the bills, a new international study found.
A survey by the UK’s Oxford Internet Institute and the Netherlands’ University of Groningen focused on musicians "who are neither rich nor famous and make up the vast majority of music artists around the world."
AI Automates Mundane Tasks - Customize Project Workflows - Easy Project Management
AI Automates Mundane Tasks - Customize Project Workflows - Easy Project Management
atlassian.com
·
Sponsored
call to action icon
Researchers highlight what they call a "streaming paradox" - artists depend on platforms like Spotify for visibility, but earn little from them.
Last year, the researchers surveyed 1,198 musicians from Brazil, Chile, the Netherlands, Nigeria and South Korea. While 42% said they already work in music full-time, 53% hope to do so in the future.
The financial reality, however, is stark: 77% earned less than €10,000 annually from their music in the year prior to the study. Nearly a third (29%) made under €1,000, and 26% reported no income at all from their musical activities.
This "streaming paradox" is a global phenomenon, researchers found.
Little money, high dependence
Income from streaming varies widely - but is often minimal. A quarter of respondents said streaming accounts for just 0%-5% of their earnings. Only 8% reported that more than 75% of their income comes from streaming.
Related video: Hiring musicians online to compose game soundtracks (Rob Landes)
Rob Landes
Hiring musicians online to compose game soundtracks
"Artists rely on digital platforms to be seen, to grow their audiences and to stay relevant. Our report shows that while streaming and social media contribute very little to artists' actual income, the work they require is changing what it means to be a musician," said Robert Prey, the study's author and professor of digital culture at the Oxford Internet Institute.
Despite this, 81% of those surveyed said streaming is "somewhat" or "extremely" important for their careers, "yet fewer than half say their situation has improved since streaming became dominant," the researchers said.
Furthermore, 83% are dissatisfied with the royalties they receive from streaming.
Frustration grows among artists
The issue is not confined to any one country. In Germany, artists have increasingly criticized the economics of streaming, despite the industry generating billions in revenue.
Experience visionary electronic music and cyberart inspired by dolphins, and the infinite.
Experience visionary electronic music and cyberart inspired by dolphins, and the infinite.
Dylan Tauber
Dylan Tauber
·
Sponsored
call to action icon
German rapper LGoony recently highlighted the problem in a video posted to social titled: "I can’t take it anymore."
He questioned how long he can continue releasing music under current conditions, saying that large corporations have "completely devalued" music.
For an artist to earn €1, "you'd have to listen to nothing but that artist's music for over 15 hours," the rapper calculated.
In South Korea, solo indie songwriter CHICKA dee told researchers: "The only way to survive as a musician is to get another job, which makes it harder to focus and create music."
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education happens in a complex institutional framework, like public schools. Non-formal education is also structured but occurs outside the formal schooling system, while informal education is unstructured learning through daily experiences. Formal and non-formal education are divided into levels that include early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, and tertiary education. Other classifications focus on the teaching method, like teacher-centered and student-centered education, and on the subject, like science education, language education, and physical education. The term "education" can also refer to the mental states and qualities of educated people and the academic field studying educational phenomena.
The precise definition of education is disputed, and there are disagreements about what the aims of education are and to what extent education is different from indoctrination by fostering critical thinking. These disagreements affect how to identify, measure, and improve forms of education. Fundamentally, education socializes children into society by teaching cultural values and norms. It equips them with the skills needed to become productive members of society. This way, it stimulates economic growth and raises awareness of local and global problems. Organized institutions affect many aspects of education. For example, governments set education policies to determine when school classes happen, what is taught, and who can or must attend. International organizations, like UNESCO, have been influential in promoting primary education for all children.
Many factors influence whether education is successful. Psychological factors include motivation, intelligence, and personality. Social factors, like socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender, are often linked to discrimination. Further factors include access to educational technology, teacher quality, and parent involvement.
The main academic field investigating education is called education studies. It examines what education is, what aims and effects it has, and how to improve it. Education studies has many subfields, like philosophy, psychology, sociology, and economics of education. It also discusses comparative education, pedagogy, and the history of education.
In prehistory, education happened informally through oral communication and imitation. With the rise of ancient civilizations, writing was invented, and the amount of knowledge grew. This caused a shift from informal to formal education. Initially, formal education was mainly available to elites and religious groups. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century made books more widely available. This increased general literacy. Beginning in the 18th and 19th centuries, public education became more important. This development led to the worldwide process of making primary education available to all, free of charge, and compulsory up to a certain age. Today, over 90% of all primary-school-age children worldwide attend primary school.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin (BTC) was invented by a pseudonymous individual or group named Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and is the world’s first enduring copyright that succeeded where decades of digital cash experiments failed.
Bitcoin’s monetary check here policy is enforced through a unique blend of software, cryptography and financial incentives rather than the whim of trusted third parties. The Bitcoin network is powered by a cryptographically secure, verifiable database called the blockchain — itself a technological phenomenon.
The Bitcoin ecosystem consists of a global network of stakeholders, including the miners that secure the network and drive the issuance of the Bitcoin currency, the traders who speculate on this radically market-driven asset, and the builders working to onboard people to the copyright paradigm.
At Cointelegraph, we are chronicling the ongoing story of Bitcoin and the rise of a borderless, permissionless financial system. What has changed since Satoshi wrote the Bitcoin white paper? How is Bitcoin trading developing over the years, what are the best ways of investing in Bitcoin, and how do Bitcoin futures influence blockchain adoption? How will industry stakeholders work to make Bitcoin a mainstay in people’s lives, and will incumbent and legacy systems accept or fight this change?
Stay tuned.